oggiesnr

Ignore the fact that a few months ago it was cheaper. The questions remains the same for the purchase of the bass (or any instrument) "It is going to cost £x, can I afford it and is it worth £x to me?" If the answer is "yes/yes" then you have a purchase, if not you don't. Doesn't matter whether the instrument costs £250 or £2,500 the basic questions are the same. Sure it would be nice if it was cheaper but it isn't so that's irrelevant to the purchase decision.

[quote name='pete.young' timestamp='1476999391' post='3159230'] A Bajo Sexto is nothing like a guitarron. It has 12 strings and is more like an oversized guitar. [/quote] Very oversized in the case of the one my friend plays It's bigger than most acoustic bass guitars on the market which, of course, is the problem with most acoustic basses

[quote name='Raymondo' timestamp='1476524308' post='3154942'] Way back in 1999 I played a gig at the Cleethorpes Conservative Club. We were an Eighties "tribute" act...Pet shop Boys, Frankie goes to Hollywood, Duran Duran type stuff. The Audience were all "in their Eighties" or so it seemed [/quote] In my day, playing the local clubs, that was a good gig. You should have tried Gainsborough Liberal Club. First set we played to the barman, the secretary and his dog. Second set it started out the same when two numbers from the end it filled up and it was great. We thought the last set was going to a good one. "Ladies and gentleman, it's BINGO time!" Yup, out came the cards and the bingo machine and twenty-five minutes of bingo ensued. "Now Ladies and Gentlemen put your hands together for ..." which was drowned out in the rush for the door. Turned out that all the clubs had bingo that night and they timed it so that the punters could get from one to the other without missing a game and have a drink in each club. We played the last set to the barman ...

Back in the seventies very few bands had large PAs. A lot of touring bands had FOH at around 1000 watts and power amps were expensive. As a club band we had 100 watts FOH for vocals and an overhead mike for the drums, guitars and bass went straight out from our backline which was mainly 100 watt Peavey units. A lot changed in 1977 with punk and the advent of the HH 1000 watt power amp which was cheap. The Adverts turned up at Hull Uni with the first 3000 watt rig we'd ever had there, The Dammed ran 5000 a few weeks later. Now I see pub bands pumping out more wattage than used to be used in major halls and at small festivals. What hasn't changed is the quality of too many "sound" engineers but that's a different issue

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1476530271' post='3154985'] [b]My own OM is a 1987 John LeVoi[/b], which was heavily used by the original owner and is played-in almost to the point of being "reliced". It was referred to as an octave mandola when I bought it, but is large enough that it's sometimes presumed to be a short-scale bouzouki. The distinctions between instruments are quite blurry! [/quote] Consider me envious I've always loved John's instruments but never been able to afford one. Steve

Depending where you are, and so whether you are near a shop that stocks them, try before you buy. There are a plethora of scale lengths out there and what suits one person may not suit you. In my case I find the bouzouki scale length too long for playing fast melodies unless I capo at the fifth fret so Mandola/Octave Mandolin works better for me there, on the other hand the lower chords on the zouk are awesome. Also consider the tenor guitar. Have fun

I have just been advised that the wood I use in my business is going up 10% with immediate effect. Even though they have a stock in the UK at the moment they have been advised that they need to price on replacement basis but with luck doing this now will mean less of a price hike down the road. We'll see, I'm expecting an overall 20% increase unless the pound improves rapidly. Post Brexit, if we end up with customs tarrifs (and paperwork) it will be worse still. Buy that American bass sooner rather than later.

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1476303145' post='3153250'] Aren't the Mexican ones of that size called a guitarron? [/quote] Or a Baja Sexto. Not quite the same but getting there.

That's the sort of dimensions you need for an acoustic bass to work acoustically. Very few are that size.

When I went the acoustic bass route I tried out loads of them and found just one that could hold it's own unamplified, the Tacoma Thunderchief. The bad news is that Tacoma no longer exists so you'll have to try and find one second hand and very few owners seem to part with them. By "holding its own" I usually play it in sessions or with morris teams so couple of squeexboxes, couple of fiddles, assorted other instruments. It struggles when the squeezebox count gets over four but can cope with any number of guitars, mandolins etc. I've never used it amplified.

[quote name='walbassist' timestamp='1474394742' post='3137695'] Love 'em. I had this Fylde for a while, which was a lovely thing. Sold it to fund a bass [/quote] Given the current price of a Fylde Tenor it must have been one hell of a bass One of the great things about a Tenor is that you can tune them almost anyway you want. Mine varies from GDAE (mandolin tuning for tunes) to open A (A,C#,E,A) so I can use five string banjo chords. DADG is also fun.

I have taken the plunge and bought an Ashbury Bass. I thought long and hard about it as it's not a true bass being an octave higher (there's a reason for those horrible plastic strings on the Kalas etc) however as I intend to use it with a Uke group it does its job. Build quality is good as is the amplified sound however it is also loud enough to play acoustically with a number of other ukes without an amp. It sounds like a bass not a guitar and is playable through any of the small guitar amps (Roland micro box for example) but also works with my Ashdown. On mine the action is good and the intonation is true at the twelveth fret. Being a folkie I just can't leave well alone so I'm actually tuning it DADG which means I can use it in a session as a melody instrument if I want to and that low D is awesome. Overall well worth the price (even with the latest price hike).

[quote name='Paul Galbraith' timestamp='1445902865' post='2895319'] Just discovered a crack on the rib of my double bass - gutted I'm in Leeds... have previously used Laurence Dixon as a luthier who is great (but is in London). Can anyone recommend a good luthier in Yorkshire ? I've found [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]www.KoplinViolins.co.uk on this thread in York... also [/font][/color]www.ViolinMan.co.uk in Harrogate. I frequent Harrogate, so tempted to give that chap a go... Cheers [/quote] Peter Hall in Beverley [url="http://www.peterhallviolins.com/"]http://www.peterhallviolins.com/[/url] Very good and very reasonable.

My rule of thumb for judging festivals. 1) - divide the bill into several equal parts starting at the top and working down. 2) - Now divide each segment of the bill by the number of stages and discard all but one of the resultant parts for each segment. OK a bit of scope for fiddling here, if there are ten stages but only three main ones then split the headliners into three and discard two. 3) - Go through again and knock out every other name. What you are left with is the pretty well the maximum number of acts on the bill you're likely to be able to see. That £150+ doesn't usually look quite as good value. I have a soft spot for festivals like Cropredy which are essentially single stage. If an act is on the bill you can get to see it. Steve

Have a listen to Kronos Quartet. A wide range of music from the traditional "classical" repertoire to modern works both within and without that tradition (and a lot of world and jazz based music as well). Classical is really a non-term, like "rock". Whose classical and whose rock. As far as I'm concerned Schindlers List is a film score written in the classical manner but I wouldn't call it classical, any more than a blues purist would say that Clapton was a blues guitarist (he isn't, he plays electric). Steve

It's a rehearsal, it's what you want to sound like on a gig. Why the hell would you not use the gear you'll use on the gig? Confused. Steve

In a rehearsal I would expect ALL the band members to playing the kit that they'll use at a gig. If it means you need more time to set up, so be it and you all divvy up. As a bass player would you be happy playing through a crap amp and no effects? The drummer is the same. If you want to save time (and money) then help get his kit in and learn how to help set it up. Steve

Loud enough to play outdoors with a dozen other instruments including three squeeze boxes. Tacaoma Thunderchief Rules OK!

Why are you bored? Is it actually the gear? Is it the instrument itself, you'd rather play something else? Is it the music you're playing? When you honestly answer that question you'll be a long way to knowing what to do. Good luck Steve

I started by setting poems to music. Then I started writing poems, totally variable in quality but getting a feel for words. Then I found a line and an idea that I thought might work and turned that into a verse and a tune. Having got that far it was down to hard work in trying to take the idea forward. I find having a Zoom recorder or similar handy is a great aid. You can noodle and nurdle words and tunes and not worry about remembering them later (I always forget them). For me the danger is deciding too early on the tune or the words, I try and work on both together until one is fixed but the other is at least partway complete. Steve PS Futurelearn are starting an online course on songwriting sometime in the summer.

Democracies work fine so long as when the vote goes against someone (or you) the losing party gives it their best shot and doesn't sabotage it and then carp from the sidelines. Been there and the band imploded and everyone lost except for the guitarist who grabbed the name and honoured the bookings with a different line up. Steve

You know a song's been done to death when your local ukelele group starts playing it! It's where old pop songs go to die Steve

If you are a dedicated bass player after high and basses then (barring a stroke of luck) Denmark isn't going to be the place for you. Having said that even some of the specialist shops away from there have a lot of product on their websites that say "Please Enquire" or words to that effect. ie we don't have but we'll order it in if you want it. If you're a multi intrumentalist then that part of London is great. I'm not looking for top end, I want something to take my fancy and there's a really good selection. OK, it may not be top end but on my last visit I picked up a Xaphoon (having had the chance to play one and getting good advice on reeds) and my son got a great deal on a Moog Phatty. Horses for courses. Steve

If they're going to use a click track then get some practice using one first if they've not used one before. Not as simple or as easy as it sounds. Steve

Not classic rock but I have a similar list of "folk" songs that have been done to death and we avoid like the plague EXCEPT on St Paddy's night when they are almost all on the setlist, go down a storm and we be lynched if we didn't play them Steve