NickA

How far does 9ml go? I'll stick to vodka, that's £12 a litre not £50 ...and you can drink what's left, if you're desperate😁.

I used them for the cello bows. Worked well. My bass bow came from bass bags, they loaned it to me for a month, but had to order it in specially. Caswells had stock in hand. Bowspeed in Bristol are another option.

I used to think bows were unimportant ... then I tried a £1000 one instead of the basic wood one I'd had for 30 years, revelation. So then got to thinking about my cello bow which I'd had for 45 years. I got a shop to send me 6 bows around the £1000 mark ... all better, all different. I decided to buy a carbon arcus T4 which out performed the wooden bows at that price. But back in the shop I asked to try the £1300 T5; not just incrementally better but definitely better so I bought that .. I didn't dare try the £1600 T6. Now I'm wondering about trading my £1000 bass bow in for a better one. They really do make a difference. And they need to be suited to your bass. A dark bass might need a brighter bow etc etc ...and down the rabbit hole we go. What makes a "good" one is what feels best in your hand and makes the sound you want. And that may change as your playing develops. Beware of fancy woods and precious metals, they put gold trimmings on good expensive bows as a signifier that it's one of their best; but putting gold on a bow doesn't improve it, just ups the price. Rules of thumb: glass fibre bows are rubbish. Cheap carbon bow's a bit better, basic "Brazil wood" bows better still, then fancy carbon bows eg from coda and arcus will match or beat any wood bow at the same price. Then bespoke hand crafted Pernambuco bows from a reputable bow maker ... You're talking £3000+ now. Also bragging rights antique bows from tourte, tubbs, hills, sartory etc ..you're paying for rarity as well as quality then. £10k anyone, £50k? I have right now a gold mounted hand made Pernambuco cello bow that was my dads, valued at around £3k ... it's horrible with my cello.

Use the contents as a solvent and fill it with decent malt whisky 😁

Dolphins are special. Took mine out gigging last night and realised I play my Wal a bit too much. Lovely neck, excellent ergonomics and a sound that's clear as a bell. Indicating once again that there is no ONE dream bass.

Are they handed? The symmetry suggests you could play it either way. Tho I guess the strings would be back to front for you, so the nut and bridge would need adapting .. but not too hard to do?

..to clean my fingerboards! Too boring as a drink, tho we usually have a bottle around for my wife to splash in soft drinks ..to make them more interesting!

I just use vodka.

We use them at work permanently on charge where possible, if the power drops out the jackery takes over. We have a set of solar panels for outdoor work away from a socket. We used to use lead acid UPS devices which weigh a ton, have noisy fans and provide backup for minutes not hours...awful things.

Rating and power draw are very different. A 350W pa will probs only draw 50W on average. Plug your pa into the jackery 240 and see what its LCD says about power usage ( add 5W or so for the power used by the Jackery itself). Multiply that power figure by the number of hours you want to play and that's your required Whr rating .. or try it in a rehearsal and see how long it lasts. If the 240 lasts 30 min, then the 500 will last an hour etc.

Conversation off line with another bass chatter..... I tried powering my pjb rig from a jackery 240. The 150W flight case only draws around 25W and even the 250W pb300 only draws another 25W. I could play through the flight case all day. These class d based amps draw next to nothing. The 1kWh jackery is seriously heavy and expensive mind ... then again, so is a petrol generator. No need for a busking amp, buy a lithium battery pack and use your usual rig ( unless it's a 4x10 powered by a valve amp ).

Plus 1 on that Sandberg. Before I folded and bought my fretted Wal 5 string I tried a load of 5 string basses and tbe Sandberg vm was the best all rounder; heck, they even got the p pickup the right way round! A super flexible quality bass. The Wal's bottom B is better and it's a lovely thing to have etc, but the Sandberg is £1800 available immediately ( could have had one for £1400 from Wunjo) whereas the Wal is a saga of hunting, waiting, bidding, loosing out to someone else and then £5000+ to pay.

Superb bits of kit. We use them for work, powering up test kit when there's no mains or the mains goes on and off. They do all different sizes ( and prices) too. Had one confiscated trying to get it on a flight tho ... Battery too big :-(

"Every Jack shall find his Jill and every Jill her Jack" 😉 (..which I thought was shakespeare, but isn't.)

My thoughts exactly. It shouldn't be an issue, but it is rather ick.

I am extremely happy with my fretless wal custom. Though it would be nice if it were walnut or Wenge not maple faced ... and though the sound is great, the ergonomics have room for improvement. I wonder what a through neck Wal would be like ..it would have to be Ken Smith style complicated in construction to avoid maple and hornbeam going right through it..and a longer finger board would be good to have. A fretless 4 string mk3 Wal might do it. Someones earlier suggestion of an Alembic with Wal innards might be spot on. Though my own attempts to make something with all the merits of a fender jazz, a Warwick dolphin and a Wal custom did not create something better than any of those (well, maybe better than the fender).

I have some history with viols.. " early music" was a "thing" when I was at primary school and we got to play recorders along with a viol consort. My next school had a cupboard full of cornetti and crum horns, a recorder consort ( praetorius, holborn, Byrd etc) and a chamber orchestra for Bach and Vivaldi. Since I inherited my dad's bass de viol (a student six string) I've been chatting with the doyenne of UK viol playing, Alison Crum, who turns out to know some people I know and several my brother has played with. I have all the background and none of the ability! 😂. Roll on retirement and I'll spend a morning a week on viol (a day on cello, a day on classical double bass, a day on jazz double bass and a day on electric..half on fretted, half on fretless) and get back to grips with the old alto block flute... not enough days in the week sadly. Neither cello nor viol have been played in weeks.

Add two strings, strip the frets above the 7th one. ...... and no I can't play it; too many instruments, not enough time. And the tuning is weird...and the clef even weirder.

I'm over 60 and already have a Viola da Gamba lined up to learn😂😂

Not me. Not sure what it's for tbh. My amp has a di output if there's a pa to connect up.

Truth is, if you can play a fretted bass without buzzing the frets, then you can play fretless in tune. I suppose once you know where the notes are on a multi scale having frets or not makes no odds. I'm still struggling a bit with 5 strings...having only played 4 stringed instruments for 50 years. Old dogs new tricks etc. multi scale's a step too far for me I think. 🙂

Daddario hybrids...I used a set for 18 years. Easier to bow than my set of spiros. Various people told me they're the worst of both worlds tho, poor for bowing and pizz! Swapped to Eva pirazzi ( advised to get the full tension sort though as...apparently...they bow better ). Then yesterday watched a video of Yuri Goloubev, who says he really likes helicore hybrids! Spiro weichs are nice; had them on a loan bass while mine was being mended. I prefer the Eva's if there's any bowing to do tho.

Fair do's. Mine came from bass bags ..and was badged as a Keyboard stool. Included a not very useful back rest. Maybe not quite the same. The vinyl didn't last long and the padding went soft. Upgrade on the IKEA bar stool I used before tho.

I recently swapped from this very stool design to the k&m. Much prefer the k&m. It has a height adjustable foot rest, memory foam padding and an ergonomic seat that tilts fore /aft. Most importantly it doesn't squeak like the old one.... which is now confined to the garage for when I've some soldering to do at my workbench. Glad you like it, but IMO the price was the only really good thing.

How in heavens name do you play that in tune????