NickA

I also thought "cheapy chinese" but didn't want to sound insulting! So thanks to Burns Bass for saying it out loud. I wouldn't have spent £500 on it either. Not sure I'd spend £500 on my 1880s carved German one for that matter! However, as that money is already spent, you may have a decent bargain beginner bass that someone else overspent on! The action doesn't look that high to me. It has to be a lot higher than on an electric bass because the longer strings move around a lot more. I've pushed my action lower than recommended (for arco) by sawing off the top of the bridge; it's now much easier to play and has a lovely mwah sustain; BUT there is one note (luckily on an un-used quarter tone) that buzzes and when playing LOUD arco with my local orchestra (eg Weber's Oberon Overture) the strings are a bit "slappy" so I have to take care. I might buy an adjustable bridge one day. Anyway, what I mean is - go easy. You can always lower the action, but you can't bring it back up! If you still want a lower action, you don't really need a pro to do it .. just start by cutting the slots a bit lower with a needle file, mm at a time, until you like the sound and action, then saw or file the top down to match (the strings should be about 1/4, or a bit less, of the way into the slots); take care to keep the bridge profile "as is" which should more or less match the fingerboard curvature (I scribed round mine using a Jenny Odd-legs caliper inherited from my Grandad before getting the saw out). Oh ... and when taking the bridge off to do the final sawing down ... put the bass on its back and lift the bridge very gently - or the sound post might fall over and is a bugger to get back up. Anyway, no need to obsess about where it came from; just enjoy the experience and when you get the hang of it, think about trading up.

It may not be the neck as such; but the fact that a particular neck uses your wrist in a particular way and has given you a repetitive strain injury. The alternative neck (maybe) puts slightly different stresses on your wrist and doesn't exacerbate the RSI. I had something similar (on my plucking had though) that caused 10 - 15 minutes of bass guitar playing to make my wrist hurt (for hours) and I was waking up with a hand that barely moved. Thought I was getting arthritis in my right hand. Sorted out by a physio who gave me some wrist mobility and stretching exercises to do ... who also said, don't stop playing, just take regular rests, don't over do it and keep doing the exercises. £60 well spent (and cheaper than replacing my basses!) - if I feeling it coming on again, I stop playing and do the stretches for a bit. In fact, the root cause was not bass playing, it was my wrist resting on the table whilst I typed; bass playing just irritated the injured "soft tissue"..... Dont lose hope .. it will get get better.

forget it.

The BG 400 is great. Especially with a c4 cab underneath. Bit more "zing" than the briefcase and flight case, heavier too, but then, it has the full 400W inside it.

One for @SpondonBassed here! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Steinberger-XL25A-5-string-headless-bass-guitar-rare-vgc/223514699862?hash=item340a83a856:g:2RIAAOSw8CJc2toW Anyone remember that film Subway with Isabelle Adjani and Christopher Lambert .. in which an impromtu funk band played after hours in a music shop ... one of these. Beloved of Jamaladeen Tacuma (aka Rudy McDaniel ) too. Spirit of the 80s. Tried one in in that Bass Centre shop in London once - bit bland to be honest, but very clear and clean.

Hmm they're none of them very loud. The Fenders I tried were nice to play but very quiet indeed. I ended up with a Tanglewood partly on big size and big volume but it's still near inaudible when anyone else is playing. You might need a little battery powered amp (a Roland Micro-cube for instance) to be heard ... at which point, may as well plug in the electric! Of course the real solution is to get a double bass!! I remember that band Fairground Attraction had a Mexican Guitarron which they did use for acoustic busking ... but they are HUGE. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitarrón_mexicano

Well, I'd just assumed it was you @jazzyvee, adding to the extensive collection :¬)

Though who knows the going rate for warwicks. I watched a 5-string stage 1 on ebay for weeks whilst it sat asking £1400 with no bids, timed out and then got re-listed; then he upped it to £1600 and it sat for weeks and weeks again before being withdrawn forever. I'd have felt a bit mean offerring the £1000 - £1200 or so it was probably worth .. but wish I had done. You can see people's points especially if they'd paid £5000 new. Fantastic value 2nd hand for beautifully made instruments. You didn't buy it @binky_bass .... for £600 or something did you? 🙂

Great story. ... always pleased to hear of money heading to ACG. Maybe I'll roll by BD and offer them £800, as that's the going rate ;¬)

Now:http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Warwick_Streamer_Stage_II_5.html I'm going away to base my pension fund on well considered bass flips. To be fair I'm not certain it's the same instrument; but could easily be and 1500/2300 = 53% up is not a bad return. If it IS the same bass then the original Gumtree seller will be a bit sore. Wish I'd seen it when it was £1500 :¬( - but it wasn't up for long,

NO. No Bass is worth that much money. FFS you could buy a proper 17th century DB for that kind of cash ... or a decent second hand Audi ... OK, so maybe it is worth it .... to someone who wants the bragging rights. Rather order three spanking new custom specced Wals though.

Very nice! Please come to the next double bass bash!

Just have to think of the EUB as a third instrument that sits between an electric bass and a double bass; it isn't really either but can be a good thing of itself. @owen brought an NS Design EUB to last year's double bass bash and I really enjoyed playing it. No fiddling with pickups, no feedback issues, choice of magnetic and two kinds of piezo pickups. Great thing. I think it was a CR5M, costing £3,300 new though, so I suppose it ought to be good. @jazzyvee brought an alembic (magnetic only) one the to the midlands bass bash (see pics on that thread).. also a lovely thing and almost ... just almost .. like a double bass; uncanny alley for bass players. Given sufficient space and cash, I'd buy one (http://www.basscentre.com/ns-design-double-bass/ns-design-cr5m-upright-double-bass.html. Might not go down to well at orchestra tho. Anyway - to the original question. The bigger scale ones feel good, you can really dig into the strings and give them some welly producing a great attack and a interesting sustain due to the weight of the strings - an additional hidden advantage being that getting your finger in not quite the right place doesn't affect the tuning too much ;¬). My double bass is 43", which is a bit big for my tiny hands, but I like the sheer heft of the beast. Anything bigger than 35" is going to demand you learn 124 (aka simandl) fingering anyway, so I'd go the full 40".

That enfield with the huge "super 8" pickup on it? I had a go on that - got lost amongst all the knobs and switches. There were lots of sounds available with lots of very subtle differences between the 15 pickup combinations, plus blend and tone pots ... but I couldn't find one that really hit the button. Maybe need to go on a training course. However, the other bass the same person brought (bright trans-red, with a set of J pickups AND a P pickup between them) had an AMAZING sound. Can anyone remember what make its pickups were? Something american I'd never heard of. ... and he's selling it for only £1850!

I'll bring it ( and more importantly, the roll of labels ). In truth I do very occasionally find a missing earth or something

Shall I bring my PAT tester then? I can PAT test everyone's extensions, leads, amps and PSUs for free. as a chartered electrical engineer I will also be able to confirm that the process is largely bollocks.

Very happy with my PJB flight case (£250 from these very pages). it's very transparent and has an input impedance high enough for a preamp to make no difference. Not that loud though at a "gentle" 150W. So I have the pb300 to go underneath it when playing cathedrals without a PA Tried an acoustic image (coda?) at a bass bash and it was also v good. The only Aer I could find to try was an amp 1. Very clean, build quality is just .. stunning; but a bit boring sounding somehow.