Rabbie

Rev solo pickup used for 1 year but still in perfect working order, although of course it does have cosmetic signs of use. It has been shaved to fit my wing slot but it still has room for shaving further or add a thin strip of wood if your wing sold is wider (unlikely). £60 posted

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Not at all go for it mate

Now that a while has passed since I got my walnut pin from Ben, I can honestly say it has made a great difference to me. Going in the studio tomorrow so the sound will be there for posterity. However, for me, the most tangible difference has been in physical terms. The pull-out endpin always felt a bit of a foreign object to me as well as a pain in the bum to get the lenght exactly right. The wooden end pin feels like part of the bass and is always at the right lenght, so that's brilliant.

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Oh, postage not included, let's say a fiver on top of price

BRAND NEW and not available in the UK,
this is genius for those (including me) who slap a lot but are not too keen on the bassmax pickup as a bridge pickup. Basicallyy this system allows you to use whatever pickup you already have (i.e. Underwood, Rev Solo, Shadow, Realist, etc...) and add the much needed "clicky" pickup for the fingerboard + a preamp blender to blend the 2 signals together.
I imported it from US which means that the full price + postage + tax added £70 to the price above, so basically save yourself £70!
I have never ever used it, not I ever ever mounted it to my bass. Basically I took it out of the box and realised it wouldnt suit my use as I was planning to use it on my touring folding bass and it would be too much faffing about dismantling the pickup every night. However, for a non-folding bass, it would be perfect.
Here is the link to Bob Gollihur website, which explains all about it.
[url="http://www.gollihurmusic.com/product/2630-BASS_MASTER_ROCKABILLY_UPGRADE_SYSTEM.html"]http://www.gollihurmusic.com/product/2630-BASS_MASTER_ROCKABILLY_UPGRADE_SYSTEM.html[/url]
Any question please ask.
P.S. I'll give it a week or so before I stick it on eBay, hopefully won't have to do that...

Whenever I play at rock n roll volumes, I don't dampen or cover anything. Granted, my 2 basses are plys with tops that naturally vibrate less, but all I use is a rev solo pickup (you can add a clicker if you slap) straight into a Genz Benz shuttle head with 1 or 2 12"cabs depending on the stage. If scared of feedback, I add in a Fishman plat pro and bypass the amp's EQ. The plat pro is really useful for very large gigs (i.e. Festivals) so you can keep your amp as stage monitor and xlr the plat pro eq to front of house.
That's my solution at the moment, but I'm always looking for improvement so I'm looking forward to what others have to say. Definitely avoid the Ehrlund though, and the realist is not much good either. Bassmax will be ok.

Hi Rev, the radial looks ok but for the extra couple of inches, I'd personally stick to the plat pro. I use all the features of the plat pro and it has come in especially useful with back lines at festivals because you can use the eq of the plat pro for the PA (via xlr) and also for the stage amp (just plug into the effect return rather than into the main input and you have full control of the stage amp too). Especially in these situations, the platpro has saved my bum a number of times.

Bargain! Sorry mate I'm a raw gut guy, but surely somebody needs to snap these. Have a bump.

I had this pickup 3-4 years ago, no longer use it now, but I just had some recordings I did back then and it sounded good. The European cousin of the Underwood: good price too. Have a wee bump on me.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I am understanding the question differently here.
Any songs can be played on double bass of course. However the characteristics of the instrument are such that it has to be matched well to the rest of the band. If you are suggesting that your band will play in exactly the same way while you are just gonna unplug the electric and plug in the DB, it won't work at all. All the band formations that were suggested above take into consideration the characteristics of the double bass by favouring the acoustic element, or at least by re-arranging the songs cleverly. Of course you can sound like almost similar to an electric by lowering your action, getting certain strings and adopting a pseudo-electric right hand technique. But this will leave you with a wimpy tone and a heck of a big thing to carry around to gigs for no musical gain. Also, remember that playing DB at rock volumes is possible (I do it all the time), but it will take a hefty investment in equipment and learning to fight feedback. If your band understands how to make a feature of the DB by adjusting the arrangements, volumes and approach, you will be able to play anything you want and sound great. I hope this makes sense and i wish you the best of luck.

I would look at the classifieds here and get an affordable pre-loved bass from
Someone who has already played it and had it set-up. They come up regularly, all you need is a little patience and the willingness to travel to collect it.

I have got one of Ben's walnut pins and I'm very happy with it.

[quote name='ubassman' timestamp='1389606721' post='2335930']


I dont think you would notice any difference!
[/quote]

+1 on this.
Ebony is more hard wearing in the long run, but if I were you I'd just get playing and consider a new fingerboard only if and when there is no life left in the one you've got.

I normally go for the try/swear a little/sleep on it/try/swear a lot/try/try/try technique.
Sometimes the end result is success.
Other times I just abandon ship...

On a serious note, your post was really interesting ubassman.

+1 to ubassman
I suggest you find the Bassist who sounds just like you wanna sound, then find out which strings he plays and get them. Make allowances for the fact your bass and especially your fingers may not work just as well as your idol's, but this would be a start.
You'll soon want to experiment and wave goodbye to lots of hard earned cash. I don't really know any DB player who hasn't.
It's great fun though, good luck

Do you have any photos? It depends on its condition and of course how good a sound it makes. It probably is not a pedigree instrument, so you won't need the big bucks. Still, try to find out lots about it: any cracks on the top? neck joint sturdy? neck straight? bridge healthy? setup? what kind of blemishes? how does it play? any buzzes or rattles? is there life left in the fingerboard? who are you buying it from? what has been its history in the past 60 years? is the top actually carved? are the seams intact? is the plywood on the back and sides intact? all hardware in working order? how old are the strings? are you likely to be able to play it immediately or would it require an expensive trip to the luthier? Depending on these things it can vary from being worth nothing to upwards of a couple of thousand... in my opinion. Good luck with it.

Most good slap players play in tune, but no bass player has perfect intonation and when you slap it becomes a wee bit harder still. There could be many reasons for this, not every slap player is formally trained, the left hand technique opens to slight imprecisions, but mostly I'd say stage levels are not always favourable on the bass player, plus the need for putting on a show sometimes makes it difficult to be spot on. However I do agree, Milt was the man, though I didn't like his slap tone on a few recordings after he switched to steels. Nevertheless, Milt was the best. He was a true legend.

Still available by emailing Ivan. I use a set on my folding bass and just got a spare set off him just a few weeks ago.

Quite right, left hand navigation has to be different because the quasi-baseball bat grip gives you a much "beefier" tone, whilst sacrificing dexterity. The side on stance is really not compulsory. The classical stance ain't gonna work, but the "slap" stance is really wherever it is comfortable for you. Check out Milt Hinton: as formidable a slap player as any, yet different approach. There really are no rules, it's whatever your body dictates as comfortable, me thinks.

Great player for sure, so is Nicolas Debouchet, Lovely feel. One gets started by having an appropriate set up and strings, then learning the handful of basic slap techniques. I found the Smith and Rubin video "slap bass the ungentle art" (can't remember the exact title, it was ages ago). After that you listen to a lot of music, arm yourself with huge amounts of patience and get fluid at it. Joe Fick level of skills are probably out of most people reach, some folk just have an extra bit of something. Please check out Jake Erwin as well from the Hot Club of Cowtown: brilliant player!

When my daughter was a baby she loved me playing bass in the same room. As soon as she started smiling and seeing a bit further, she would light up as soon as I picked up the double bass. Now she is a toddler she still loves it, but she prefers drumming on the top or grabbing the tailpiece while I play. No matter what, music is such a wonderful learning experience for babies, and the bass is such a gentle giant that it is extra magical for them. Have a great time my friend!

Hi Jimmy can you be a bit more specific as to what your problem is? Is the action maybe too high for you to produce a slap sound, or to low for your fingers to get under? Slapping open strings is very much allowed. Not sure where the G string comes into your equation but it is unlikely to need changing. Finally, yes EUBs are not great for slapping, but it can be done.