bass_dinger

I am enjoying this build diary, very much. Well done for saving a damaged instrument from the scrapheap. I must say, seeing the complexity of the build has cured me of the foolish notion that I could also buy and repair a double bass.

@Richard R you can have "Pump it up", by Elvis Costello, if you wish.

I am here to make the inevitable "pump up the bass" joke.

32" scale- Hobgoblin did a 5 string under their Ashbury range, with a Belcat preamp. It was in their catalogue for a while (but not now). I had one of the first batch off of the production line, having asked Hobgoblin if they could start making them. The B string was a bit dull and thuddy, compared to the E to G strings. Body was the same size and shape as a Lowden O series guitar and easily manageable as a gigging instrument. I played both that 5 32" string, and a 34" Washburn 34" for years, before I even realised that the scale lengths differed! 34" scale - Boulder Creek. My current acoustic bass. Surprisingly manageable for something of that scale length. Much more control of the tone from the preamp, which includes a phase inverter and a tuner. A set of Thomastik Infeld (spelling?) strings gives a rich B string with sustain that matches the other strings, and the authority to "own" the low end. I preferred this bass - it was all-round a better instrument. Only the Covid19 lockdown stopped me playing it in my acoustic band (and it is now for sale on Basschat...).

It feels so painfully and pointlessly slow - as if I am trying to play bass guitar left handed. I have gone backwards. As I said to my teacher, "I used to be a musician, until I started playing the piano." As for my piano teacher, I don't think that he is trained in that discipline, but he makes up for it by being a skilled musician and former band leader. I once played an arpeggio, or somesuch, and commented that it sounds like All Kinds of Everything by Dana. "I played with her". On other occasions, he mentioned working with Harry Seacombe, Max Bygraves, Shirley Bassey. I really need to ask him more about his background!

An advertisement for the London Guitar Studio popped up on my YouTube feed yesterday, so, they seem to be active.

You are right - and I am embarrassed! I once tried to clean my 120 year old violin with surgical spirit, which made the finish go all sticky. When I mentioned surgical spirit to my tame violin repairer, he knew exactly what the problem would be. From that day, I decided that I would leave this work to the experts (like @The Guitar Weasel)

Just... "wow"! What a fantastic setup. Thank you for sharing that. There was a time when I wanted a bass pedal board, and to fit some reed switches and a midi output unit. However, I have neither the space, nor the talent, to take such a project forward.

An update - I am working through Grade 2, and really struggling with this new level of playing. It feels so much more difficult than before. However, the reality is that I simply need to apply myself - to practice daily, and with more focus. • With the bass, I play what I know, in the same 4 or 5 keys, and probably haven't improved in 5 years. • With the piano, I am always playing beyond my skill level - two-handed parallel scales that I can't play with the right fingering; pieces with independent left and right hands; music full of accidentals; music with written timings (not by feel or ear). So, that is why I am struggling with piano. Incidentally, I have been practicing piano with a metronome, and when I mentioned it to my teacher, he said that I didn't want to be doing that "because it's difficult ". Surely a metronome is a beneficial discipline, and something that I should aspire to?

Thank you, @BassTractor. Other Internet searches suggested the same issue, so I need to pluck up the courage to take the piano apart, and look at the pad beneath the A-flat. More likely, I will contact a repairer that I know, and ask him to look at it - I am not a bold or confident fixer of things.

I have a Kurzweil SP76 piano. It is touch-sensitive (or rather, velocity sensitive). The harder I hit the key, the louder it is. However, since this morning, the A-flat below middle C is always at maximum volume. Any ideas on what the problem might be, and how to fix it?

I looked up suggestions on Google. Artificial Intelligence told me to use a heat gun, or a sander. I think that AI confused "double bass" with "floorboards ". Easily done. My money would be on talking to a violin maker, or a luthier, to ask how they would remove a finish.

I can't get over how short the neck is, relative to the size of the body and the headstock (peg box?). I see, from the photo of the intact bass, that the fingerboard is where the length is. I was also amazed at the price of the nut - just £8!

Oooh, I know what it is! Great, Chorus, and Swell to the Pedals, a button for turning the page on your iPad. To follow, two more keyboards up top, and a full 25 note pedalboard down below?

No. Yes. I watch educational videos with good intentions, but find myself distracted by those same videos. Get a teacher, if you can - a good teacher is better than a video, I would say.

I would suggest a ukulele. It looks like a guitar, but has fewer strings to worry about. They are taught at school too, I am told. Quality of the cheaper instruments vary, so, try before you buy.

Apologies, I wasn't clear. Or, more likely, a bout of sickness has made my waffle even harder to read! From seeing previous Lego projects, I know that even 10,000 votes does not guarantee that the item will go into production. And even if it does, Lego designers may refine the model, whether to change the ease of build, or to reduce the piece-count. My guess is that they probably won't produce new molds for new pieces, but they may reintroduce retired pieces or make existing pieces in new colours. I thought that the choice of an analogue synthesiser was a little "out there" and didn't match anything else they had produced (until I remembered the Lego typewriter - wonderful!) As for my "homage" quip, that was simply me making a silly joke - "don't buy the Lego version, wait until the inevitable Behringer copy of the same synthesiser". However, I didn't realise that Behringer had already released a copy - the Behringer Model D (and thus, spoiled my punchline!). Again, apologies for the lack of clarity.

The motto of all Gear Abstinence members, every year...

I am looking for an Eastman Mandolin, and Richard's Guitars seems to be the only UK shop with the full range of instruments in stock. Four hours on the train, but nevertheless on my "must visit" list.

In the language of basschat, that means "Buy another five string, but make sure it's a better one next time."

Lego will have a shock when they put it into production, only to find out that all the votes came from poor musicians who are saving up for the real thing, or were bassists, or are waiting for Behringer to create a homage to the original instrument.

Reading between the lines, that sounds like a sad story, even though you were able to benefit from the gift. Be sure to use it, even in a rehearsal, so that you can send your benefactor a YouTube link, so that you can show your friend that you are using it, and that it sounds wonderful.

I say to the drummer (always the same guy) "you're slowing down" (or speeding up).

An undeniably pretty instrument - thank you for sharing that.

How did the event go? Any videos or photos to share?