TheG

Hi there I swear by a stool that WAS made by Ikea. They don't make them anymore although do make a very similar one that is useless to me. It is called a "Dennis"Bar Stool. The discontinued one has a foot rest that folds away allowing me to put my amp, cab, bags etc on a trolley as well as the stool. Also packs away in the car easier. The newer one has a footrest that is fixed in place. This may not be a problem to some people however? My stool fell apart a few months ago and I had to replace it. You can find the old style ones on eBay. Heres a link to the discontinued ones identical to the one I use for sale on eBay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/IKEA-DENNIS-SET-OF-FOUR-FOLD-UP-STOOLS-METAL-AND-WOOD-BAR-/171409544855?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Stools_Breakfast_Bars&hash=item27e8ce1697 And heres a link to the new ones Ikea are selling (new name "Franklin" with the fixed footrest): http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/40199211/ Hope that helps.

Hi Paul firstly I am a newbie at thumb position. Im at the stage where I can play up there and have been through the pain barrier until it is now more comfortable. So there may be people better qualified than me to say where BUT….. I started playing with the string going under the thumb joint (your red bit). That was the least amount of pain which was good but then I saw a John Patiticci video and he says he used to play there as well but now plays with the string going under where the thumb nail meets the flesh (your number 1). This was the most painful part for me but I persevered and a few weeks later it became much easier. Just trying it out now (and everyones hands may be different) but when I play with the string going under my thumb joint (your red bit) my first finger a semitone away feels unstable and my finger wants to curl in and collapse. If the string goes under where my nail meets flesh (your number 1) then everything feels more stable and in control. It could be however, that this is happening because I am more used to the second position though. Anyway that is my own personal experience of it. I don't play classical either so Im not sure what the official line is. Hope that helps.

Excellent!

How many bassists does it take to change a light bulb? 1, 5, 1, 5……!

Excellent!

I found this to be true also.

When the problem occurred the first time I found a quick loosening of the strings and wiggle of the bridge sorted it but not by the end of this one. I think they took the whole thing apart and seated it properly. They did explain what they did but i didn't quite get it as its such a simple construction. Im not saying that this is the same as you problem as you've got but just sharing my experience really. Why don't you try taking the whole thing apart and putting it back together again? Incidentally I found my bass to have a slight nasally sound from the start. I eventually put it through an ART TubePreamp which really made a Great difference to my ears. I use the ART Preamp for my electric bass too. Im a big fan of it. people do say they aren't really giving a REAL tube tone due to voltage restrictions etc BUT whatever it does I like it.

I bought Amazing Slow Downer which I really liked. Then I saw Transcribe and liked that better so bought that now i just use Transcribe.

Hi there I have got an NS CRT4 and although Im not sure i had the same problem as you I did have a much worse one! Mine was fine for a little while then the sound would cut on and off and distort all over the place. I thought the pickup had failed and was in the process of contacting NS to see what i could do with it. In the meantime I took it into Moseley Violins out of desperation and they were able to fix it for me to my utter astonishment. The problem with mine was that the bridge is a floating bridge (if thats the right description) and it had come out of alignment. I couldn't believe the simple solution to such a massive problem at the time. Moseley Violins didn't know what the problem was when I took it in but with a bit of expert detective work they solved it. Excellent. Hope that helps.

I remember asking the same question and eventually realising that because basses can cost from £50 to £100,000+ the thing you really need to start with is a price you are prepared to pay. Then you can see what you can get for your money. Once you can see what you can get for that kind of money then you can adjust accordingly up or down.

Excellent stuff Pete. I was really impressed with T&G Martin basses and there aftercare. Exciting times. Sounds like you've had a bit of an upgrade. Cool.

This is an excellent price for this pickup. I bought one off them when they were slightly more expensive recently. Fast delivery and I was very happy. £255 is a bargain Thomann are doing them for £350!!!!! Excellent pickup. I wasn't sure what it was going to be like as I had heard that you need to get it in the right place to sound any good but it is quite easy to do this really. I know they aren't peoples obvious choice to go for initially but Im sure they aren't going to be around too long at this price. I am in no way connected to the company. I just bought one from them a little while ago myself. [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Schertler-DYN-B-SET-Pick-up-Contact-Microphone-for-Double-Bass-/171323018853?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Sting_Instruments&hash=item27e3a5ce65"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Schertler-DYN-B-SET-Pick-up-Contact-Microphone-for-Double-Bass-/171323018853?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Sting_Instruments&hash=item27e3a5ce65[/url]

Ha ha ha1 Typical! I like it that 2 came up at once Marc. Same thing happened to me with a second hand car that I set high limitations on (including the colour!!!) I didn't even want to start the process of looking for a new bass because I knew potentially what it could mean.. Im assuming that the ones I found here are mainly around the Midlands but surely there should be more scattered around the UK? If anyone knows of any more add them to the list.

No Problem AME. Good luck with your search.

Sorry, that is what [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Musicopoulos is, as mentioned above. Ive just checked it out and I just might [/font][/color][font="helvetica, arial, sans-serif"][color="#282828"]download it myself. Cool.[/color][/font]

And then there are some ear training apps available for your phone.

I found an AMAZING website a while ago jazzadvice.com It has articles on everything to do with what to practice, how to practice, theory, visualisation, etc, etc. it has really helped me out. In the past I have printed articles out to read them later when Ive been out. If you register with them they send you a new article every so often. Well worth it for anyone to check out.

Cant believe Im still laughing about that guitar bass thing. That is hilarious!!! Amazing!!

Also includes £100 + a hard case! Bargain!!!

This looks like a good price for anyone in the market for one at the moment! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/171234282321?hlpht=true&ops=true&viphx=1&lpid=95&device=c&adtype=pla&crdt=0&ff3=1&ff11=ICEP3.0.0&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=95&ff19=0

Polytune is one of the best tuners Ive ever used if not the best. Im a big fan.

Ive got an NS CRT4 which is solid body. (also play Double Bass and Electric Bass) To me it is like a big fretless but it does have a sound that is different to a fretless bass guitar as the string length is so long which you don't get on an electric bass. I haven't tried any gut type strings on it yet though, reading above. I might have to try. I think of the Electric Upright Bass as being another instrument type. It isn't quite a double bass but it isn't quite an electric. I have had a go of one of those Yamaha SLB basses and they do seem a lot more natural sounding than my NS CRT4. I would trade in my CRT4 for the Yamaha SLB for that reason.

How dare you Roger! I used to think it was best playing next to the keyboard, now I like it on the opposite side of the stage! Keeps things stereo and all that!