NickA

Only ever had two bass lessons .. after owning a bass for 30 odd years and playing in an orchestra for 10 of them .. there were gaps in which I hardly played it. ( I did grow up playing the cello mind.. which helps to an extent). The lessons were still a useful step up. I think without lessons you hit brick walls and can't progress. A decent teacher will give you a leg up, which you might need to get started. Nothing better than lots of playing time though. And though it's possibly the dullest book in the world, get a copy of Simandl and work through the (endless) excercises. Gets your left hand working. Stops you trying to look at your fingers and builds muscle memory. I should get mine out really but too much playing to do right now (two orchestras and two jazz groups : DB = instant popularity)

Don't buy new I said ... since which I encountered a new 5-string T&G Martin owned by an orchestral colleague; I'm in love, that bass has the best bottom B I've ever heard... cost him £15k though. Bows? My cello cost £2 and my bow £1300 ... admittedly, my grandfather bought the cello in 1948 as part of a job lot and the bow is quite new.

Schaller 3d on my project fretless, nice bridge. You're right that it won't work left handed though, the roller grooves are different widths. However, the threaded bars the roller are fitted to are only press fitted into the saddles, maybe you could press them out and swap around. Tried on mine and they didn't come out with the force I was prepared to use ( very little, and the bridge is near 40 years old and ceased up a bit! ) But brute force would do it I reckon.

Indeed. There's a great you tube video of John Patitucci playing with a sound clip pickup and demonstrating how to remove unwanted frequencies using eq. It helped my double bass sound ok through my old trace 1x15" (though getting a 10x 5" pjb worked even better!) https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sNQclaAmyX8 I was at Clark Tracey gig last year and the bass sounded awful, some notes disappeared and some too loud. Even the pros get it wrong!

Spec sheet for my pjb flightcase says it has a 40Hz hpf built in. This thread reckons all modern amps do, so an external hpf might not help. When I've had " boomyness" it's fixed by standing to the side of the speakers and careful placement / tightening of the pickup (a realist sound clamp) piezos don't like being squeezed too hard.

1. Don't buy new. 2nd hand is much better value 2. Don't go too cheap and do try before you buy. A nasty cheap bass that doesnt make the right sounds will put you off climbing the learning curve and you'll end up selling at a loss. Low notes on a cheap laminate often too quiet. 3. Muscle memory for sure, but also proper technique in which you learn to use fixed positions on the neck and move between them by swapping one finger with another

.... Though I realise it does make sense as the only way I can get a decent slap tone out my mk2 Wal is to bias the mix knob towards the neck pickup ( and pull all the knobs out) ... the neck pickup is where the twang comes from. whereas my Warwick dolphin has twang coming from everywhere and is clearly the better slap bass even before its plugged into an amp. I have no idea why.

Interesting - I had a ACG EQ1 and started it with the high filter from the bridge and after playing with it a while ended up with it on the neck pickup ( Oh no! Now I just have to start fiddling about with my bitsa project bass again. Screwdriver time.

brilliant work kinkh. I'd had an idea to do it for years but never had the patience. I'm really suprised that the pick attack is derived from the neck pickup; I'd always assumed it was from the sum of both or maybe from the breidge (which is the default in the ACT=EQ-01). It makes sense as the only way to get a good slap sound out of a Wal is to blend in more neck than bridge pup - evidently that is wher the "twant" comes from. One thing to remember is that the impedance of the pickups themselves is also part of the circuit; those RC circuits on the inputs will likely interact with the pickup inductance. PS A good (free) circuit simulator is Microcap - easy to put *.wav files into circuits as inputs.

Had mine fitted at bass bags. Seems to have been quite a lot of work as the block and the pear needed reshaping. I'd get someone else to do it; however, the £90 end pin was soon £180 once it was fitted .. and I'd been in the shop and thought "oh, new rosin, useful non slip thingy to go on the floor .... etc".

I bought a cello bow off them. Same company as ever but now in an industrial estate warehouse in Banbury concentrating on internet sales. All went well for me; they sent 4 bows in a couple of days and I dropped back the ones I didn't keep at that warehouse ( where there's a bit of a showroom).

Find I sometimes stray above the heel of the neck when playing jazz, just for some variety. Whilst never actually holding the string down with my thumb, the thumb always follows into place as a position anchor ..so thumb position ... Yes why not. I have a cello too, but it's not good for jazz and doesn't go nearly low enough.

And in future, share the load. Jazz players tend to use two fingers and/or the less sensitive side of the index finger. These are hard if you're holding a bow. Given a suitable pause / rests before and after the rests you can put the bow down ( bow holster ). Watching pro symphony players they generally pizz with two fingers ( index and middle) clamped together. Final trick is a little yucky, maybe. Run your finger down the side of your nose now and then to pick up some skin grease 🙂 ...finger lubrication.

I only have the one Double Bass ... does that count? I'd have another one (one for jazz & Bone for classical) but by god they're huge .... and nice ones cost £10k+ each, so sticking with the same one I've had for 30 years now. Electrics ... well, compact and relatively cheap; plus curiosity. Why stick with just one?

DB fits in my Skoda citygo. DB + pjb flight case amp, stool, music stand all fit too. Add a bass guitar or two plus a bigger amp and I need the Octavia ... yes the boot lip is a pain, as is the fact that in all the modern cars I looked at the seats don't fold flush with the boot floor. Car designers just don't take dB players into account! I had an astravan for work, but the load bay was 4" shorter than my bass... grr.

On line lessons by zoom/teams? Text book? Important to get that bow hold correct. Probably best to stick with one bow type once you decide which you prefer then you're learning one thing not two things. I've always used french as I started as a cellist, plus all the bassists I know use french.. but theres no advantage of either.

What wait? I have all the Wals I want and more than I need. Doubt either are worth £7000 either.

Both my wals and my dolphin are much the same weight - I expected the 5string mk2 to be much heavier but I guess the body is a bit smaller and the tuners lighter. all 10.2 lbs I think. though its not all about the money (whatever the song says).. it is actaully possible to do a job you enjoy, getting satisfaction out of producing something as well as you can and living comfortably enough to be happy. Meanhwile lots of miserable rich people doing jobs they hate. I don't get the impression that the owner/operators of electric wood have ever been super rich or wanted to be. Hence the cow shed in Cobham and the relatively relaxed production rates. Leave the poor guys be!

Company near me called "Bass Bags". Guess what, they sell bags for double basses. If they can't meet your needs, no-one can! They can do you a custom bag any size with or without rucksack straps and with or without wheels (though they don't recommend the wheels due to the rough ride they can give the bass). NB: they do sell other stuff these days, but the current owners dad was a bass player who realised no-one could get hold of decent bags, so started a company to specifically meet that need!

Good choice!