BigBeatNut

Hmm ... now you're making me think. While I have huge respect for your opinions ... mostly because of the insights offered by this post ... [quote name='bilbo230763' post='398936' date='Feb 3 2009, 02:05 PM']So when you get to the point where you have found something that holds your attention (for decades), it is inevitable that you want to share your enthusiasm.[/quote] ... I'm struggling trying to figure out if I'm one of the 'uninformed'. While I'm obviously a 'player', and less obviously I know a lot of music theory (okay, way less than I actually have the skills to apply, but still) , and you might think that qualifies me as one of the 'informed' .... actually I find a lot of the stuff that's labelled 'jazz' does strike me as a lot of 'noodling'. Try as I might, I have not the slightest clue what's going on in a Charlie Parker solo. I suspect that to really 'appreciate' it (why am I getting my self into this territory ... sigh) you have to be not only a player, a player who has knowledge of the right musical theory, AND the skills to be able to apply it. Only then, when you hear a flurry of a million notes from Charlie Parker, do you then have the ability to recognise, say, "wow ... he managed to use three tritone substitutions and half the circle of fifths while modulating to the relative minor ... that's way cool". See where I'm going ? I think (and please tell me wrong) that the only people who really get into that kind of stuff are either (1) people who are highly skilled musicians or (2) people who think they're cool because they're parroting the opinions of group (1). Could be I'm totally wrong and there is a group (3) people who just hear it and it moves them. I'm not in group (3) myself so I can't really say. I'd love to hear from someone who is. Genuinely. I know what music moves me ... and some of it gets labelled jazz .... but noodling of any sort (either of the 'supremely technically proficient' or 'mindless' variety) gets the skip button from me. Heh ... just realised there's a theme going on here for me ... my tastes in music are as low-brow as my tastes in everything else .... nothing too subtle for me thanks very much .... superhero movies, highly spiced food, and music that impels my body to join in with the groove .... more of all three please I still think the most important question is 'does it move you' ? If it does, spend time listening to it, talk about, analyse it, learn to play it, hang out with people who are like-minded. If it doesn't move you ... move on. Andy

[quote name='Rich' post='399155' date='Feb 3 2009, 05:12 PM'] Every other post in this thread is now meaningless. [/quote] Except at the very least mine I hope ... I was trying to say exactly the same thing as Rayman .... partial quote [quote name='BigBeatNut' post='396324' date='Jan 31 2009, 06:47 PM']The only thing that matters at end of the day is 'do you like it'. If you like it, find other people who like it and talk about it and make music with them. If you don't like it, don't bang on at the people who do, what do you think you're going to do, persuade them ? Go find some music you do like and talk about that. {snip} Me, I don't have a problem, it's all just music.[/quote] Andy

[quote name='bassace' post='399784' date='Feb 4 2009, 10:56 AM']At that price don't worry about the laminate.[/quote] Really ... not much difference between a £1000 laminate and a £1000 carved ?

Anyone know anything about these ? [url="http://www.contrabass.co.uk/2750.htm"]LINK[/url] Looks absolutely stunning and about at the limit of my budget .... but laminate though ? The way the website heaps on superlatives doesn't fill me with confidence. Anyway ... if you've encountered one of these I'd love to know what you think. Cheers, Andy

Long dead thread ... but I've only just read it ... let see if this revives it. F F S !!! I can't believe the number of statements and opinions I've just read about jazz in its entirety .... AS IF IT WAS ALL THE SAME STUFF !!! Would any of you ever make statements like 'all music in 4/4 is .....' 'all music with drums in it is ...' 'all music played by black musicians....' Of course not ... it would be such a broad statement as to be totally ludicrous. The only thing that matters at end of the day is 'do you like it'. I think that applies to any artistic endeavour. If you like it, find other people who like it and talk about it and make music with them. If you don't like it, don't bang on at the people who do, what do you think you're going to do, persuade them ? Go find some music you do like and talk about that. And don't get hung up on arbitrary labels, particularly one as broad as Jazz. And just to totally confuse you ... probably 95% of the stuff that gets labelled as Jazz is stuff I can't abide .... and maybe 50% of the music I'm most passionate about gets labelled Jazz .... see how useless labels are ? FWIW, likes include John Scofield (but the 'band' stuff rather than the bop and fusion stuff) ... Medeski Martin and Wood (just great fun), Jimmy Smith (though he is also responsible for some very tedious longwinded improv. albums) ... Django Rheindhart (just blew me away at the age of 18) .... borderline jazz likes include Greyboy Allstars, Galactic, Robert Walter and Stanton Moore. People who class themselves 'Jazz Fans' or 'Jazz Haters' might have very different ideas about which side of the line those last 4 lie on. Me, I don't have a problem, it's all just music. Andy

[quote name='Rich' post='396043' date='Jan 31 2009, 11:39 AM']Heh, yeah that'll look the dog's danglies. All you need now are black anodised frets... [/quote] Ohh ... if you're not going fretless then you have to work on that angle ... even if anodising isn't the answer. I wasn't just talking about looks as it happens .... fretless and unlined is my kind of bass, and LaBella black tapes have just become my favourite kind of string.

[quote name='eude' post='393835' date='Jan 28 2009, 05:11 PM']First up is my newly acquired [b]Pub Bass[/b] >>[/quote] mmmm ... think I'll order me one of those but fretless, unlined, and strung with LaBella black nylon tapes Andy

[quote name='ryanzepp' post='395299' date='Jan 30 2009, 12:01 PM']Yeah, that was me. I really dont know alot about double bass' and could do with all the help I can. The guy said "I've just had someone look at the bass, they said the crack is not a problem and the top is solid wood, hope that helps" Did you see the pics, what do you think?[/quote] I just added a reply in the other thread ... however the auction has ended.

[quote]On 29-Jan-09 at 16:36:19 GMT, seller added the following information: I have cracked the top of the Bass as I brought it down the stairs this morning. I really don't know what it does to the performance of the bass or it's strength. But you're welcome to have a look. On 29-Jan-09 at 20:57:52 GMT, seller added the following information: I've just had someone look at the bass, they said the crack is not a problem and the top is solid wood, hope that helps,[/quote] Heh, thought so, that bass is the twin of mine, even down to the cracks, now. I'm no luthier (big caveat) BUT those cracks don't look anything like as severe as mine were. However they appear to be in a place where it MIGHT be difficult to repair without taking the top off. (top off = expensive) I would guess you're not really going to get a firm answer till a luthier sees it. But, again, I bought a bass in a similar kind of condition for £250 and the repairs cost £120. Ooops just noticed it's not for sale any more ... wonder what happened ? Andy

[quote name='ryanzepp' post='392820' date='Jan 27 2009, 03:24 PM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Double-Bass_W0QQitemZ150323457018QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Sting_Instruments?hash=item150323457018&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1298|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Double-Bass_W0QQitem...%3A1|240%3A1318[/url] I have seen this bass for £400[/quote] From the photo it looks to me like the scroll has been cracked (at least) and repaired. Which is consistent with the sellers description.

[quote name='ryanzepp' post='388462' date='Jan 22 2009, 01:08 PM']The Bass says Reghin Romania on it and was made in 1978. He even said himself its not top end at all but plays well and sounds nice.[/quote] I've got a Reghin that's a bit beaten up and looks quite like the ebay one. I'm pretty sure it's carved top with a flat back. Very beaten up but when I had some repairs done the luthier said he had one in good condition that he was selling for in the region of 700. No idea of the age, mine or his. Interesting to me that the seller can't tell if it's laminate or solid. It seems to have the same wear mine does at the edges, which in my case is what makes me sure that mine is a carved top ... you can see the grain running right through if you look at the edges. Am I right guys ? Is this the right way to tell ? If I'm right, and you can arrange to inspect, take a look at the edges and see if you can tell. If it's solid it may be worth more. Caveat: I'm still pretty much a newb on the upright stuff. I'll defer to the experts here if they disagree. Andy

I know someone who has one. He had one complaint and I think it was about wheeled cases in general more than this one. Apparently what happens if you spend a lot of time wheeling it about on pavements and using public transport, then the outer edges of the body (top and back table) jiggle about against the case and can ultimately take off the finish. As a result of this, he goes through an elaborate procedure with packing materials such as bubble-wrap to prevent the abrasion happening. As I said, I think this issue is more about wheeled cases than about this brand. I think he was happy with the case otherwise.

[quote name='bassace' post='387674' date='Jan 21 2009, 04:17 PM']And it's a pain not being able to get that bottom Eb on jazz gigs too.[/quote] You're right, though I typically encounter those problematic keys (Eb, Bb, etc) in a blues/jump blues context. Damn ... the spec of my perfect upright just went up a notch Andy

[quote name='BigRedX' post='387510' date='Jan 21 2009, 01:56 PM']This isn't for you then?[/quote] Interesting thought ... follow this train of thought if you will. If you had a reverse fan (short string at top of fingerboard) it could help fretless players eliminate the parrallax correction they have to do when learning, or when doing big position changes, so fingers would always visually line up with the edge of fingerboard dots. But that would yield a short low string, and long high string ... so to take advantage of the usual reasons for fan fretting, you'd have to re-string with your low strings at the bottom of the fingerboard and high strings at the top. Shudder to think about the re-learning necessary there ... it would suit Jimmy Haslip though, who (wait for it) is a left-hander who plays left-handed basses strung right-handed ... so his B is at the bottom of the neck. If this doesn't qualify for the thread hi-jack of the year, I don't know what does sorry.

[quote name='Merton' post='387544' date='Jan 21 2009, 02:20 PM']That's a very subtle fan, ain't it?![/quote] Probably for the reasons I outlined.

[quote name='BigRedX' post='387510' date='Jan 21 2009, 01:56 PM']This isn't for you then?[/quote] Aesthetics aside ... no. I'm sure that even if I could find the required amount of time to adapt muscle memory to playing one of those, then by that time I'd be screwed for playing ordinary fretlesses .... and I'm not going to go fan-fret on my 3 main basses (all fretless). Really pedantic answer ... sorry ... that was a very nice bass you posted.

[quote name='Merton' post='361738' date='Dec 23 2008, 09:58 AM'][attachment=17688:proto_fretted.jpg][/quote] Interesting. The zero-fan point (where fret is perpendicular to neck centreline) appears to be lower down the neck than I might have expected. I would have thought that near the nut your fingering could accommodate an extreme fret angle easily, because with the big gap you could still move your fingers easily back and forth across the neck perpendicularly, as they're used to. Whereas at the top end an extreme angle affects your learned muscle memory much more, because of the narrow fret spacing. Just a random thought on seeing your photos ... haven't compared to a photo of a dingwall yet. And I'm not really sure why I'm commenting on this thread at all ... I usually play fretless ... and I can't muster any enthusiasm for the concept of a fan-fret fretless Andy

[quote name='timloudon' post='386913' date='Jan 20 2009, 10:55 PM']I'm guessing it's not a cheap addition to an already pretty expensive instrument.[/quote] I think you might be right [b][url="http://www.kcstrings.com/bass-extensions.html"]LINK[/url][/b] [u][/u]