NickA

Nailed it. I thought there was something odd about it. It's a huge slab of an instrument whereas I always think of Streamers as being quite svelte. Might sound fantastic of course ....

No, I cannot explain £3500. I told the man in the shop that I'd been thinking of buying a 5-string streamer, but that the owner wanted £1650 which seemed a bit high .. to which he replied, "hmm £1200 would be more reasonable ..." whilst this beastie was hung on the wall behind him :¬) Ebony topped basses though: rare things. I've only ever seen (in photos) one Wal and one Alembic. Wenge neck with a maple fingerboard is odd, seems all back to front!

Visited the bass gallery in camden this afternoon. Good shop. They had THIS: https://thebassgallery.com/collections/bass/products/warwick-custom-shop-stream-stage-1 Not seen a £3500 second hand warwick in years (they had another streamer for £6500, but it was one of those "someone famous once owned it" jobbies) Both way beyond my budget so didn't dare ask for a go. NB: why does the fact that (eg) Pino Palladino owned it and played it make a bass more valuable - it isn't rarity, as he seems to get through them like tissue paper, and surely he only sells them on when they're knackered!

We use carbon fibre on boats because it's light and because it bends a long way before it breaks (which it usually does somewhat explosively) ie it is nice and flexy. The Glasser pin sent me by Burnsbass is under repair (first attempt failed during load testing sadly); it's a tube with 10mm outer and 8mm inner diameters; it seems pretty stiff but I guess if you have a small bass and or play (modern style) with the bass well out in front of you - then it would flex more than a stout metal or wooden one. And looking at the girth of Ben Bastin's pins, I am not suprised they are stiff!!!!! The Glasser pin does have a very nice, very sharp, machined metal spikey bit on the end, which I reckon would make a nice hole in anyone's hardwood concert hall stage (!!) but as we are all obliged to use bits of carpet, rubber ferules and other such devices - it may not come into play unless you were attacked on the way home. Glasser could use a solid carbon rod (what's called a pultrusion) or better still, a pultruded rod wrapped in cross-weave - THAT might be stiffer, and rather stronger, but would cost him more in materials. 10mm diameter rods and tubes are about £12 /m btw, so most of the cost of a glasser pin is probably that nice metal spike (and the Glasser NY sticker). PS: NeilP .. does the rubber end of your Ben Bastin pin stick to the floor well? It looks too fat to go in an anti-slip device, so I guess needs to work all on its own. Ta.

For classical players at least, I think Simandl is a pretty standard technique; every classical bass player I know claims to use Simandl ... .... but then admits to ignoring it from time to time (pivots and stuff aka Rabbath technique: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/François_Rabbath) Went to a National Youth Orchestra concert during the week; all sitting, all seemingly Simandling. Went to a gig by a great Jazz bass player the other month (Liran Donin) and couldn't work out WHAT he was doing - whatever it took to pull a great sound out I think - and he was standing up! I expect Mr StringNavigator will pile in from Canada before long, telling us all that "THERE IS NO METHOD BUT THE STRICTEST SIMANDL" (on electric as well as double bass) - he has yet to dictate on the matter of sitting or standing I think - but as the picture in the front of my copy of Simandl's "new method" has a picture of Gary Karr STANDING and says "Notice that the weight of the performer is equally distributed on both feet" I expect he stands. I'm getting old and shall sit.

I'm told "the man" himself is coming to the next Midlands Bass Bash - hope he brings a bass or two.

I used to stand to play all the time. Then I had some (classical) bass lessons, partly around the fact that the bass would rotate and or I'd nearly drop it when moving from 4th to thumb positions. The tutor asked why I didn't just sit down. Now I sit on a stool with one foot on the ground. All classical players sit (some with both feet down, most with one foot down), most Jazz players sit. Most Blues and Rockabilly etc players stand. I guess it's about how stable you need the bass to be to apply the technique you need for the music and how much you want to dance about. Started off with an old IKEA bar stool or resting my derrière on the back of a chair. Now progressed to a proper bass stool with a foot rest. These are REALLY good: https://www.thomann.de/gb/km_14044.htm Now and then I'll go to a Jazz session without a stool and stand for a couple of hours - but I'm not good enough a Jazzist to ever get into thumb position whilst improvising. (PS: I note that derriere complete with accent is not a rude word, whereas AR$E gets changed !!)

" Don't you think, they are making huge profits !?! " But hang on; these guys are trained and skilled craftsmen. They deserve to make money more than any hedge-fund manager does. Well, I reckon so.

Seriously? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bass-Guitar-Portable-String-Beginner-Aid-Tool-6-String-4-Fret-Model-Bag-HR5/223309097476?_trkparms=aid%3D555017%26algo%3DPL.CASSINI%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20151016114640%26meid%3D50e28247bb204e0fa93781185772833b%26pid%3D100507%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26%26itm%3D223309097476&_trksid=p2045573.c100507.m3226

A new Wal will cost the best of £6000 and they are made in an ex cow shed outside Leatherhead. So it isn't only location! Smiths aren't cheap either, nor Alembics These are lovingly hand made basses constructed to customer order and using very fancy wood, pickups and electronics. In the case of the Wals even the pickups are specially hand made in house. Doubtless, Fodera make lovely basses. But the current prices are surely in part down to a couple of famous and brilliant bass players who have chosen to use them. However, old Fender Precisions are also silly expensive for such basic things (http://andybaxterbass.com/details.php?id=1424). With that budget to spend, I'd much rather have a Fodera (but a Shuker or an ACG would likely provide the same quality for a fraction of the price).

My pjb combo (4Meg Ohm input) is fine with a double bass without any pre-amp ... but I guess it's dependent on the pickup ( mines a realist sound clamp). the bass Tutor at our local jazz sessions uses a markbass mini ( only 500kOhm) with a realist copperhead pickup and no pre .. also sounds great.

Those guitarsoundsystem things look unbelievably good value. What's the catch?

The GK amps are good; i've used the mb112 in a practice studio and quite liked it. the old mb150 is a classic used by loads of pro dB players. PJB are better still but the cub will be too small. I have a pjb flight case which is just loud enough for the double bass and sounds great (transparent). Not much punch for electric bass though. Try Markbass micromark or markbass mini too if you can find one ( I couldn't, hence the pjb ).

What a lovely bass. Looking good for 120 yrs old. Hawkes should never have gotten together with that Boosey fellow it was all down hill from there. Enjoy.

Reckon I could fix that for you. I've some carbon twill weave tube and epoxy resin in the garage. If you want it done, pm me for an address. No charge beyond postage .. fixing carbon things is something I enjoy doing for fun. It won't look quote the same mind, but who's going to be looking down there.

Ouchh ! Missed that bit of the thread. Well I also vouch for Owen being a thoroughly good bloke and will bring my Wal regardless ... So please brush up your Mick Karn riffs 🙂 ..and hopefully eboclive will relent and bring his 5-stringers too ( though, my mere 4-string is closer to Mick's 😉 )

A cellist can help with bowing ( but almost nothing else ). I speak as a cellist who learned double bass by trial, error and simandl. Bowing is the only thing that's much the same! Ps: big fan of carbon bows, but mine was £800. Best cheaper bows and very best bows ( regardless of expense ) still seem to be wooden. Carbon has the advantage of being weatherproof, near indestructible and possibly less attractive to dogs ... my border collie puppy decided my cello bow was a nice stick; luckily Pernambuco is very hard and following a re-hair and re-varnish it survives with the addition of tooth marks.

Hope to come this year. Doveridge not far away. Potential lift from Derby if anyone transport short or coming by train. I'll bring my fretless Wal 4-string ... If it means I can get a go on a fretted 5! Amps? Double basses?

Anyone tried these on line bass lessons? https://courses.discoverdoublebass.com/ Eg https://courses.discoverdoublebass.com/p/creating-walking-bass-lines 90usd, but then. Face to face lessons are going to be £30/hr or more. I guess the problem is sticking with it if you don't have the impetus of a lesson coming up!

Sold for £1660. Someone got a nice neck and a bag of spare wal bits for the price of a neck. Not so bad.

One pickup, no electronics and the body is a slab of stained ash not the full, shaped and laminated hardwood sandwich. Then again a MK1 would be over £3500. Put my full blown Wal on front pickup only and wound the filtering off to see what a passive Pro might sound like. Not something I'd normally do. Certainly not the full Wal experience but not bad, especially if played near the bridge. Plus, Wal necks are nice and that alone would cost £1600 new; but there are Better basses at this kind of money I think. ..this for instance (lusted after one of these in the 1980s) https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ibanez-Musician-MC900-bass-guitar-excellent/302831220965?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D20160323102634%26meid%3D14d8e8bc047c4c04b38f6ee857da6953%26pid%3D100623%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D123037422806%26itm%3D302831220965&_trksid=p2047675.c100623.m-1 .

I've sometimes seen 1/2 and 3/4 bows but go full size. Mine are around 72cm long. There's no advantage in short ones unless you're a child with short arms.

Might be fixable, carbon fibre repairs are not hard if you have the materials (I do, as it happens). Photo?

Go French, simply because there are more of us using that type to offer advice! I think they are easier too. This will do fine. There are cheaper "composite" bows, but I wouldn't go there. https://www.bassbags.co.uk/product/double-bass-bow-french-pattern/ Well worth finding a classical bass player to give you a few starting tips. Where are you based?

No stalking required :¬) .... your old ad is still listed in the basschat market place and pops up on a search for "streamer"; which is a fine way of finding how much things really do (or don't) sell for. Nice bass at a fair price I thought. There is also a near identical 5-string stage 1 currently listed, located in Poland - started off at £2000 now £1600. Interesting that 4-string streamers command a higher price than 5s (not so Dolphins). Once I've struggled with one for a few months I may realise why 😀 Thanks for the advice anyway.