chrkelly

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Hi Owen, Before I got my car I used to get the train everywhere. To be honest though, I would never even consider using the train anymore. It's just such a hassle and you end up in so much pain by the time you get to the gig, you just can't play properly. I had a complete nightmare on the Eurostar earlier this year (thank god they had Duvel at the bar). If you must get the train, travel at times that are least likely to be busy. Virgin trains have plenty of space (the freight carriage is fine but you don't know what gets thrown in there during the trip, bring a long strap so you can tie the bass to something. Wheelchair spaces are perfect for the bass but you'll usually have to beg someone to give up their seat. There is a corner outside the big circular toilets that the bass can stand up in although you'll have to stay close in case the bass goes flying). If you're getting the Aberyswyth (spelling?) to Birmingham line you can expect a load of earache off the conductor. The only place is the doorways and you'll have to keep moving it depending on what side the platform's on. Bike slots are way too small for my bass on this train. The London tube by constrast is easy. Just do not travel at rush hour! Get your escalator technique sorted and don't forget your wheel. *Practise your fake smile for when you're asked 'Don't you wish you played the flute?' for the 1000th time* Hope this helps mate.

Gear-wise, you definitely need a small amp, anything with a small footprint like the GK microbass is perfect. I'm using my aggie for my current show but it's a bit OTT. You shouldn't need to bring your own di or music stand. They should be supplied by the theatre company. Don't forget your blacks or a pencil. Playing-wise, make shure the pad is marked accordingly for page turns etc. It's very easy to be caught out by fast changes and all of a sudden you're trying to read the part upside down off the floor wondering what the hell went wrong. A simple marking of 'open all 5 pages, move to left or VS' in massive letters makes all the difference. Oh and bring some earplugs, the brass can be painfully loud in the confined space of a pit.

Having a bit of a clearout in the for sale section [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=24460"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=24460[/url]

[quote name='alembic1989' post='269784' date='Aug 25 2008, 09:32 PM']Hi Chris, thanks for the reply. I have a variety of basses and was hoping to be able to use them all through the same unit...the idea being that it would be cheaper than getting a preamp installed in each of my basses ...which would cost a lot. Most of my basses are active.[/quote] In that case why not try a dedicated outboard bass pre like the EBS Microbass or the Aguilar tone hammer. There's loads of info on the site on the microbass and the Aguilar is soon to be released. Neither have full parametric eq but I've never felt the need for it with electric bass. I'm quite interested in the Aguilar myself, it would save me bringing my rig to a lot of gigs.

Hi there, Welcome to the forum. I have an equinox for sale at the moment. Great piece of kit and works brilliantly for double bass. Being desiged for piezo pickups it has a very high input impedence (3.9M ohm if I rember correctly) so should work fine with passive bass guitars but may not work properly with active ones. What instrument are you intending on using with it? Chris

Yeah, that comment was slightly tongue in cheek. Loads of people use chamber basses because of their size, Edgar Meyer and Dave Holland to name a few. Easy to tour with, and small scale means you can shred with ease. Whilst they can be great for the virtuoso and small ensemble stuff, imo they can't reproduce the same fundamental as the bigger instruments. I suppose it's down to what sound you want. Personally I prefer more depth to my sound.

The Fishman Full Circle is great, and I just happen to be selling one (shameless plug)

I play french cause it's what i started on. If I'm bored in rehearsals I'll switch to german, can't play with one at all though. It's like writing with my left hand.

What a find! £75! You'll spend a hell of a lot more getting them sorted though. My advice is stick that cello straight on ebay as it is, get the 1/2 size set up properly and that crack sorted (depending on cost) and then sell it too, (it ain't a bass if it's that small). Then you'll have a decent pot to do up the 3/4 properly. Word of advice though, a guitar is a very different instrument to a bass. If you can't find a dedicated bass luthier in your area, a violin/cello luthier is the next best thing.

Back to the top with a change of address.

Same here, just take my trusty p bass and if anything goes wrong, fix it on the gig. That's half the fun. I had my E string snap on my double bass once, had to play the entire second half on one string cause the tuning was so f****d. I do always carry spare strings and a spare bow to gigs though.