bassace

I can't see much detail in your photo but it looks as though the slots need lengthening a bit so the ball end is retained within the length of the slot and not towards the hole where it can pull out. Best to mark a pencil line in the direction of each slot and use either a keyhole saw and a file, or just a file if you've not got far to go. You could take off each string in turn so you keep the pressure on the bridge/soundpost. A small flat file with a serated edge will be best.

It seems a very nice piece of kit. I was amused by Gary Upton's explanation of impedance matching which he posted on his website today. Explains it all, I think. I've lifted this without his permission so I hope I won't get put on the naughty step:- Imagine your pickup is talking French, and your amplifier only understands German. With lots of effort and wild gesticulating, the amp kinda gets the gist of what is being said...but it's missing the nuance and romance of the language. Enter the Pre-Amp! The pre-amp is the translator, and makes it so the amp understands everything the pickup is saying.

A bulky case may be do-able when loading and it may have wheels. But as soon as you get it into the venue it'll be a pain, manoeuvring it through doors, round tables and other obstructions. If you only have one case make it a soft cover.

Because most of the time I go to gigs in my estate car I use a soft case. But I'm not too precious about which one. Wheels and lots of padding only add to the weight. The important thing is a case that's easy to get on without damaging the bass; and, believe me, there are one or two nasties out there. As important are some well-placed handles for carrying and loading. If I fly or the bass goes in a van I use a flight case. But 95% of the time it's a soft case.

You don't - you let the bass do it. See previous thread re muddy bass sound in live mix. You use the bass drum for standing the cymbals, toms, drink, everything else on, that's all.

[quote name='sarah thomas' timestamp='1417026486' post='2616349'] Superb. I notice Ray Brown plays right at the end of the fingerboard - I've started having a go at this myself and get a much bigger sound. I've also got a huge blood blister on what was previously a workable callous. [/quote] Stick at it, Sarah. It's the way to go!

Thanks for a great clip, GJ. Nice solo from Ray demonstrating how to build on the tune within three choruses. And I bet he didn't have particularly 'friendly' strings in '58.

You could have a band half as big and twice as good. But I suppose it provides useful employment to the musos. And what a crap rhythm section. All in my humble opinion, of course.

Yes, great value. Just don't take too much notice of the markers. Great piece of kit otherwise.

And Blue Oyster Cult will only play if there's an R in the month. - or have we had that one?

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1416069440' post='2606588'] Ah yes, the" Hot Girls in the Audience" Photo thread? The kudos seemed to be in having many photogenic girls draped around the Bassist, to which other posters would variously rate for "hotness". Can't think why it did not catch on here.... [/quote] Ooh, haven't seen that. Is it on the DB forum?

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1415996251' post='2606051'] i expect that would be because DB draws in a different crowd. Your not going to get some idiot chav types playing DB, although the thought amuses me. [/quote] Thanks for the compliment, Twincam, and your probably right on that one. But in fifties - yes, I was there - before amplification came in there were a lot of double bass fakers around. They still surface periodically.

I don't know about the BGs but the DB people are a great crowd. A lot of knowledge, some of them ace players and a great resource. Sometimes the level of invective is impressive. Through the site I found Acoustic Image, Upton, FDeck and a lot more. My pounds have been going across the pond.

Stick at it Highfox, it's a wonderful instrument.

A great record of a good day. Thanks a lot, Sylvia.

A fascinating article. I've always been suspicious of the mid-board pizz, knowing full well that most jazzers get a huge sound from the end of the board.

This is a thread that keeps on giving.

I wouldn't want to gig a C extension; it wouldn't last long. It could be good to get that bottom Eb but otherwise............

Daf, thanks for all your help with 'stuff' in the past and hope you'll be around for a long time.

Bowie's sparky was electrocuted. He had a song written about him - The Man Who Failed to Earth.

Frank Loesser, the songwriter was married to quite a nasty woman. She was known as the evil of two Loessers. True jazz fact, there's more.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1415270686' post='2598542'] Hi-Fi buffs! They'll buy any old expensive snake-oil! Like £10,000 mains leads made of oxygen-free unobtainium. Despite the fact that all ALL the wiring from the power station to the house is 1p a metre from Wickes... Edit: Hmm, looks like I seriously underestimated the gullibility of hi-fi buffs... [url="http://eandt.theiet.org/news/2011/nov/power-cable.cfm"]http://eandt.theiet.org/news/2011/nov/power-cable.cfm[/url] [/quote] Unobtainium - like it!

First of all, anyone new to the DB, or contemplating getting one, should get About the Double Bass - a player's guide - by Peter Tyler. This tells you everything you want to know about the construction of the bass, the different types around,strings, accessories, in fact everything to get you fully familiar with the instrument. Then there's The Evolving Bassist by Rufus Reid; that helps you on the path to actually playing the thing and takes you on to advanced techniques. Regarded by many as the Bible. If jazz is your thing, and a particular favourite of mine is The Jazz Bass Book by John Goldsby. It takes you through lots of exercises backed up by an excellent CD. And it has mini biogs of all the great bassists of the past (and present) and gives you a great picture of how the bass has sat in the jazz world. There are others.

[quote name='marvin spangles' timestamp='1415105272' post='2596673'] I agree with Clarky in that it all depends on volume. It's my view that DB is no fun at high volumes . If the volume gets to the point where the DB sound is compromised so much that you'd be better off playing an EB then I think I'd play EB. [/quote] The DB sound tends to get compromised as you progress up the volume scale anyway and stays reasonably OK until feedback kicks in. That is if you're not using FOH. At the recent Double Bass Bash Stingray Pete brought his DB fitted with a magnetic pickup which impressed many of us who attended. While a mag is not completely bombproof it can go up to very high vols before feedback. And Pete's sound was quite acceptable. Just to pick up on the Rev's love for the MA45, I find that cab to have a high resistance to feedback and it's not a boomer. Interesting that that and the Crazy 8 came from the same US source and follow a different theory that I'm not totally au fait with. But they work.

Yes, as Clarky says I like my Crazy 8 a lot. I'm starting to use it in places a bit larger than I'd expect it to work properly. I've used it with a nine-piece with no probs. I took it to Blenheim Palace last Sunday - oo-er - and the ace guitarist who I was working with was very complimentary. And we had drums. You may lose a bit of bottom off some of the smaller cabs but I have generally valued good middle and top articulation. The bottom, a lot of it generated by the acoustics of the instrument, tends to take care of itself by the time it gets to the audience.