TheG

They do hold their value quite well so if you do decide to buy one and sell it at a later date you shouldn't lose out too much.

I have been playing one for years and quite a few players over that time in various bands I've been playing with have said they love the sound of a Music Man. One guitarist told me it was his favourite bass sound.

Hey Zero thats Great thanks for solving that one for me. I Googled the name you gave and the description came up perfectly.

Thanks a lot.

Hi there anyone know what these strings are. I was given them years ago and they are on a spare bass i have. They are very low tension but I don't know anything about them at all.

[attachment=114203:IMG_0421.JPG]

[attachment=114204:IMG_0419.JPG]

Cheers

If you are a member of the MU you get £2000 worth of insurance free. You don't have to register specific instruments with them you just get the policy. However you may have to set it up in the first instance.

As well as the MU insurance I top up with Allianz for the rest of the value of my gear. I too have electric bass etc on the PowerPlay Policy but I recently added a double bass to the policy and the woman said I would do better to put electric stuff on PowerPlay and double bass on ClassicPlay. It works out cheaper and it is all still covered under one policy even though you are associated with PowerPlay and ClassicPlay.

I have insured my stuff for a long time now and I think I am with this company as it was recommend by the MU years ago.

Although I never met Malcolm Healey I did go to his shop and try out around 7 or 8 basses. I was very impressed with the set up of every one of them. Very easy to play indeed.

I have an NS CRT 4. Over the years I have tried various things to get a better sound.

One thing that seemed to help was to raise the action.

Another thing that transformed the sound for me was the use of a Tube PreAmp (Art). The SansAmp has Tube Amplifier Emulation circuitry so i guess it does a similar thing.

Twelve South BassJump2 Subwoofer for Mac

I listen to my music all round the house mainly from my MacBook Pro when Im working on it and also doing other stuff.
Although I've got some nice speakers in my office I am not always up there.

Anyway I have been looking at these Twelve South BassJump2 Subwoofers to enhance the sound of the MacBook speakers for some time.

http://twelvesouth.com/products/bassjump/

I've got to say I am absolutely knocked out by this unit. At nearly £70 I was a bit apprehensive that it was going to be just another gimmick or it just added a bit of boom to the sound. That is not the case at all. The sound is very punchy and round and fits in very well with the sound that comes out of your computer enhancing the overall sound.

The software in settings allows you to set the volume of the bass speaker and also the crossover frequency which is very useful indeed.

I can actually hear the full range of the bass and even turn the bass up a little more if needed.

It has transformed my listening habits and I strongly recommend you get one for all your portable needs.

Has anyone else got one of these?

Unfortunately this is just for Mac. Not sure if there is a PC equivalent?

Anyone seen a PC equivalent?

Also Barefaced do a 1 month trial so you can try it out.

Sorry to hear that Clarky. I've been using my plywood bass for years and it has seen its fair share of whacks etc. I've just bought my first solid wood bass and Im slightly concerned that if I knock it its not like the old faithful hard knock plywood bass. I keep thinking its only a matter of time myself.

I was once on a photo shoot and the drummer knocked my electric guitar out of my hand snapping the headstock off on the step. Thankfully we were able to finish off the rest of the rehearsal as the guitar was fitted with a Floyd Rose tremolo (locked at the nut) although it was a sorry sight. Fitted back on expertly by John Diggins.

Good luck with the repair and let us know how you get on.

I played a very loud gig a few months ago on my plywood bass going into an EA Doubler and Bergantino HT112 & EX112 (two 12 inch cabs, one with a tweeter). It was a Boogie Woogie gig with loads of bottom end coming from the piano so I needed to keep up.

I did find that I was on the edge slightly but I was turned up louder than usual so no surprise really. It was manageable and had no real problems as I was able to step away from the amp with the bass.

One strange thing happened actually. I had previously always used a Fishman BP100 and had moved over to an Underwood in the past few months. With the Underwood the odd occasional note around the D or E on the G string really made some loud strange noise when I plucked the note quite hard. It was so unnerving that I changed back to the Fishman for the second set (never done that on a gig ever, ever). This solved the problem but the sound wasn't as natural obviously.

I therefore think that the Fishman can be better for pushing the boundaries of volume on a double bass. Obviously theres nothing you can do if the body of the bass starts going. Ive had to do a bear hug on my bass in the distant past to stop it feeding back.

Generally speaking though using a couple of 12s on a loud gig is fine in my opinion. Happy to use my Underwood too, I just think it was one of those strange things that happened.

[b]Where to Buy a Double Bass[/b]

I have recently bought my self a new double bass. I knew it wouldn't be a straightforward process and was slightly apprehensive about even starting the search.

Anyway after travelling around and trying many basses, meeting various people and chatting to people over the phone, all of which was VERY useful to me, I now know a lot more about the double bass.

The first thing I had to decide on was how much I was going to spend. The next thing to do was to actually find where the basses were. I searched high and low to find luthiers/showrooms/private sellers etc, etc who had basses that could be tried out and were relatively easy to reach from Birmingham.

I have compiled a list here of my results. It is not supposed to be an exhaustive list at all and would encourage others to add more places that don't appear on this list. Hopefully it will help someone currently looking at buying a bass and ease the process slightly.




Hope its useful to someone:


[b]Tim Toft Violins[/b]
7/9 Station Road
Stone
Staffordshire
England
ST15 8JP
Tel: 01785 811860
www.timtoftviolins.com

This is where I eventually bought my bass. The team in there were very knowledgeable, easy going, friendly and very accommodating. They adjusted a couple of bridges on some basses allowing me to try out my Underwood pickup on them amplified.
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[b]Turner Violins - (Nottingham)[/b]
1-5 Lily Grove
Beeston
Nottingham
NG9 1QL
Tel: 0115 943 0333
www.turnerviolins.co.uk

The showroom had a decent amount of basses to try of all price ranges.



[b]Turner Violins - (Birmingham)[/b]
1 Gibb Street
(off Digbeth High Street)
Birmingham
B9 4AA
Tel: 0121 772 7708
www.turnerviolins.co.uk

Although this branch doesn't have many basses to try they did said that they can arrange for basses from the Nottingham branch to be delivered to the Birmingham branch for you to try out. Could be useful and can save a bit of petrol!
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[b]The Contrabass Shoppe[/b]
33 Clarence Road,
Walton on Thames
Surrey
KT12 5JY
Tel: 01932 248900
Mob: 07976 243334
www.contrabass.co.uk

Didn't go there in the end but they seem to tend to cater for the higher priced basses. Looks very good though.
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[b]Thomas & George Martin[/b]
Babington Barn
Williamscot
Banbury
Oxon
OX17 1AD
Tel: +44 1295 750546
www.thomasmartin.co.uk

Out of the many basses I tried the Thomas Martin bass was excellent and I came very, very close to buying one. I visited George who was very knowledgeable and friendly. They have a large selection of basses of all prices. George showed me the wood stocks they keep and also showed me round the workshops. They seem to have a very good customer service indeed and also after service second to none. I was very impressed by the whole set up.
************************************************************************************

[b]Paul Bryant Basses[/b]
2 Summer Place
Kidderminster
Worcestershire
DY11 6QH
Tel: 01562 637024
[email protected]
www.bryantbasses.co.uk

The maker himself. Good quality basses and decent prices too compared to some others.
************************************************************************************

[b]M & J Healey Violins[/b]
(Malcolm Healey)
12 Rose Hill,
Sutton,
Surrey,
SM1 3EU
Tel: 0208 644 4700
www.healeyviolins.com

Good selection of basses. The setup of EVERY bass I tried was excellent, very easy to play indeed. It was a good example to me of how well a bass can be set up.
************************************************************************************

[b]Thwaites[/b]
33 Chalk Hill
Watford
Herts
WD19 4BL
Tel: +44 (0)1923 232412
www.thwaites.com

They had the most amount of fine sounding basses in a single place that I tried anywhere. Good place to try.
************************************************************************************




The following places I never visited although may have had contact with several of them.


[b]Peter Tyler Double Basses[/b]
1 Oak Stubbs Lane
Dorney Reach
Berkshire
Maidenhead
SL6 0DW
Tel: 01628 621560
[email protected]
www.tylerbasses.co.uk
Author of "About The Double Bass" an excellent book that helped to put me at ease about various elements of the double bass. It includes a section on buying a bass too.


[b]Tim Batchelar[/b]
28 Colbert Drive
Leicester
LE3 2JB
[email protected]
+44 (0)116 2899798
www.batchelar.com


[b]Kai Dase[/b]
43 Mansfield Road
Nottingham
NG1 3FB
+44 (0) 115 958 7663
+44 (0) 7967 695 847
[email protected]
www.kaidaseviolins.com


[b]Martin Penning[/b]
41b Lower Keyford
Frome
Somerset
BA11 4AR
+44 (0)7810 890 108
[email protected]
www.mpenning-luthier.co.uk


[b]Adrian Vickers[/b]
www.avcontrabass.co.uk


[b]Martyn J Bailey[/b]
Sible Hedingham
Essex
CO9 3HS
01787 461128
07761 470213
[email protected]
www.mjbl.co.uk


[b]Websites:[/b]

www.eBay.co.uk
www.GumTree.com
Facebook sales (been told that people do sell on here although I have no experience)
www.musicalchairs.info/double-bass/sales
www.musicalinstrumentsales.co.uk/dbassales.html

There are many other double bass luthiers and workshops based abroad that I know people have successfully ordered new basses from including Upton Basses ( www.uptonbass.com ) etc. I didn't go down this route although did get to play a very nice sounding bass that was ordered from there. There are many more.

Another very good point of reference for advice on buying a bass is a book called "About The Double Bass - a players guide" by Peter Tyler. It has been mentioned on here before and is an excellent book. It has got a whole chapter called "SELECTION AND PURCHASE" which goes on to discuss new vs second hand, buying a second hand bass, where advertised for sale, bass purchase checklist, selection, insurance and investment.

It certainly helped me consolidate the ideas I had about buying a double bass and put me more at ease when looking for my bass.

The rest of the book is excellent too going on to discuss bass anatomy, the bow, acoustic sound, amplification, strings, accessories, repairs, maintenance purchase and performance. It even mentions this forum. [url="http://www.tylerbasses.co.uk"]www.tylerbasses.co.uk[/url]

Exciting!

Yes I did the Gum Tree/eBay thing. Very slow and boring isn't it! Occasionally you see a bass that pops up and catches your eye then you find its location is Devon or something!!!!!!

The bass I used previously was a plywood bass. One day I decided to save up some serious money to buy a PROPER double bass. Anyway it nearly killed me to save up £2000 (it took a very long time). I made an grand announcement to my teacher one day who proceeded to tell me that I wasn't going to get anything much different than what I've already got for that kind of money and I need to start looking at at least £3000-3500 as a starting price. It was such a battle to get to £2000 that I just gave up and carried on with my bass. That was around 10 years ago!!!!!

I was once under the very wrong impression that the acoustic sound of a bass didn't really matter so much (within reason) as it was being amplified anyway and basses are a nightmare to amplify. But if you start with a bad sounding bass how can you move on from that? A good sounding bass will make it a lot easier to get a better sound out of your amp and even though the sound is always compromised by pickups and amps it will be less so.

We are never going to get a true representation of the acoustic sound unless you mic it but when amplifying in a a lot of gigging situations its about minimising that compromised sound.

Keep us posted about your new bass thisnameistaken.

One of the first things I did was to think "well how much is a double bass?" But as they can go from several hundreds of pounds to several hundreds of thousands of pounds I realised that wasn't the right question. So I decided to ask my fellow bass players I knew, how much theirs cost or was worth. That gave me at least a starting point to then think well how much do I want to pay bearing that info in mind.

I know that price doesn't necessarily equate to a better bass FOR YOU (as Bilbo said he knows people who are happy with their £50 bass, etc) but you need to start somewhere. I think the higher the price you are prepared to go to the more choice you will have but thats it.

In my experience (now) and as Bilbo says "each bass is unique" which doesn't help but it is true.

Sorry to butt in Davey but would just like to say how fantastic these tuners are!!! I have always been particular about my tuners and how they respond etc. This is definitely the best tuner I have ever owned. I love it. So if you know whats good for you buy this now!!!!!!! They don't come up second hand very often.

He mentioned that he didn't see many people transposing this tune in different keys so I took it as a personal challenge and did it in 4, from memory too which was good. I will be doing the other 8 later this week to really get it in my head.

I would be interested in the breakdown of the costs to be honest ie original cost, postage, import duty etc to see how the import thing works.

I've got a fretless with an ebony fingerboard. John Diggins replaced the maple fingerboard and it sounds Great. It will give it a nice punch. Not as bright as maple.

I was recently trying to learn the changes to Donna Lee and came across this on YouTube which was very informative and helpful in allowing me to learn them. Just thought I would share it with you. I think he has others too.

Donna Lee - Functional Analysis:

[url="http://youtu.be/dBLAfPwuWw4"]http://youtu.be/dBLAfPwuWw4[/url]

Hey Ash Very, Very NICE! Talk about old school meets new school. That looks fantastic!

My other bass is a Music Man which is very nice but I wanted something a bit more versatile. Also, it had a maple fingerboard which gives a very hard sound, which is good but I wanted something a bit more organic sounding too. The Sandberg is versatile and also has a rosewood fingerboard. Your ebony fingerboard will be excellent. The Sandberg has a nice smooth sound for slapping too.

I was playing at a music festival last year and I heard this guy playing bass in another band. He sounded fantastic. I couldn't see him because I was round the corner. The sound of the bass really intrigued me as it was so good so I decided to go and see what he was playing. Guess what? Yes it was a Sandberg.

I was playing my Sandberg last night and a couple of the band members commented on how good my bass sounded.

Just checked and the ageing of the bass is down to the wood in some areas, so they must take a new bass and then just do what they do to it. There is no additional lacquering which is great. I wouldn't mind the bass continuing down that road to be honest, although I wont be bashing it around.

Unfortunately this will be a long week for you ........ until it arrives that is.

Keep us posted!

Which one and where are you getting it from?

It does look like its in good condition for something that old. Serial number seems to check out though on 2 separate sites.

[quote name='geoffbassist' timestamp='1335453009' post='1631452']
Great buy. You have to be quick on the draw round here!
[/quote]

Yes I pondered your Full Circle pickup Geoff and it was gone by the time I'd made a cup of tea!

I'll have the DPA.

PM'd

Well after many sleepless nights and several tanks of expensive fuel later I finally decided on the bass for me and bought it. It is a Jay Haide French Quenoil - Model L'Ancienne. It has an excellent sound both full bodied and has a singing quality my previous bass just didn't have. I love it!

It was one of the first basses I liked actually but don't regret going round and trying all the other 39 basses I tried which was a great experience. I met and spoke to some cool people along the way from this forum too.

I would like to say thanks for all the advice that was given to me on here (all of it). I was apprehensive about starting to look for a bass as I knew it wouldn't be straight forward so you all helped me find my way.

Really pleased with the bass which I bought from Tim Toft in Stone, Staffordshire who were very accommodating indeed. They even adjusted and fitted my underwood to a couple of basses just so I could try them out amplified as well.

The photos don't do it justice really. Its got sloping shoulders making getting up to thumb position very comfortable indeed.

I was thinking of posting a thread of all the places I visited mainly around the Midlands area and London as I had to hunt them down myself.

Anyway thanks again!