bassace

Some amps provide phantom power - my Clarus does. But if you go through backline you are running a high risk of feedback. I have a DPA 4099 and find that if I use a Headway preamp (which also provides PP) it cuts the feedback down to a workable level. Mic to FOH is the ideal though. Headway is approx £200 and I doubt whether you'll find one in the 'for sales' they are that good.

[quote name='Greydad' post='836852' date='May 14 2010, 08:52 AM']With just guitar and drums you shouldn't have any problem being heard un-amplified. FWIW if the guitarist is playing an acoustic and the drummer uses say just a snare and kick (or just a snare! which we've done) and PLAYS USING BRUSHES if necessary you should be fine. I've manage to hold my own with two guitars, mando, dobro and various other instruments without too much of a problem. Drumming with brushes is the way to do it as far as I'm concerned it sounds cool and is just the right volume and feel for an acoustic band.[/quote] Sorry to disagree but (is it just me?) I have an aversion to brushes. They don't give the crispness that sticks give, they seem to mask my playing and I never have a problem cutting through stick playing. Playing against brushes is like playing through porridge.

If you're outside, you may be pleasantly surprised how well a DB carries without an amp. Give it a try, I've done it quite successfully. A good set of pizz strings will help. EP should be fine, or Spirocore Mittels.

Unless you are playing with a quiet trio in an 'intimate' environment you will need to be amplified. Drummers are OK as long as they don't insist on whacking the kick drum two or four beats to the bar. It should be used for accents - IMO and in jazz. Keyboards are a real problem; they are capable of creating a wall of sound over the bass. Jazz guitarists can also be a problem if they insist on using fat chords over all six strings. Then there are monitors. I play in a band that has a monitor facing me and the keyboard player turned up so loud that I can't hear myself and the guy in front says I'm too loud! If you are using backline you need a good set up that gives you a strong middle. There are some who will criticise the piezo pickup but you will find it very effective in this regard. You will also be heard if you have a DI to front of house but the bands I work with seem reluctant to put the bass through this. I've even had professional(?) sound guys telling me 'we don't put the bass through the PA'. I often ask someone in the audience about half-way back how the bass is sounding. Sometimes I get a surprise! Hope this helps.

Speaking as an oldie, it's nice to see Tubby Hayes's contribution acknowledged. My very young band did a gig opposite his quartet at Oxford Town Hall in the very early sixties. His image had been that of a bruiser but he was so kind to us on the gig. He was taken from us at such a relatively young age. Still going back, the back catalogue of Johnny Dankworth is worth a revisit. His big band stuff was world class.

Chris sold me an Underwood pickup. All very easy and no hassle. Deal with confidence.

Yes, mine is, but that's a few decades later.

Go to Thwaites? You're following a fine tradition, eg my brother sold his EBO in '66 to buy an engagement ring. Enjoy your marriage and then later think about another DB.

I know that most of you guys play rock so I defer to your opinions. From a jazz point of view, to me it's always the hi-hat or the ride cymbal. The kick drum hasn't been the driver in jazz for the last 50 years or so. As a DB player, the less of kick drum the better IMO.

Oh, go on then. PM'd

Makes any double bass pickup sound great. It's in the Effects For Sale section. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=86345"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=86345[/url]

[quote name='gcordez' post='821046' date='Apr 27 2010, 07:47 PM']im hoping to go, i definately will be going to see Larry Grenadier earlier on that day...[/quote] So, where's he?

Anyone going care to meet up in the bar before/interval?

[quote name='owen' post='820041' date='Apr 26 2010, 10:13 PM']Different colours for different outfits. Nice.[/quote] No, I don't do brown or beige - or orange. They just came that way! The blond is a bit different, specially as I don't do rockabilly. Actually, may I go on? One of the first basses I saw was a blond and was played live on TV, Buddy Holly and the Crickets on the Sunday Palladium show. That was something.

[quote name='grumble' post='816884' date='Apr 24 2010, 01:39 AM']True, I appreciate Zappa but he doesnt dig deep into my soul even though I can enjoy the 'musical' sides of his talent. If I want to be moved then Vaughan Williams or Sibelius press the button for me,whether they are geniuses are for this crowd to decide[/quote] Interesting your choices of RVW and Sibelius. The compositions of both of them had a particularly nationalistic feel and I'm sure that's what we pick up on. I'm a great Vaughn Williams fan. His Variations on a theme by Thomas Tallis moved me to tears when I first heard it but there's a great deal of (to me) undiscovered stuff on Spot. Just to throw my hat in the ring, so to speak, I heard Nigel Kennedy play Elgar's Violin Concerto at the Barbican some time ago. Total concentration and it was mesmerising. Then for an encore he did a solo St Louis Blues - what style!

Is it smaller than a Clarus and 10" Wizzy, or am I missing something? Full marks for the DIY tho'.

Yes, with that kind of bass I go along with the adjust rather than rebuild guys. With pickups and amps, however, I've never considered lack of volume to be a great problem. In fact some otherwise good/great basses have a sound that completely overwhelms the amp. If your volume is unbalanced across the strings then some adjustment would be essential. I had a Czech bass once and as soon as I started playing up the g string the volume fell right off. Not much fun.

[quote name='Doddy' post='816389' date='Apr 23 2010, 04:09 PM']Although I really can't stand Trad Jazz..... [/quote] So, Doddy, what is your definition of Trad Jazz? Pl keep it to the music and not bring in the 'old guys with beards in pubs' argument.

Great Posts! I don't think the OP was being in anyway snobby. What most of us are cool about and regard as a fact of musical life hadn't quite got to him yet? All the stuff I now play is jazz but I have great respect for anyone who goes out on a gig and does it well, whether it's pop, rock, covers, folk, jazz or whatever. If someone phoned and offered me a tour with a good pop show I'd jump at it. Only two kinds of music; good and bad.

The AI after-sales service is legendary in the States but I wondered how it would cross over to the UK. When I bought my Clarus two years ago I had a 'fizz' when I switched the amp off. The switch contacts were not disengaging cleanly and over time this would probably lead to contact burn out. I usually got over this by pulling the mains lead out after a gig but it was a bit of a pain. Belatedly I emailed Bassadder at Overwater where I bought it, asking what options are there for repair bearing in mind I was busy gigging. He said he'd send me down a new part,easy to replace. I expected a switch but what I didn't expect was a whole new chassis. Full marks to BA and Overwater for great service. Hope this is on the right forum.

I sometimes use a DPA 4099 mic via a headway preamp. The combination is significantly better in overcoming feedback from the backline compared to a lot of other systems. I say 'sometimes' because most other times I just want to go to the gig a plug in and play without the hassle of the extra wiring. When I know that there will good front of house I certainly take the mic.

[quote name='grahambrown1986' post='813591' date='Apr 21 2010, 11:27 AM']Bassace: that looks amazing. Is it stable?[/quote] Stable-ish. I copied the idea from a DB dealer who had lots of basses all over his house. There are no 'tiny feet' round the house so it's OK. Wouldn't use that design on a gig tho' even for one bass.

I started with a Boosey & Hawkes Czech double bass, laminated, new for £45. The only pickups available then (1961) were DiArmond contact mics and they made a crap sound. So I used a Reslo ribbon mic on a stand. I made my own enclosure to Goodmans designs to house an 18" speaker. Enclosure was massive! I had a Leak HiFi main amp and my brother built me a custom one valve preamp. Later my first bass guitar was a Burns (pre-Bison). When I wanted to upgrade, in 64 if I remember correctly, I went up to London and had the choice of a Fender Jazz and an EBO, both under £100 - so I chose the EBO......doh! I thought the sound of the rig was great but an old friend recently told me that it was a bit ropey.