oggiesnr

As a one-time folkie my list includes those around when I started playing - Danny Thompson - the maestro on upright bass, Pentangle, Richard Thompson and just about anyone Barry Lyons - Mr Fox, Five Hand Reel. Beautiful lyric bass player, tunes are him. Phil Murray - Jack the Lad, Hedgehog Pie. How to play jigs and reels on bass. Steve

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1331157458' post='1568774'] Is Jimmy Moon in Glasgow still going?? BC's Thornybank had a fantastic blue bass of his to sell a kidney for, it's the only one I've ever seen. [/quote] Yes, but I think a bass would be a special order. A mate of mine has a guitar and banjo built by him, superb instruments. Steve

Fylde make a killer acoustic bass [url="http://www.fyldeguitars.com/index.html"]http://www.fyldeguitars.com/index.html[/url] Steve

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1330986053' post='1565999'] Go an see a bloody doctor! [/quote] See my thread about Wrist Rehab. I f*****d up and now have a long term problem. See a doctor, listen to their advice and then worry about how to continue playing. At that point new necks, straps etc become relevant, at the moment you're pissing in the wind because you don't know what the problem is! Steve

It's a long story but also includes a number of does and don'ts. The back story, my day job is as a Market Trader and fretworker (I cut names and stuff out of wood). My busy period, the time I make my year's money is Christmas. So on November 5th I went to take part in a charity gig in Glasgow for some friends, at the interval I went out to check my van (it had all the market stock in), tripped over a sleeping policeman (it was dark ) and "ouch". Therein it got worse, didn't go to casualty straight away but drove home to Hull and went next day. Up shot was a bust wrist but no displacement and the renedy six weeks in a cast. Then came my BIG mistake, I had no option but to keep working which also involves loading a van packing boxes, the works. Outdoors, in winter. Kept taking the painkillers and kept going. Learning point - don't do it! Up shot was that whilst the bone was mending it was also displacing, not a lot but enough to be a problem as was shown when the cast came off. I didn't think it was a problem when in the cast, out of it was a different matter. It hurt, I had limited movement, no grip strength (16%) and no finger span. Also probable CTS from using my wrist whilst in the cast. So physio and exercises. Next learning point - do the bloody exercises religiously. They take a lot of time and it's easy to cut corners, do a few less reps but all that does is extend the hurting and lack of use period. Then I started playing instrument again, six weeks playing mouthie only was enough. I started too soon and did too much. Next learning point - whilst pain in physio may be good, pain when playing an instrument isn't, it probably meaans you're doing damage in an unstructured way. So here I am looking at a longer term wrist problem than I should be, still having pretty constant pain, still not able to play properly, and still not doing the fun part of my day job (being Pedally Steve on the streets of York). Next time (if there is one) I'll play it by the book which is my advice to anyone else unlucky enough to break their wrist. Steve

Assuming you've got your amp now and are still looking for a bass then try any prospects through your amp and play with the settings. A bass played through the shop's Orange stack is going to sound different when played through yours. If you have a bass playing friend take them with you when you try. Two reasons, firstly they may be able to spot any obvious flaws (especially on second hand gear) and secondly, they can play the bass and give you chanceto stand back and listen from a distance. Steve

I'd vote for Red Cow as well. I've seen some work they did and seemed fine by me. Steve

As someone who also plays mandolin I've thought about tuning one of these in fifths, so high to low E,A,D,G,C,F,B. The scale length is going to be similar to a bouzouki (also tunes in fifths) so should be manageable for chords, melody and bass. Any thoughts (other than I'm mad ) Steve

Yet another squeezebox player. In my case melodeon and bandoneon (although I still have the very beat up G/C anglo that I first played). As with most semi-folkies (I've also played covers, country and hard rock) I play too many instruments - guitar, mandolin, dulcimer, harmonica and whistle but it's fun These days my bass playing is mainly on acoustic for a border morris side. Steve

[quote name='Len_derby' timestamp='1330448397' post='1557686'] Yes! Great stuff. I've often thought that a bass banjo with a resonator body would work as an acoustic bass guitar alternative. A lot of us having tried an acoustic bass guitar and finding that they're too quiet 'unplugged' to be of any use in a band. [/quote] I play a Tacoma Thunderchief unplugged as standard and can usually make myself heard. I think it helps that I tend to playing with reed or high pitched melody instruments rather than a lot of guitars. Steve

Bass Banjo? You mean like this? [url="http://angiesbanjo.com/Bass_Banjo.htm"]http://angiesbanjo.com/Bass_Banjo.htm[/url] or even [url="http://www.bassbanjos.com/"]http://www.bassbanjos.com/[/url] Fun Steve PS It could even get expensive!

Another vote for Mandolin Cafe. Depending what style you want to play their TablEdit files are superb and enough music there to keep you going well into the afterlife! Steve

They also knew how to charge top dollar. Most of the stock in their upstairs room at Leeds never changed from year to year. Steve

Bass and folk is always a problem. For dancing it's not a problem as dancers want a steady beat and (usually) that's what the band plays. Songs are a different issue, as a general rule, if there's no drummer, ignore playing root and five, it's boring and it won't work because they'll always be ahead or behind you. This is one of the few chances you'll get to play a bass melody and not get yelled at! Embrace it! It's fun! All that cool stuff that jazz bassists seem to get to do, you can do it in folk! Mind you I'm the sort of idjit that plays jigs on bass so maybe I'm biased Steve

Which part(s) of the wrist are hurting? It could indicate a deeper problem. The general advice would be play bass in moderation and don't play through the pain barrier (pain is nature's way of telling you you've a problem). In my case I'm recovering from a broken wrist which coupled with my job is likely to lead to long term problems. My rule of thumb on painkillers is I only take them after I've finished playing and not to take them to continue playing. Steve

Welcome from another newbie. We seem to be getting quite a collection of Yorkies round here Steve

Do you want to be able to play it fully acoustic or are you going to amplify it all the time? If it's the former then check out their volumne unplugged, if it's the latter then plug 'em in and see which one you prefer the tone of. I mainly play fully acoustic so I use a Thunderchief four string because it's got the natural projection I need. Steve

Hi there from another inmate of God's Own County. Steve

Couple of thoughts - Plywood IS NOT consistent in either quality or tonally. Even parts of the same sheet of plywood will have inconsistencies, voids, knotholes, excess resin etc on the inner sheets. I've worked with the dam stuff for over twenty years and it can be a right pain. I wonder how much of the "tonewood effect" on solid bodies is down to the fact that if the buyer is going to splash out extra (quite often a lot) for exotics then the luthier ain't going to skimp on the rest of the guitar or the set up? The devil is in all the little details that make the whole and maybe the details are just that bit better when tonewoods are being paid for. Steve

Hi there, I'm Steve and I have a long but interrupted career of playing bass. My first bass was a Dallas Tuxedo Bass (c1950ish), insanely narrow neck (about the width of a match box) and insanely deep as it had no truss rod. Bought for a tenner from the bass player in a local covers band who got an ultimatum from the other band members! Anyway a year later (1975ish) he moved to guitar and I bought his other bass (£20 this time), an Antoria EB3 copy which I still have, and played it for a covers band and depping C&W. Then I moved into my other love which is squeezeboxes and the bass went on the backburner but still got bought out on occassions. Fast forward a lot of years and I got the bass bug again and I'm now the proud owner of a Tacoma Thunderchief which is great for sessions in pubs, it sounds great and I don't have to amplify it. However I'm considering a move into upright as I now find myself playing for a Border Morris team and in the open I have to compete with up to five melodeons or accordions plus assorted others. I can make myself heard but I'm not sure that a slap technique is going to be good for the Tacoma in the long run All the best Steve