NickA

That Dave Gilmore was on the radio a bit back when his Black Strat was sold at auction for $3,975,000 (yes, commas not decimal places), They asked how he could bare to part with it, to which he replied; ....well, they're just tools; Fender make a Gilmore Signature Strat for £2,000 which sounds identical, so I just use one of those when I need to. Since when, they sold out and can't be got for blood nor reasonable amounts of money (one on Reverb for £14,000!) - hope Dave laid a few in whilst the price was still reasonable.

Oooooo! Sounds great in the YouTube. Must be like playing the top half of my dolphin without the rest of it sticking out. She's rather good mind ... Don't suppose I could sound like that on it.

I find Frets difficult enough, picks impossible. Persevering with frets but sticking with fingers. Old dogs new tricks etc

An accurate assessment ... didn't mean to exclude anyone; sorry.

@Richard R - Brawley Artemis 4, Brawley Artemis 5, EBS Session60 amp, something to weigh basses with. @Frank Blank - Rob Allen Mouse Fretless, Rob Allen Mouse Fretted, Ibanez SRC6, QSC K12.2, HX Stomp. @Stub Mandrel - Frender Performer, Hohner Jack Custom V, Deathburger (HB kit build), TE 1110 combo? @petecarlton - Mayones Cali4 "Puzzle" Bass: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYAvWZGwc4s&t=13s&ab_channel=BassTheWorld.com @Teebs - Erm...dunno What! Isn't my mere presence enough for you peoples!? @SpondonBassed - Jack. (That's not short for Jack all, it's just that I can't decide until nearer the time.) @Machines - Sire M5 / Yamaha RBXJM2 / GenzBenz Neo Pak / EICH112XS @bassmansam - Rickenbacker 4003s, Eppy Thunderbird Vintage Pro and Ashdown ABM 500 2x10 combo @jebroad - Not-fender jazz (maybe), squire silver series jazz, old Kay SC, Dingwall combustion, Ashdown 8x10 (Maybe) @Jabba_the_gut - 27" mini basses, Short scale telebass, whatever else I build by then, TC RS210 combo. Cakes @Oldman - @nicka. Since the last one.. got a second Wal with an extra string and those weird metal things in the fingerboard ( supposed to help you play in tune I think, but cause all kinds of problems ). So, yes, please. I'll be there; Couple of Wals and some pjb amps.

Shame they have Paul Young on them. Bought a whole John McLaughlin cd ( jazz, yes; fusion, anyway) many years ago because Pino is on it... for 5 minutes, in the background, quietly. Really hard to find recordings of Pino where he isn't quietly propping up someone (usually) less good than himself. Probably most out there on the Paul Young stuff ... But ohh, that soppy, whiny voice. I love that album, in part due to Richard Sinclair's bass playing .... But no, don't quite hear the resemblance.

It really helps to hang your bass somewhere near your knees, hook your thumb around the neck and to move your hand up and down like a bunch of bananas. 🙂

Now have some house plants in my bass room that get sprayed and watered quite often... not sure it helps the dB and cello, but it's stopped my fretless wal from delaminating ( in truth, that could be the big squirt of wood glue I applied )

Cant do any harm I guess .. unless it drips! Lots of options ( eg some here https://www.thestringzone.co.uk/categories/humidifiers-hygrometers). But they're designed to go in a case with the instrument. Most basses live in the open air .. hard to believe a dampit would make enough difference to the humidity of a room. My dad puts a damper in his 220 year old cello, it also lives in a hard case and the sound still changes with the weather ( he says ). Better advice here: https://gollihurmusic.com/do-you-need-to-humidify-your-upright-bass/. He says, of dampits, "sticking one in your uncovered bass in an otherwise dry room or house doesn't help much - as the moisture evaporates out of the tube, it humidifies the air throughout the entire room, not just inside your bass. So it really is only worth using if your bass is inside its case, and therefore in a closed environment."

My spiros are 30 yrs old ... reckon they really like cheap gin :-). The d'Addario helicores were never much good when new so it would be hard to determine deterioration anyway. Tbh though I rarely clean the strings, just dust the bass down with a dry cloth after orchestra. Segregation of bowing and plucking zones mostly does the job. Ps well you CAN drink it, but their "taste the difference" gin is SO much better.

Those humidifier tubes were a fad a while back. I have one (and the little card strip that claims to show the humidity level). Does nothing in the UK as it's pretty damp anyway. Didn't work in Korea either, where winter humidity is <5%. A Luthier in Seoul told me to keep my instruments in a room with an electric humidifier and keep the humidity around 30%. That stopped the bridge warping and the sprung open joint he fixed for me didn't spring open again. https://www.goodairgeeks.com/how-does-a-cool-mist-humidifier-work/

I bow and pluck. Should be bowing between the end of the finger board and the bridge but plucking over the fingerboard so the bit you pluck doesn't get sticky. BUT I have a bad habit of tensing up during difficult bowed passages so the bow rides up over the fingerboard. Just wipe the strings down with a rag with some alcohol on it .. easily cleaned ( have a bottle of undrinkable cheap Sainsbury's gin in my bass playing room for the purpose )

So just buy a brand new one? Do a blind test and see if you can tell which is which.

Probably more in the workmanship than in the sound. Some of the alembics are just crazy with pointless features like inlaid patterns on the fingerboard and those careully carved omegas etc ... affects the sound and playabilty not one jot; but looks good on the American dentist's wall. Much as I like boutique basses, if the extra work is purely aesthetic, forget it.

I'm in the happy position of owning two (yes TWO) Wals ... why would I spend so much? Well, the fretless is IMHO the very best fretless money can buy and back in 1998 when I bought it, it was cheaper than a warwick streamer. The fretted one; bought at "today's prices", well it was very expensive for an electric bass, but, curiously, 2nd hand Wals never lose value, so really it's no different (apart from being more fun) to having a few £k in an ISA. For what I play on it, a Smith or an Alembic might suit better (and have better ergonomics) but they lose value at such a rate it really would be expensive. Hence, I guess why ancient mass produced fenders are expensive, no one loses money by buying them .. and that drags up the "relic" market and the Fender replica production models. Though if anyone thinks those are an investment .. I expect they will be disappointed. NB: Nothing new about "relics" btw; used to be called antiqueing. I have a 120yr old cello that was antiqued at build - the antiqued bits haven't changed over the decades, but damage has accumulated around them so now it looks "old" as well as "antique". My double bass is just "damaged" which affects its value downwards ... a little; but for what it looks like it's still worth plenty because it still sounds good (and it's old .. which adds kudos cost; people think old wood sounds better ... it doesn't really). But yes, beer o'clock. Good thread though.

Not on my dolphin pro 1. Bit pointless really. The coil tap on the other hand, I really like. Jazz bass mode. Az

It's the massive 100Hz ripple from the unsmoothed rectifier that tastes so good. There's tingle for you.

Get some good rosin. Nymans is best, but hidersine is ok. Use lots to begin with. Make sure you're not bowing too close to the bridge (gets good tone but harder to do). Make sure the bow moves at right angles to the strings. Practise starting the note; you have to dig in a bit to get the string to start vibrating, then ease the pressure to keep it going. My teacher used to make me bow open strings sloooowly making the sound last the full length of a slowly moving bow.Trying to start with lots of quick notes is a killer. Strings are an issue. Some strings don't bow well ... though I'm bowing heavy duty spirocores at the moment, that's on a nice carved dB with an £800 bow. Eva Pirazzi strings are a nice bow and pluck compromise (at a price and maybe ott for an eub?)

Roasted maple with a gun oil finish. Yummy. Almost enough to make me buy a new stingray. Oiled ovangkol quite nice too. The unroasted maple neck on my double bass is 150 yrs old so even if aging is accelerated it will probably be OK.

This is why I don't like trying instruments in music shops, that kind of sneery snobby superior attitude is pretty common. (the Bass Centre back in the 80s in Wapping is the honourable exception, they were great) On the contrary, I found the wapping lot really snotty but bass direct really helpful ( though I never talked to them about anything that " mainstream" we have a shop in town for that). The gallery are also really nice; and to my surprise, so are Wunjo. Still, best to deal with other bass chatters; no VAT no profiteering, very little cow poop.

Re chamber screening ... The pickup holes won't really need it, and copper foil is hard to do in small spaces. Conductive spray paint works really well though, it's what Electric Wood and Warwick use (and what I use for work) and it does no harm to spray the pickup holes with it. I mention this because I accidently ordered two cans of it from RS so have one spare ( and for free ) if you want it. PM me if you do and I'll drop it off on one of my essential work trips around Derby.