Silvia Bluejay

Welcome, Mike! Perhaps now that you're part of our community you will play bass on a more regular basis? There is also an "Other Instruments" subforum on this site.

Will do! And I'm warning you all - my camera will be with me all the time, and I anticipate a massive Facebook album with photos of all kinds of gear and hopefully of new friends among you guys (and gals)!

HAHA! At the moment I've got a ticket for Saturday. I'll see what I'll feel like doing on Sunday and maybe get another ticket. The meetups at the various stands and possibly at the pub later are still on!

I agree with the previous posts - experiment with the height and position of the bass, try playing while sitting down, to see if it makes any difference, and make sure you haven't got Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (which is what happened to me a few months ago). The latter may not have been caused by your bass playing, but you might be feeling the pain the most when you play bass.

[b] [size=4]Thinking of ditching 5 strings and going back to 4?[/size][/b] No. Absolutely not. No f***ing way.

LOL no bananas in my public set of Flickr photos, but lots of Warwick basses! Oh,and some other pics I took for the past competitions on this site

Yup, got it now - hadn't noticed the difference before.

Edit: I get it now. I think we'll just have to live with this - unless one of the admins knows of a solution?

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1330088948' post='1552516'] Images hosted on Basschat have always looked like that to me - even before the forum upgrade. [/quote] But my photo above looks OK, so the trouble has probably got to do with the individual photo sharing site each of us uses, as well as how this site handles the external link codes. Sigh.

Dave, I think these copy and paste urls etc. are a bit dodgy, because on occasion I've done the same as you and only managed to get a link to the photo, and people needed to click on it to see the image, and then had access to my other public images on Flickr's slideshow. Not sure if it's each website's codes that clash, or what. Feel free to delete my image from your collection, of course!

Dave, what I do with my images on Flickr is, I click on it until it displays on its own and then right-click on it to bring up the menu with the choice of sizes (Medium 500, Medium 640 and Large on my FF). In that menu, I left-click on the size I want, wait for the photo to display, then right-click to "Copy image location" and paste the url in the Image box in this site's reply. Trying it now: Click on photo on Flicker's list of thumbnails Photo appears larger but with magnifying glass symbol in place of the cursor. Click on photo. Photo appears again as part of (static) slideshow Right-click on photo, choose Medium 640 from menu Right-click on photo that appears, to bring up another menu, choose Copy Image Location Click on Image icon at top of this reply box Paste OK Result:

LOL!

Haha, I agree! Just go for it and buy the best you can afford. I deliberately went for the cheapest option only because I was going to experiment with making it left-handed myself, and I thought I better limit the risk in case of abject failure I simply haven't got the space for a DB at home, so I'm waiting until I have enough money for this baby: [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/ns_design_nxt_5_bass_lh_bs.htm"]http://www.thomann.d..._bass_lh_bs.htm[/url]

[quote name='Thurbs' timestamp='1329982393' post='1550651'] As an aside, once you have been using the DB for any length of time, a BG just feels so easly to play and strangely has really brought my playing on leaps and bounds. No idea why though, maybe it just feels so much easier in comparison? [/quote] If you play DB at the beginning of your session, and then switch to BG, it sure as hell feels a lot SMALLER! Less distance for your fingers to travel in order to play the notes, which results in your playing being faster. With the help of muscle memory, that probably tends to become a permanent feeling.

Hi Joe, and welcome to the site! I will leave the task of replying to the more specific among your questions to the experts here. What I would recommend, as a fellow DB/EUB learner, is that you take a few lessons with a real DB teacher rather than rely exclusively on books or DVDs. Having someone correcting your tecnique and helping you to avoid acquiring bad habits is invaluable. And another thing - is it necessary to learn to use a bow? I pluck my upright (there's a special technique that's different from playing the bass guitar) and I've never considered getting a bow. I suppose it'll depend on the type of music you want to play. Oh, yet another thing - be prepared: if you learn to play it correctly, so that it doesn't hurt you, you will fall head over heels in love with your double bass.

[quote name='ped' timestamp='1329922233' post='1549795'] I should be hearing about stickers this week so hope to be able to add them soon! Cheers [/quote] Excellent. Thanks!

While even the smallest polo would look like a tent on my tiny size 6 frame, I would happily consider buying other types of merch, if you managed to expand the range beyond clothes at some point in the future. I love the bass guitar and double bass designs. Good work.

LOL Loving the idea of the BC blog. Please keep us posted (no pun intended)!

The pub meetup on Saturday after the show is still on AFAIK, with details to be shared when we meet the guys at their stands at the show. So, if you have time to join us in the evening, go for the Saturday ticket. Or even better, both days!

YAY! Three of us then!

[quote name='derrenleepoole' timestamp='1329832680' post='1548065'] The word I would use is frustration rather than contempt. Especially if you're playing your socks off and hardly anyone is paying attention. I don't have contempt at the audience for that, but it's frustrating nonetheless. [/quote] That I do understand. Many people are completely unappreciative of the effort it takes to get up on stage with a band and try to entertain.

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1329832174' post='1548051'] Dream Theater are my favourite band and Dave Ellefson is my favourite bassist [/quote] Ooo... I sense a separate "fave hard rock/heavy metal bassist and band" thread coming! Off to check out and like your band on FB

Oh no! I sympathise - I've got a cut on the tip of my index finger on my fretting hand, which means no DB and a limited amount of BG playing for the next few days. Splattering blood on strings and fingerboard may look very hardcore metal, but it ain't fun. Hope that cut isn't too bad and your finger gets well very soon.

My experience as a relatively music-savvy member of the audience is that most punters have no musical knowledge whatsoever, and will only respond to songs they know and/or songs that are meaningful to them, such as their fave tunes from when they were teenagers, or university students, etc. That's the reason why some cover bands playing in certain venues choose - or are required to - stick to a decade or musical era (70s, 80s, Motown, etc.) and depart from it only to play very well known classics: they need to adjust to the age group of the majority of the customers in the pub or bar, and/or to the image of the pub or bar itself. Obviously, trendy places frequented by teenage and early 20somethings will require trendy bands to play for them. If you play in a cover band as your daily job, you will have your share of annoying "customers" just like any other employee dealing with the public - shop assistants, call centre operators, you name it. Unfortunately, it's a fact of life.

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1329777930' post='1547354'] Good pick! Was my third ever bassline... tuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuune [/quote] Fellow trad metalhead I assume? Good to know I'm not the only one left on planet Earth