NickA

I'll get some tomorrow when I pay it a visit on its sick bed.

Our orchestra owns this rather dodgy old bass. We loan it out to people who are bass less but want to play. It's broken, the bit the end pin goes into came out the bass, the strings went slack and the soundpost fell over. Needs bodging as we have Mahler 5 to play ( for our sins) in a few weeks. Advice on putting up a sound post and fixing the end pin gratefully received. We'd get bass bags to do it, but the cost would be more than the bass is worth I fear. Nb: the tailpiece is really a three string one drilled out for four strings, poorly attached to the end pin with solid wire not gut or cable and the bridge is back to front ... just to add to the woes!

Takes up a lot less space on the stage than my 4/4 double bass. Heineken Zero though? 😬

German for whale being Wal. Many Facebook posts from German bassists autotranslated to " I was out with my whale last night" etc.

@Richard R: Brawley 4 and 5 string, EBS session 60 amp, cheap Aeon sustainer, scales to weight basses with, cake @petecarlton: Shuker Nuclear Device Jean-Jacques Burnel Signature Lite P-bass, Mayones Cali 4 Triskelion travel bass, Bugera Veryron BV 1001M Mosfet head, Ashdown Studio 210 combo, bits and pieces - and cake @Machines: Dingwall D-Roc 5, Dingwall NG-3, Warwick Gnome 280w + Ashdown RM210 (probably) @Andyjr1515: SWAAPATWTBWADS Bubinga Fretless, probably Pete's Swift lightweight piccolo build and maybe also his (not lightweight) EB-3 tribute @Ander87: Some of the gear in his signature - Rickenbacker 4003, MM Stingray Special 4HH, Fender AO Precision 60s, a few pedals on a Nano + Ampeg SVT 2 Pro Premiere + Barefaced Six10 @Frank Blank: Jabba short scale fretted, Jabba short scale fretless, Nordstrand Acinonyx, QSC K12.2, whichever preamp I'm using at the time. @NickA: couple of Wals and a Dolphin. You've all seen and played the mk1 fretless, and the dolphin, but I got a mk2 5er just before the prices went silly. Some PJB stuff too. Might bring the double bass .. how big is the room?

I don't gig with the jazz band much, but I'm out to orchestra at least once a week. Bent tuners and a small chunk out the scroll ( trapped it in the door of my Skoda citigo ) is the limit of damage. The bridge is often knocked out of place by thumps on door frames, but that's easily put back. The only time my dB was badly damaged was when it fell over at home. The £1500 insurance funded repair improved the bass a good deal, so not so bad.

Dam you. I'm getting combo GAS (CAS?) which I thought I'd bansihed forever with my PJB rig. I'll admit that to get the PJB up to gig volume, the total kit (flightcase and PB300) is almost as heavy as the old 1x 15 trace .. the weight advantage is that you only have to take as much as you need and if you need all of it it carries in sperate bits, being modular.

Great post! I used that GK 2x10" in our local university's practice rooms during some jazz lessons. Great improvement on my old trace for dB, but I like the pjb and markbass stuff a lot better .. especially for doubling with fretless electric. The pjb has a built in fixed low cut filter and an input impedance that suits piezo pickups well... and I presume the markbaß does too. You can buy piezo pre-amps (sansamp etc) if you want more adjustability and features.

Tim tweaked my bass ( new strings, adjustable bridge, bridge and sound post adjusted) so well I have no desire to upgrade now. He does all his own work whereas I don't actually know who does bass bags' luthering. Tim's "sales room" is a bit chaotic. He works from a little house in the bum end of Leicester, cram full of cellos and basses ready for sale, waiting on work or just hanging around for a rainy day. You have to make an appointment. You can just roll up at bass bags, but it's better to call in advance to make sure someone is available to see you and escort you to the bass loft ( the total opposite of Tim's place, being clean modern and spacious with everything for sale). The owner David will talk the hind leg off a donkey and it's hard to leave without spending money! Beware.

Thwaites are excellent ... especially if you have £10k to £50k to spend! Last time I went in, a lot of their more affordable stock was out on rental to west end shows, but they let me play a nice one at £20k. 😬 They stock "student" basses too though. Tell them a budget and make an appointment, they'll line some up for you. If you want to dabble in 2nd hand bargains (and get the setup sorted yourself) try the double bass rooms in Hastings and give Tim Bachelar (Leicester) a ring. They have loads at all prices. Bass bags best for lower end new basses and good for non classical stuff ( rockabilly specific setups and pickups)..but it's a trek to Derby ( and/or a taxi from the station). A friend at orchestra has one of their laminated basses, it's not brilliant, but it's well setup, does the job and isn't going to fall apart.

I didn't get the impression Bass direct know much about double basses, guess this is their toe in the water.... But at least it means they've one in stock if someone wants to try some amps out. The chap who did the setup is a guitar specialist .http://cadillacguitars01.weebly.com/ Bass bags are good for mid range new basses. Mostly factory built but well set up. Tried a £6000 Eastman in there which was really quite good. They know their stuff, fit decent strings, there's no snobbery and you'll not get fleeced. There's better value on the 2nd hand market but more care needed too. Nb: no affiliation to BB, but they're just down the road from me and have done all kinds of little jobs.

That's how my dolphin is for sure.

Actually no. I'd never even heard of GR before now. Not over impressed with the GK combos though. I had a huge complicated trace Elliot 1x15" for years; sounded awful at low volumes and worse with dB...so went out hunting for something modern, with smaller drivers. A pro bass player I had some lessons with had a minimark and HIS teacher had a micromark ... But couldn't find one and happened on pjb (both combo and powered extension off basschat at very fair prices). The older ones with "neo" drivers are very neutral ( sounds like a double bass but louder sort of thing) the more recent ones ( eg compact suitcase) with piranha drivers are a bit brighter. I'd be happy with a markbass too i think.

Nothing wrong with those mini marks.. surprisingly loud for the size. Though care required with those weird vle and vpf knobs. Totally change the sound and not really for the better imo. Try some pjb kit too ( lots of tiny speakers) surprisingly neutral... but you do need a lot for volume. my pb300 + flight case has 10x 5" speakers and is the minimum for playing with a drummer plus electric guitar I think; though I take just the flight case to rehearsals ( equiv to your crazy 8 I guess)

Sure is! Sounds specially good with a nearly flat battery. 😁

Think it was a link from talk bass ... In which someone posted: " I don't care if it makes your Kay bass sound like a Gagliano (probably doesn't). Do you really want to perform in front of an audience with that ugly thing on your bass? Looks like something off a mountain bike." Pretty much sums it up imo. 😁

Quick answer to your question. Yes you can make the action easier by filing down the top of the bridge. It will change the sound too, quieter and buzzier. I did it to my ( fully carved ) bass but later had the bridge converted to adjustable. Now back to the old high action for bowed / classical ( best tone and fastest response to the bow) and low as poss for jazz / pizz ( easiest action, more "mwah", lower volume .. but I'm using a pickup, so no issue). Bass playing needs a strong left hand though, so good to get used to it. I often practice jazz with the high bridge as training. Having said which, I just got a ruler to my bass and found my "high" action is 9mm on G, 10mm on A (hard to measure the E as I have one of those "Romberg bevels" on the fingerboard.

Straight to dB without a doubt. Those NS eubs are lovely things and make a great sound, but not the same sound as a double bass ...and a quite differentb visual impact. Feedback can be overcome ( careful amp and bass placement, maybe some notch filtering or a phase reverser). Yes they're huge and bulky .. but mine is a 4/4 and still fits in my Skoda citigo along with my pjb flight case amp. Go for it!

..indeed, look at some of that sites other offerings; bizarre.

Yes indeed you do! I posted it as I knew francesco had a six but then miscounted the strings. Senile, evidently. Worth 12.5k? Hmm. But a good double bass costs more.

Hmm, you may be right. There's a weird hifi shop in my town that has silly prices and never seems to sell anything, it's had the same stuff in the window for ten years or more .. no idea what it's a cover for, but I don't think it's selling hifi.

Don't hold their value then. Whereas wood gets better with age (aledgedly) aluminium probably work hardens.

Bit tinny ... but not nearly as bad as I'd expected. But £13k !!!?? I'll take a nice new T&G Martin thanks. Though this one might be shower proof?

Best bit is the £35 postage. But you can collect for free, so that's ok.

Hmm. Always good to see some innovation, and it has a cyberpunk thing going for it. But think I'll stick to maple. There was a previous metal bridge that was briefly popular. You occasionally see basses bearing the scars! https://www.google.com/url?q=https://thumbs.worthpoint.com/zoom/images2/360/0612/27/metal-double-bass-bridge_360_331e3f5fafe8107d204cce8b23508846.jpg&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwjRk4W6qsr8AhWRScAKHfboC3AQ5hMIBQ&usg=AOvVaw1ny4Vj2wOEvU22DUxV2Jds