NickA

Used to go hear that Joe Hubbard with Morrissey Mullen at the half moon in Putney; back before slapping was sneered at. He sounded pretty good to me back then on a stock Jazz Bass. This here custom fortress seems like an attempt to make as un Warwick a Warwick as poss ( ash body, bolt on neck, one piece bridge, narrow frets, maple fingerboard) very similar to the fodera and more like a future-world fender than a Warwick. Still, if someone offers you a lovely bass for free .. even if youre not that keen on the make ....

Simandl was aimed at huge double basses with fat gut strings and high actions .. and playing deep orchestral notes in low positions. You can use it on electric basses, but I don't think it's ideal or compulsory. Certainly involves a lot of position shifting! Personally I use a modified simandl ( plus thumb pivots) method on the double bass, but it has a 44" scale and my hands are not big. Also play the cello, on which standard technique uses four fingers with extensions in both directions and two different first to second finger spacings; the scale is only 27" but it's tuned in fifths, so quite a stretch. The electric basses are only 34" scale so easy enough to 4 finger if you want to. Plus if you use the technique I think is called "blocking", then you can play any major or minor scale without changing position, but only with all fingers in play. In the end it's whatever suits your physique and instrument, but good to expand horizons by trying different things.

Helen at Tofts in Stone seems very competent. Malcolm Healy down South. Good recommendations from fellow orchestra people for Timothy Batchelar in Leicester too (http://www.batchelar.com/). George Stoppani in Manchester ( http://www.stoppani.co.uk ) did a great job of my 'cello many years ago and also makes lovely basses (something of an early music specialist). As for "the best" ... well; who knows. But T&G Martin in Oxfordshire are reckoned by many to make the best basses in the UK and also do restoration (https://www.thomasmartin.co.uk/). None of it will be cheap; these are skilled people who take time and care and why shouldn't they be well paid for that.

1885 German bass. Had it 30 years. Spent £136 on new strings 20 years ago. £800 on a bow last year. Two carry cases over the years .... That's it. To be fair tho, it did fall over once and the finger board fell off, repaired at great cost to the insurers ( who have since gotten their own back by charging outrageous premiums ). Whilst being mended the mender had a poke inside and declared that the fall had dislodged old repairs, so I got lots of mends re-done and a new bass bar too. Hence the £1500 bill on a bass that cost £2000. That was 22yrs ago and It's been great since. Out to orchestra every week, jazz sesh once a fortnight, no problems. Go for it, but expect big insurance bills.

'cause it's "vintage", ie nearly as old as me! Shame he painted over the cracks and scratches .. it would be vintaged vintage then and worth even more.

Ah the joys of autocorrect. I too have trouble sustainng my pizza , had to switch to lasagne. 🙂

New Dutch Bass School - trendy modern playing technique that recommends (demands?) such things as, both feet on the floor, tuning in fifths, HEAVY or WEIGHTED bows. Extreme classical players; don't go there unless intending to play cello concertos and violin sonatas on a bass. Though makes for some interesting reading. There is a bit of technique in getting the sound to start. More force on the string to start it sounding, the less to keep it going. Most people only get a screach or harmonics when first learning. Sticky rosin (Neumann) and proper horse hair on the bow ( some cheap composite bows have synthetic hair, which is too slippery) both help, some people rub a bit of rosin on the string too. Really good players use very little rosin but have very soft grippy "bowing specific" strings. I found Jazz specific strings (great sustain in pizz) hard to bow with any subtelty and had to switch to hybrids to play in an orchestra. But they weren't impossible. Persevere for a bit, and when money allows trade the strings for something a bit less specialised?

Another PJB fan here. My PJB flightcase is great with a piezo pickup; little switch to "passive" and the gain adjusted to suit. Some of you (Hapy Jack included) saw mine and a lovely AI amp at the double bass bash methinks. I probably liked the AI even better than my PJB as it had a great sound in a smaller (even smaller) box and more knobs and buttons. The PJB has no HP filter stage, you can only turn down the bass knob, but I've never felt the need; even my full sized carved bass doesn't sound boomy through it anywhere I've yet played (admittedly a smallish sample of places). Plus I wanted to play an electric (or three) through it too and reckon the PJB is better for that than the AI (or an AER .. which is another option for the very flush). For those of you with a rockabilly bent (and possibly owners of metal double basses!) the PJB may prove a little soft and HiFi sounding - dunno.

Well, I for one was interested in the suggestions :¬) thanks all.

Is there any oil left in the wood after 150 years? (apart from that absorbed from my sweaty fingers)? Tried turpentine (the proper pine tree derived stuff) once, possibly less "drying"; worked much the same as vodka but smelt nicer.

What does it do? I've been using neat vodka.

twas (reportedly) 5000DM new; he wants 5000USD used. Ie it's £3,800 which is, frankly, bit much below the price of a real alembic: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ALEMBIC-20TH-Anniversary-Bass-USA-1989-Limited-200/183427435037?hash=item2ab5208a1d:g:CtEAAOSwrcxbe~7l) One of Wolfgang Kist's guitars here: https://www.befr.ebay.be/itm/EXTREMELY-RARE-VINTAGE-80s-WOLFGANG-KIST-ELECTRIC-GUITAR-HANDMADE-IN-GERMANY-/231790392237 Less amazing woodwork & lower price than the bass. This one also seems to have had the pickups replaced (check out the screw holes); but Kist Guitars really were built with DiMarzios - I guess it was what you could get in the late 70s. Seems the man Wolfgang was quite fond of them.

No offence intended; I'm just a bit of a coffee table perv. Nothing like having a nice bit of wood in your hand :¬) My 2001 Dolphin Pro1 has "gold" hardware; but the "gold" rubs off revealing grey "stuff" beneath. Solid Brass, now that is a bit different.

Bit of a choice in the BC classifieds right now. We can have 4-string, 5-string, MJ, or soap-bars, Seymour Duncan or Barts, natural wood or Nirvana Black. Stage 1 or Stage 2, "1990s" or "German Team-built". Even a glossy white one (not my thing). The one I think dyerseve means is the same price as the Stage 2 and ... gold hardware. Black is so much nicer IMHO. Anyway .. off the e-bay topic; should be in a Warwick thread. Thanks for the advice.

There is a certain byzantine OTT charm to those early Alembics (for me anyway - who used to dream of something like Stan Clark had). But the (crooked) crappy DiMarzios are quite a let down. Certainly not worth the cash.

What pray is a Stage 1 "GPS" (German Pro Series perhaps?) and why is it so cheap? All the other stage 1s here and on ebay are £1k to £1.6k. All these different build designations (master built, custom-shop, pro-series, team-built, rockbass, GPS, FNA etc) do my head in. Not to mention all the designations of Pro1, Pro2, SNTC, NT etc (and that's only dolphins). Then add a few confusing sub plots (eg my Dolphin Pro1 which is NOT a Pro-Series). It's almost as bad as Fenders ..... There is a streamer on ebay that caught my eye; but I can't really tell if it is a £1500 master build or a £650 team built ... or what! It has the Seymour Duncan soap bar pickups, so probably the former. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Warwick-Streamer-Stage-1-NT-5-String-Bass-Guitar/132763132712?hash=item1ee94ca328:g:O7EAAOSwLVFbh8tw Some of them (at least) are fantastic basses and a joy to own. So shouldn't grumble. :¬)

The description is just SO good; I felt obliged to preserve it for prosperity on our fine pages as A VERY FINE example of google translate mis-use: Shaft stiffness aside ... I particularly like "When sending the neck is separated from the body" Who's Neck? The senders or the receivers? Active Electric Bass "Borisov BASS-1" has three induction pickup , improved design , universal stand that allows change the length of the strings and their relative distance pickups, adjusting screwdriver Encased in guitar ,effects card. Grief has a shaft stiffness , tension which made nut. In the control device electric pickups mechanical vibrations of strings into an electrical signal . To extend the range of sound and color in the radio circuit used electric phase effect on the PCB The spectrum of the output signal at the output device is changed by switches and knobs effects. With the inclusion of three switches produced tones and pen next to them is used to adjust the volume. The operates in the presence of the battery "9V" . When sending the neck is separated from the body.

Only 11% of the population are left handed yet I'm sure at least a third of advertised Wals are back to front and they all say how rare they are! Weird. Probably they just hang around longer so i'm more likely to see them. Strangely you never see a left handed violin (though I have seen a left handed double bass!) Anyway, a nice thing if a south paw wants a Wal - that Padauk looks almost like ebony.

Don't really know enough about streamers to know if this is a good deal or not; I think it's a tad over-priced. But is does LOOK very nice. I'm kinda tempted ... but too many basses already. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Warwick-Streamer-Stage-1-NT-5-String-Bass-Guitar/132763132712?hash=item1ee94ca328:g:O7EAAOSwLVFbh8tw