Rabbie

Aw you guys! Double basses and romance together make me very emotional indeed. That’s love with a detachable neck right there....❤️❤️

Anybody tried and compared to Mittel E? I have a feeling my bass would like it. Anyone has one to sell/gimme a shot of? thank you very grazie.

Yes but only up to 2k mate

Hi all, I have, like all my friends, colleagues and acquaintances, used Allianz for years. Excellent service, excellent reviews. Last year I went with Insure4music: on paper they offer the same service but the price is £80 cheaper!! No brainier or there’s something I’m missing? May I ask for your experiences? also, may I add, I have never put in a claim in my life. both covers are for UK wide touring, including theft from unattended vehicle. Both covers include instrument hire if something happens while on tour. thanks folks (may I please ask specifically about double bass specific experiences, less likely theft, much more likely skilled repair, etc...) r

Busking is best unplugged anyway so I’m sure you’ll be awesome in that team, no worries there. Have a blast.

Hi mate, I just measure the distance between the very end of the fingerboard and the string, which I think is the standard way of doing it. I’m not clinical about it, I use my 5 year old daughter’s Disney princess ruler... but I’m pretty sure it’s around 1cm high, a wee bit more on the E side, wee bit less on the G...

Best way to play. Work on you technique and you’ll be fine. TONE! That is what the double bass was invented for. Talk to the old guys, they did big band stuff with no amplifier. My amp has not come out of the cupboard for over a year. I needed it when playing with full drums, but not now. I play in duo-trio at clubs, festivals and small theatres with no amp, but that’s easy at low stage volumes. For fun, I also play sessions in “acoustic” settings in village halls and clubs around 100 capacity. There is always a PA, the singer has a mic, the guitars and keys have acoustic amps (at low volume) and there usually is a drummer with snares and brushes. I often go totally acoustic and only when there are lots of people on stage, brass etc, I DI for front of house (no monitoring). I am always heard and after 3 hours I’m still standing (though I probably wouldn’t pass the armpit test). my action is fairly normal, between .9 and 1.1cm Strings: Spirocore medium.

Bill Kelday, The fiddle & guitar shop. It’s in Fintry, very remote, but well worth the trip. A knowledgeable luthier, very safe hands, and a lovely guy to booth. Ciao https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=211348258910716&ref=content_filter

Geoff Chalmers’s site Discover Double Bass is a must! Wonderful resource for the beginner player and well beyond, especially those who are exactly in your situation re. teacher/cash. I wish a site like this existed when I started out... Heres the link https://discoverdoublebass.com/

Awesome!! You rock!

Hi Guy, hard to tell from photos. There are lots of factors that will obviously bring the value down, especially the non original top and the non-Ebony board, but if the sound is great and it’s solid, it may fetch a good price for a serious learner or a club player. I personally like those basses with little pedigree and a good sound which you can play happily without too many worries of a bump. You should really take it to a local luthier for an opinion, where are you based? There is a thread with lots of luthiers details in it, you may find one near you. Hope this helps.

Hello Pete, as you quite rightly said, this is a huge area, likely to mildly upset the connoisseur by relating my experience. I’m no Milt Hinton, but I have recorded in a fair few studios, so I have formed an opinion which I transiently consider sensible (I.e. I may change my mind next week). I started out by being very particular about mic placements and now I’m of the school of thought of “stick the best mic you have a foot-and-a-bit away from my bridge and I will try to play my socks off”. That seems to work for me at the moment. Depending on your personality trait, you may also augment your chances of success by bribing/threatening the engineer. I feel being friendly works best... what I find very important is to keep your cans at a minimum volume on one ear only, so you can hear yourself playing “in the real world” which is essential for tone and intonation. your problem really lies on the mixing afterwards, when the bass may keep being pushed further and further back...you may want to keep the threats for that phase.... all of this may well be a load of rubbish of course. Most of all, have fun!

I just got one and it’s great!

That bass bar looks good: I’m going to enquire about it. Thanks for the tip guys. r

Different budget, I know, but the Vintage Revolution Acoustic Box II is the bees knees... it is not cheap, BUT it is several leagues above the others I tried and it is the best for microphones and blending a mic with a pickup. I still play the fun pub gig with a mag pickup and a Headway, but for good gigs, I definitely do not leave the house without it! Sounds brilliant with the Remic mic. Not at all dissing the other preamps, which are great at letting a DB pickup work with regular bass amplifiers. To sound like you sound acoustically though requires different tools, and I think the Acoustic Box 2 and a mic do the business.

It’s a minefield potentially. I would start from the peg-end and check all potentially rattling places: strings afterlenght, loose tuning machines, nut, fingerboard, neck joint, tailpiece, endpin. Is the action too low for your playing style/strings? If you don’t find anything simple like this, it may be a case to take it for a quick trip to the luthier (unless you really know what you are doing self repairs are not advisable in my opinion). Good luck and please keep us informed, always good for learning new tricks.

Never tried, I’m sure they are meant to serve exactly the purpose you describe and they are a great company.... from personal experience, deviations from Spiros ended in returning to Spiros a grand poorer for me. In saying that, I love hearing folks experience with other strings so I’ll keep a keen eye on the thread.

Live tests done: it’s great! Total game changer: full control of bass sound. Many feedback fighting tricks. Sadly haven’t used the effects live yet but I’m trying to think up some ways of sneaking them in because they are also remarkably excellent. Running my Remic mic through it: such a joy to sound like a double bass and not a cello in a tin can. everything feeds from the box: 2 x lines to front of house and a line to a stage amp for monitoring. And very intuitive to operate. I’m sure I can get a lot better at it because I am not a tecchy person, but already, wonderfully pleased with it. Totally worth in my opinion.