bassace

I was doing some building work for an American car hire firm some time ago. Looking down their mission statement (or whatever) I saw the line 'Nobody ever won an argument with a customer' That says it all, really.

+1 for the Underwood. You can get involved in all sorts of discussions as to which is the best transducer/mic setup but at the end of the day (or the start of the gig), and as a new convert you need something that'll get you reliably started and get good instant results. Only after a few years' of gigs will you need to start considering other options. You may want to use your bass guitar amp initially to save you the cost of a more DB-oriented amp ( Gallien Krueger 150MBS is a very good place to start). If you use your bass guitar amp you will probably experience a mismatch in impedence (transducer is much higher than bass guitar pickup). So get a Fishman Pro eq, or better still a Platinum Pro eq, preamp. This will not only buffer the impedence but will shape the tone, reduce feedback by a phase inverter and in the case of the Platinum act as a DI and more besides. Good luck.

[quote name='timloudon' post='310678' date='Oct 20 2008, 06:28 PM']I'm not usually one for these types of post, and I'm not really that much of an active user on this here forum, but here goes... I've been playing electric for about 6 years and have been dabbling in the old Double for a while, but today I had my first proper lesson on Double Bass and I have to say I'm hooked! Just thought I'd let you all know.[/quote] Great news! Stay hooked and enjoy the double bass. Send a post whenever you may have a query. You'll find some knowlegeble, helpful and friendly guys on this side of the fence.

Just come back from two weeks in Gran Canaria with the seven piece I work with. Chicago jazz (an upmarket trad, if you will). We did 150 tunes, unrepeated, in the first week and then did them again the second week. Many of them we hadn't played before so we were a bit outside our comfort zone but it all went very well and we sold lots of CDs. We had the usual 'I don't like jazz, but I like your band' thing. When pressed more than one person said it was the Laine/Dankworth thing that turned them off - sorry to be controversial. All the gear lives over there - PA, drums, keyboard and a stick bass without a name that played quite well, so travelling over was quite easy.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='292494' date='Sep 26 2008, 10:00 AM']I imagine your best bet would be to stick a wantd ad on TalkBass. Does it have to be an SA? You could always look out for a Focus. It's not much bigger.[/quote] I've posted on Talkbass today. Yes, a Focus would do, even a Clarus but I'd hope to get a simple power amp cheaper. I've already got a Clarus with two preamp channels. I want to split the second channel with its own power output, hence the SA.

I've put a post in the Wanteds for an Acoustic Image SA amp. This is a stand alone power amplifier that AI no longer make, probably due to lack of demand. My chances of success are rather slim because even the UK AI importer says he's never seen one. So has anyone some suggestions for an easily obtained small power amp, rated at around 300-500 watts? I'd like to run a microphone channel through it, after a suitable preamp, of course.

Mrs Bassace says that wedding rings are for women only. She hates to see them on men. The only jewelry a man wears should be a watch, preferably a Cartier. Rolexes are definitely out. What's worn on stage is different, though. I wear a diamante butterfly broach, just to wind her up. What do you guys wear? , or should this be moved to Off Topic?

The bp-100 is probably the least successful of the pickups soundwise, although easy to install. And there is no doubt that miking a bass will produce the truest sound. It's not quite as straightforward as that, however. Unless you plug the mic into the front of house PA you will get feedback problems that are difficult to manage. You will be reliant on someone else to set your levels and will have little control over the sound. What you hear in your backline will be the signal coming from your pickup. If you play in a band that has a good PA rig and soundman I may have exagerated the problem but at most of my gigs I have to rely on my backline. So although a mic is quite do-able it is not simple. I'm sure that some of our posters may disagree but IMO unless you have a good two channel backline amp with phantom power and notch filters (Acoustic Image would do nicely) I would concentrate on upgrading the pickup. As I said, the BP-100 is the least successful, it was one of the earliest pickups and progress has left it behind a bit. There are some players who actually get a reasonable sound from it but the generally held view is that it works better on a solid wood bass rather than a lami one. A bp-100 will generally have impedance matching problems with the amp so a buffering preamp would improve its sound. Fishman Pro-eq would do, or more expensively the Platinum Pro-eq which is a fine piece of kit. A good pu upgrade would be to use an Underwood which has been around for a while and is favoured by lots of players. I still like it a lot although I now use the more expensive Fishman Full Circle. This will, however, entail skilled fitting by a luthier if you don't already have an adjustable bridge. Do you know what I'd recommend? Get ahead of the curve and buy the latest hot ticket, the Planet Wing. The guys in USA are raving about it and it is so easy to fit, sliding between the bridge wings on the E side. It costs about £150 and you can get it direct from the makers in Denmark. Just google 'Planet Wing' and you'll find their address. I've just had one delivered but I'm too damn busy to fit it right now. As soon as I get in installed I'll do another post. This is not to rule out a microphone solution but I really think your energies will be best spent on first getting a good pickup sound, and then progressing in a while to try a mic. That way, if the mic doesn't work out you'll have the pu to fall back on.

So, Phil the Bassist, you come and see my band at Newbury last Sunday and the Mrs gets to see Madonna, VIP. No contest is it really?!!

Last night I was booked on DB for a pick up gig with a sax player, his son (16yrs old) on drums and a keyboard. I met the sax player at the gig and he said we were in for a good time because the host (a solicitor celebrating his 50th birthday) was one of his students - and there may be more. So at 6.00pm we settled down in a small marquee in the garden and did some straight ahead modern standards, some from the books, some from the head. Sax player was awsome, son on drums equally so and I had a big smile on my face all the way through. I noticed several people walking in with sax cases and in the second set we had no less than eight saxes lined up in the front. They had all rehearsed (more or less) Mood Indigo and Summertime and got through those, just. Then the sax player called C jam blues, which none of them had ever heard of. It's OK he said, It's only two notes. So they all joined in a made a terrible racket with some of the soloists(?) told to swap fours with the drums, which was an alien concept to most. A lot of fun and after three tunes order was restored and we did a funk set before the light went and we packed up at 9.00. Good food, booze and a good fee. Wonderful.

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='279599' date='Sep 8 2008, 12:10 PM']I HATE IT!! I HATE IT!! I HATE IT!!! It should never be played again by anyone ever. If you have a chart, burn it. Now.[/quote] Too late! I've sent it to Kendo.

I played this behind a singer recently, on DB. Be carefull, it seems simple but each bass break is subtlly different. Best to listen to Peggy's recording and it'll all make sense. Kendo, I have a bass part in Am. If you would like to PM me your address I'll put it on the copier and send it to you.

For a minute I thought The Grauniad had taken over BC. Just two comments:- 1. Strange that whenever a discussion of 'who's the best bass player?' starts up, by the end everyone gets a mention including the guy down at the pub. Some appear more often than others of course. 2. No one ever considers the great contribution made by the upright players, probably because their knowledge is, er, finite? limited? tunelled? - fill in as appropriate. This'll be dismissed as the wingeing of an old dinosour and no disrespect to the BG players, many of whom I'm in awe. But if you have a chance listen to some of the great lines and harmonies played by the likes of James Blanton, Paul Chambers, Ray Brown, Leroy Vinegar, Scott Lafaro (mispelt?) et al. They started it all. I'll go and lie down now.

I do quite a lot of (jazz) gigs without drums. I don't particularly enjoy it because on bass you have to be a lot tighter with the rhythm than pulse along with the ride cymbal. I have to do this mainly for economic reasons and I just get on with it. If you've got a good rhythm guitarist you should be OK. Take the overall volume right down and do a sort of unplugged set. You'll enjoy it and you may make a few musical discoveries on the way. But do it, and good luck.

My three uprights are:- The German Blonde, Ginger and The Prof. Oh, and the Stig. That way my wife knows what I'm talking about.

Very nice, Steve!

There are two distinct schools of thought on string height. Set the strings low and you will be able to employ a lot of technique and become a hot soloist a la Stanley Clark. Set them higher and you will be able to get a lot more snap out of them. This will give you a bigger sound but will slow you down slightly and will make playing up the fingerboard a harder expereience, especially in the thumb position. The trouble is, the lower you set the strings the easier it will be for them to click on the fingerboard. The quality and setup of this component will be important. I checked my heights before I posted this and found that the G on the bass I use for larger groups is at 9mm while my more 'technical' bass for piano trios is set at 6mm. Normally my advice to a first-timer would be to go for the higher action (your 10mm should be OK for starters) and get your pizz technique well developed. However, as you come from BG, as several guys seem to be doing these days, you may experience less of a change by having a lower action. My advice to you, 6string, is to enjoy and explore the bass as it is for the present. Don't rush into any sudden changes, take in all the (sometimes contradictory) advice you'll be sure to get from Basschat, and take your time to decide. Find a good teacher if you can. Welcome to the world of URB!

[quote name='lowdown' post='242612' date='Jul 18 2008, 12:27 PM']Had a nice surprise a few days ago [not that i do many jazz gigs anymore] 'Have you met miss Jones'... [and not as a funk tune either...!!!] Not sure why i like that tune...but i do. Garry[/quote] Great tune, isn't it. Try to get hold of Oscar Peterson's 'We Get Requests' CD. Ray Brown plays bass and this version is held up as an example of really good, spare bass playing with every note counting. It also shows that a tune can swing without being up-tempo.

[quote name='TheRev' post='240995' date='Jul 16 2008, 03:57 PM']Girl from Ipanema.[/quote] +1. It's been done to death.

[quote name='The Funk' post='236086' date='Jul 9 2008, 09:34 PM']St James Infirmary is a jazz song when Louis Armstrong plays it, a blues song when Bobby Bland plays it, and a rock song when Eric Clapton plays it.[/quote] And before that it was an English folk song.

[quote name='dlloyd' post='236099' date='Jul 9 2008, 09:46 PM']I was going to mention Lonnie Donnegan...[/quote] He had a far greater influence on the British popular music scene than he was given credit for. Before Lonnie and skiffle, I think it's far to say that young people made music in the formal sense - classical, silver bands and a few joined dance bands, very often under parental guidance and influence. Lonnie introduced self-taught DIY music - three chord guitars, tea chest basses and washboards. These DIY merchants then developed their skills and rock groups followed. I seem to remember that's how the Beatles started. The other seminal moment was when Hank Marvin played the intro to Move It. Suddenly everyone wanted to be Hank and sales of cheap solid electrics took off. The rest, as they say, is history. Jazz, now that's another thing. Chris Barber and Humph had a great influence.

My bath belonged to someone famous but I can't remember who.

[quote name='jakesbass' post='231800' date='Jul 3 2008, 09:54 AM']This is interesting. Forgive this lack of modesty but Mike Walker recently said as a compliment to me, "when everbody else is trying to play a million notes you are trying to play one as well as it can be played, If I ever need a true minim I will give you a call" I was hugely flattered, and it sums up what I am about, I want to play the simple stuff as devastatingly well as I can. Given that this is in the 'I Love Jazz' thread maybe it will encourage some discussion on what is the most musical option, because as you say those guys' recognition of that is what sets them apart, and in my view makes them the guys to aspire to.[/quote] How interesting, that's how I've always felt. I once remarked to a drummer I was working with for the first time on a jazz gig that I could tell when the rhythm was swinging when I could move things along with a simple two in the bar under a gentle ride (listen to Cannonball Adderly playing 'Soon' - not sure who the bassist was). He replied, 'yes, but a minim's a long note to get wrong, isn't it!' A drummer with some intelligence - and wit.

Friday evening played Chicago style jazz with the Seven Stars at a golf club at Droitwich as part of their Music and Arts Festival. The URB and amps fitted nicely in the new Merc C Class. Sat morning did a shop opening in Witney with a scratch jazz four piece; trumpet, sax, me on URB and a female banjo player with a broken leg - you couldn't make it up! The shop owner let me park in his service bay but then told me that there was no power available because we were under a gazebo in the middle of the pedestrian area. So I played my old German lami unamped for two hours. Haven't done this for decades but it sounded quite good and my fingers were not too shot. Dashed back home to change gear and then off to Hook Norton Music at the CrossRoads where I played in the acoustic tent with FiddleBop, a fiddle, guitar and double bass trio. I set my stuff up and offered the sound gorrillas a pre-eq feed out of my amp but they insisted on putting in their own DI [i]before[/i] my impedance-buffering preamp - so the sound was pretty crap. Then when we were clearing the stage after our set they knocked a glass of beer over my EA cab. God bless em. Backstage hospitality was good, beer, wine and a good food buffet. Then home to be reunited with Mrs Bassace, a nice bottle of wine and crap telly.

When I started out I used to put the URB on the roof rack - blimey!