NickA

He's right you know. You can play anything if you really work it out and practice. But life is too short to work out and practice all the notes in Neilson's 5th. BTW provincial amateur orchestras don't get the best conductors; and anyway they have all those Violins (and back desk cellists) to worry about.

Denmark St. But it was two or three years back. Downstairs walls were lined with Shecters, which I'd never heard of at the time. I used to love Denmark st, it was a magnet for wasting any free hours in London; pretty much all gone now and it seems that Crossrail is killing the last of it (and HS2 killing my favourite curry houses and a really good pub near Euston). Anyway, enjoy the new bass - when you manage to get it.

For me: Bass heaven = The Enormous Room played by Michael Manring on his Zon hyperbass; Jaco's basslines on Joni Mitchell's Hejira; Percy Jones weaving beautiful chaos on Noddy goes to Sweden .. and you know, now and then, Mark King playing Sandstorm. Bass hell = some bloke, in a covers band, thumping out roots and fifths on a (relic-ed) passive precision fitted with flats But it strikes me that we're arguing more about tastes in music than about what bass players should do. If you like Jazz you want to hear a complex, ever moving bass-line that weaves around the harmonies of the music. If you like Rock then you probably want to hear a solid foundation with few frills or thrills - and doing either really really well, is heaven in its way. There are of course people who manage both kinds of playing almost simultaneously, for which I finger Richard Sinclair, Tony Levin and (a little left field) Steve Swallow - who's playing is never flashy and often harmonically weird, but all the same, somehow very special.

I spent a sunday morning in Westside's shop a couple of years ago, officially trying out AER amps. But they sat me in a bas(s)ment that was lined with Schecter basses so I couldn't help but try a "few". They are certainly very well made out of good quality materials and look really nice too. However I wasn't overly impressed with the sound, which was rather dull and "generic" (characterless). The ones I did like were those with the EMG pickups and a coil tap (effectively taking them to single pickups rather than Hs) - bit more life. Some of the "dullness" may have been down to the AER amps which are very accurate but a bit flat sounding (not much "zing" unless you press all the colour and contour buttons) and the fact that my amp of the time was a big heavy Trace GP12SMX thing that had zing in spades (but a certain lack of subtlety or accuracy). Anyways, a trip to Westside is a great idea, they were simultaneously helpful and non pushy, have a huge number of Schecter basses and will let you play with them until you're bored or buy one. Given your list of past basses, I can't see you'd find a Schecter an upgrade mind; IMHO a stingray would knock the socks off any of them (but then, I like Wals and you don't much so ...)

Wow, Phil, your conductor knows he has a bass section! Ours rarely looks in our direction unless a back of the desks 'cellist plays a bum note - upon which the back of the desk 'cellists will look over their shoulders in the hope of passing the blame! Though when we managed a section of 6 he did say how much he appreciated the solid foundation it gave the orchestra. Anyway, we (my bass section colleagues and I) reckon a lot of bass parts (especially early 19th century ones) are really cello parts with the basses expected to join in when they can. Come on now, in the time of Beethoven, many basses had only three, heavy, unresponsive, gut, strings. Either those guys were brilliant, the music sounded AWFUL or they faked it. If there are too many notes, just aim for the first of the group. Played Neilson's 5th a few months back - it has endless sequences of seemingly random chromatic bass notes at a very fast pace, mostly in groups of 6; so we decided to hit the first of each bunch of 6 and then make a rhythmic scrubbing sound for the rest of it. No-one knew ;¬) tho the conductor was miffed when I told him in the pub afterwards. Seriously tho, and under ideal circumstances, given sufficiently time; in legato runs, you should work out a fingering and try to play it properly, its often not as difficult as it seems. I'm learning Tchaikovsky's 6th at the moment, from a part that has been meticulously fingered by a previous user - it's a revelation, some of those fingerings really work well - so I'm going to use them! Sliding will sound wrong and it's probably better to play no note or a harmonious note than one that "falls under the fingers" and makes a discord. So play them all properly or pick some key notes and play only those. My (very amateur) opinion anyway. Won't wash in Phil's orchestra I imagine.

Depends on whether BEST means: "I like the sound best" or "most accurately creates a voltage proportional to string position". you can't accurately reproduce the "sound" of an electric bass as until you put pickups in, it makes the sound of one hand clapping. I agree with the harmonics thing tho. Are two soapbars ever going to sound like a PJ set? (the sims pickups aside, which can be made into J's, PJ's or "H" Soapbars by flicking a switch); something with coil taps would do it maybe; though the effect would be more JJ than PJ. NB: I like both the sound of my Wal and the sound of my Warwick (with the bridge soapbar pickup coil-tapped into a single) - so even that definition of "best" is a toughie ;¬)

dont know if they are "the best" but certainly the most flexible ... if you can't make your mind up! http://www.simscustom.com/pickups/ clever idea. IMHO Wal pickups are the best soapbars, but you can't buy them without the bass ... tho I see mr herrick makes something very similar.

Single cuts Gold hardware Lurid stained wood Unnecessary hardware ( pickup covers, thumb rests, pick guards ) Huge headstocks Strangely, given my love of curvaceous waxed wood bodies I don't like wooden pickup covers and knobs either. ... But will put up with any of it if it sounds good.

Well tough stinky poo, more of them for those of us that don't really care about neck profile :-) ;-). seriously, tho, you get used to it pretty quick. After all, it didn't hold back Percy Jones or Mick Kahn too badly. As ever, each to his own

Buy a double bass. 😋😋😋 but You know it's pretty hard to get a DB to sound like a DB through a pickup and amp. Sometimea seems like an eub sounds MORE like a DB than an amplified DB does! It does take a very subtle kind of amp (aer, Pjb, acoustic image etc) Seems strange to me that yr trying to reduce sustain, as on the DB we're usually trying to increase it ( hence high tension spirocore strings). Still, poss you need a gentler amp? Ofcourse it depends what yr playing; I'm thinking modern jazz, so if you're playing slappy rockabilly .. then we're after different sounds!

Buy another bass. Over the years I've spent £100s on my "project" bass in a vain attempt to get a fantastic bass on the cheap, but it's never been as good as the basses I've bought complete and it's residual value is ziltch. Not that it hasn't been fun. And there are some great second hand bargains, especially if you don't need something fashionable or collectable.

Some weird modern classical music doesn't have bar lines ... difficult to play. Without bar lines I think you're going to get lost; it's kind of a sync pulse that lets you get back in time every few beats. In any kind of band everyone is playing different length notes (unless it's folk music!) so you need that sync to stay together, and if you have a conductor then they need to convey that sync to everyone to keep them in time. Yes, you could all count 1,1,1,1,1,1 but once you are out then you will never get back in again .. It works. As for the five line stave... I feel your pain. But if you are playing a non fretted instrument then, in fact, C# and Dflat (for instance) are different notes (though it is debatable which one is sharper than the other under any given circumstance) so you would need a very wide stave indeed and it would be hard to follow. Of course it was never designed, it just evolved so it isn't perfect - and like the keyboard I'm typing on it could be better. CLEFS meanwhile are a pain as learning different instruments one tends to automate the process of "that dot means that finger on that string", so whilst I can read the treble clef on an alto recorder, the bass recorder (which is written for in the bass clef) proved difficult; although the fingering to get a particular note is the the same as a treble recorder, the dots are in different places for the same note and your subconcious brain sends your fingers to the wrong place. Having taught myself to read the treble clef on the bass guitar, I now have trouble switching back to the bass clef!!!! If you are really musical then I guess the transfer from dot to note to finger position becomes fast enough that you can read any clef on any instrument and even transpose on the fly!!!! My brother (a pro) can do it, I ( a rank amateur) can hardly do it at all. My dad (also a pro) took up the bass viol as a retirement project, but was defeated by the uneven tuning and because the music is written in the ALTO clef. No one said it was easy .. but it will keep senility at bay.

like the word "Cool" that disappeared from about 1974 until 1998 and was only spoken by Austin Powers .... it's back .....it's been back for longer than it was here before. So with Fender: through the 80s everyone wanted a bootique wooden "sideboard" bass (me included) and mainstream music was allowed to have interesting bass parts - hell, even really super dull Paul Young had Pino playing the bass line. Japan was considered POP, Funk was hip and JD's, Stingrays, G&L2000s, and Wals were everywhere and hot on their heels came Warwicks with lovely tropical woods and enormous price tags. Then came electronica, bass synths, and low frequency sine wave generators and out went actual instrument playing. And suddenly someone re-invented guitar bands with buzzy old valve amps, flat wound thuddy strings and FENDER PRECISION basses. A decade (and counting) of dullness ensued. Unless, of course, you like Jazz and Fusion where Foderas and other exotica rule the roost and bass players may still, now and then, get a tune! PS: yes I know, Pino plays a Fender these days - but he never sounds boring! ... rant over

my first bass was ply (soft centre blocks with hard wood facings) it was pretty awful, no sustain and a dull sort of sound. I guess it depends on the quality of the ply, as dense fully hardwood ply is as stiff as any solid wood. Thinking about it, my Wal is ply ... it's just that the centre of the ply is inch thick mahogany!

Well I may have fixed it .. improved it anyway. Took it off the Warwick, ran it back and forth between my fingers, then gave it a good boiling in a pot of soapy water on the stove (which is what I used to do with old rotosounds and elites that had got clogged and dull). I didn't expect it to work, but it's definitely improved it. I guess the heat let the string "relax" again. Now fitted back on the Warwick and sounds fine ... though the dolphin is a bright sounding bass anyway. NB, I gave up cutting my strings to fit the bass as I then couldn't cascade from the Wal to the Jazz Bass; just poke the end down the hole in the tuner, one turn through the slot then round and round the tuner. Shall take care with twisting the string in future though.

I have a great love of "sideboard" instruments. I guess it comes from owning a double bass then being bombarded with Wals and Warwicks in my yoof. All 4 of my basses (5 inc DB) are well worth a good polish :¬). One day though, I will buy a Stingray, and it will be painted, preferably stealth BLACK with a black pick guard (and black gear)! It's all a bit pervy, I know, but each to his own ;¬) :¬)

UNIQUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-) Re: what the heck do all these controls do? Top Neck end is volume: obviously. But pull it out and it boosts very high frequencies, gives a bit more "pick attack" Top Bridge end is balance between the two pickups: also obvious. The two bottom knobs are individual low pass filters for the two pickups, knob position sets the low pass frequency - so you can have bass only from the neck and full range from the bridge pickup (which is a popular Wal sound). Pull out the filter knobs and it boosts the volume at the low pass frequency - and a bit below - also messing with the phase of the pickup so that some frequencies add and some subtract, all kinds of weirdness there; to be used with caution and discretion. I only discovered recently, from a fellow Wal player, that setting the LP filter to 10 (full range) and pulling it out does boost the high frequencies a bit - should you need more twang.

Plus one to that!!! EUBs are nice and easy to play and a good amplified sound can be had with ease (and Eberhard Weber plays one, so they can't be all bad), I doubt anyone at a Jazz session would be concerned (they're usually so glad to have any bass players in to balance all the saxaphones and guitars) but your local symphony orchestra might be less keen!

Real shame about the paint job ... there may be lovely tropical hardwood beneath the banana milk! Does it have facings or is it "just" solid Mahogany? Anyway, the sound IS THE THING and I'm sure it will sound fantastic. Setup is a simple matter of turning screws and there isn't much to go wrong with the electronics. Truss rod adjusted to give you about a business card thickness of relief. Bridge height to get a nice low action according to taste. Pick up height low enough to stop the strings buzzing the pole pieces but high enough to give some punch. You can tweak the individual pole pieces of the (16!) pickups - to follow the curve of the finger board - but I'm dubious about the worth. Certainly squirt some switch cleaner into the pots; take off all the brown plastic connectors that join the pcbs together and give them a squirt too before reconnecing. Have a twiddle with the little blue "pre-set" pots that you can only get at with the cover removed - one changes the "pick attack" setting and the other sets the overall volume - but moving back and forth will clean them up. And fit a new battery. Oh ... some (particularly US based) Wal players reckon the electrolytic capacitors can start to leak and that not only spoils the sound it can damage the circuit boards; so have a look at the little black cylinderical capacitors and see if they are either bulging or leading sticky stuff .... if so, get the circuit boards off to Electric Wood ASAP. .. and enjoy! :¬) Welcome to planet Wal.

Yup, I think MOSCOWBASS has a good point there. I'm a bit slap handed winding on new strings and may have put a twist in. No excuse on the Wal as there is no threading required, the ball end just drops into a slot in the bridge. It's never happened before, but have buy a new one I guess. PS HUGEHANDS, I've had that on 'cello strings, especially gut cored ones, the whole thing goes floppy and unravels! A major pain mid gig :¬(

I am quite suddenly a huge convert to EB Cobalt Flats. Silky smooth, lively sound (for a flat) and no coloured ball ends. They do have dark purple silks, but I guess you could remove them if it really bothered you. Frankly, it is the sound that counts ;¬) and these do sound good.

I bought a nice set of D'Addario NYXL strings for one of my basses (the Wal) a few months back; they are/were quite good. Not super lively, but a nice tone and seem well made. BUT, a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that the E-string was sounding really DEAD, all the twang had gone, the sustain wasn't there and it sounded kind of "Thuddy". Not a sound you want from a Wal. After worrying about the bass, tweaking the pickup heights, checking the relief and action ... I decided to swap it for one of the (near) identical strings I had on another bass. Problem solved. Now that same string fitted to the Warwick sounds a bit thuddy; so definitely the string not the bass. What would kill a string? I mean I've had round wounds (notably rotosounds) go slowly less zingggy over a period of months, but this one changed over night. Expensive strings too. Anyone else experienced this ... particularly with D'Addario NYXLs? If it's a one off then I might replace it, if a known issue then not.

PS: What I love about basschat ... never heard Michael Manring or Steve Lawson before; now lying in bed with my headphones on!! Thanks for the recommendation. Quite totally different sounds achieving a similar kind of music! Don't think even COBALT flats will get us Manring's tone!

I've two fretless basses, that I've always used round wound strings on. Both are over 20yrs old, both have round wound score marks on them but neither has needed the fingerboard more than lightly resanded. So long as you don't use "side to side" vibrato or note bends (no need on a fretless) it's not a huge issue. The Wal (30 years old) actually has slight furrows under the strings .. which I read somewhere improve the sound a bit, so have never sanded out (plus Wal fingerboards are quite thin and very expensive to replace!). If your fingerboard is NOT ebony (or this semi synthetic ebonum stuff) then probably use flats, get the board epoxied or put up with re-planing / sanding now and then. Fingerboard wear aside I've always reckoned you can get a wider range of tones from rounds than flats, giving more scope for shaping a particular sound - and in particular lots of mid tones that accentuate the way the tonal content changes through the note (aka Mwwaaahhh) HOWEVER, only today, I acquired a set of EB Cobalt Flats and put them on my franken-bass (a self designed jazz bass) and am knocked away by the lovely rich tone .. and they feel nice under the fingers too; spookily silent shifting! They are not (as the blurb says) flats that sound like rounds; more a mid-way between the two. Such a long long way from the tonally indistinct and thuddy Rotosound "Jazz Bass 99s" I learned on and which put me off flats forever. It's made such an improvement to the franken bass (which previously had rotosould "swing 66" rounds on) I'm wondering if I should try them on the Wal (currently running D'Addario NYXT rounds and with more punch and fretless Mwahh than anyone needs). Mind, the new strings OUGHT to be good at the price!! £40 from Bass Direct.

I took my bass all the way to bass-bags (a whole 4 miles away!) to see what bag fitted my odd shaped bass (it's 4/4 but not very deep and I'd expected to need a made to measure). The Westbury 4/4 is a slightly baggy but basically perfect fit; they're very good bags, quite roomy, lots of handles and I don't really see the point in spending more. Of the four bass players in my orchestra, three of us have the same bag (tho the oldest of us has the one with wheels as he was finding carrying hard work). https://www.bassbags.co.uk/product/westbury-double-bass-bag-11mm-padding/ The man at bass bags reckoned the extra padding in the 22mm version made no real difference except it doesn't fold as flat. My previous bag didn't fold well and got stored in the garage ... where the mice ate great chunks out of the 20mm padding!