henrywillard

I used the Schertler Stat B for a couple of years, but could never really get on with it. The arco sound & response was nice & balanced, but the pizz sound for me was just not good enough, and I also experienced terrible feedback problems. Since switching to a Wilson K4 / Radial PZ-Pre pre-amp / Acoustic Image Ten2 setup, I couldn't be happier. If it was me, personally, I would keep looking.

At the moment I'm using.. -Pirastro String Cleaner for my strings. (Love it. Would highly recommend.) -Dunlop 65 Orchestral polish & cleaner for the top, back & ribs etc. (Not convinced yet. A pain to buffer nicely.) -Planet Waves Fingerboard Conditioner for the fingerboard. (Love it. Would highly recommend.) -Dunlop 65 Fretboard Ultimate Lemon Oil for the neck. (Jury's still out on this. Does a job..) Would also be interested to hear what other products people use.

If you're flying, you have to get yourself a carbonfibre hard/flight case. Apart from that, I generally only use my padded Westbury gig bag, albeit it has wheels and twice the padding of their standard bag. The semi-rigid hard foam cases are indeed over-sized and a pain to handle. I very rarely use mine nowadays, that said there are one or two gigs that sometimes pop up where it's handy. For example some London gigs where I know the venue has no steps/stairs, plenty of room for storage, but is also likely to be an evening with lots of hustle & bustle and lots of people about (where my bass is likely to be more susceptible to being knocked/moved and damaged). At least 95% of domestic gigs I do though I just use my padded gig bag. I would highly recommend getting one with wheels though like my Westbury. Absolute lifesaver of an invention!

Born on a Pirate Ship by Barenaked Ladies is probably the best example of Jim Creeggan's great playing.

Tech Specs for the Ten2 can be found here: [url="http://www.acousticimg.com/#/ten2_s4/specs"]http://www.acousticimg.com/#/ten2_s4/specs[/url] All I know is that with the Ten2 and my Radial preamp, I've got more juice than the Tropicana factory! Check out the Radial Tonebone PZ-Pre if you get chance. Unbelievable piece of gear!

Before pursuing music full-time, I actually used to work for Rotosound here in Sevenoaks way back in 2005-2007 making their electric bass strings, but I did get to try out a set of their double bass strings free during that period. Personally, I could never get on with them. The gauges never felt right under my left hand (G-84, D-105, A-87, E-104). From what I can remember they were pretty stretchy, but just very uncomfortable. The gauges and mix of nylon/monel winding just made the whole set feel very 'backwards' and unbalanced to me when playing. I couldn't get on with them at all, so they didn't last long.

Do you use a preamp of any sorts? I have a Wilson K4 pickup, and use an Acoustic Image Ten2 with a Radial Tonebone PZ-Pre Acoustic preamp, and have so much headroom volume wise, it's unbelievable! My preamp output rarely goes about '11 o clock', and the volume & master on my amp rarely need to go above '10 o clock'. I have not tried the AER bass cube to make any comment, but I can certainly give a fantastic recommendation for the AI. Perfect for when playing with loud band members, and great to use as personal monitoring on stage whilst a line is also taken to the front-of-house.

Have a good Google search, Mike I have personally never done any cruise ship work (yet), but was offered a six-month contract back in the Spring. Ultimately I turned it down as with that length of contract there would be the huge risk of losing all my UK work (and being replaced). But whilst I was pondering the offer, I had a Google and a YouTube search and found loads of helpful information and tips from musicians who have the experience of working on cruise ships. In fact, check out these videos - [url="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIGBQ8tBb8lgKcxC9rBMEjVWgh_cblVs"]https://www.youtube....rBMEjVWgh_cblVs[/url] Have fun!

Personally I swear by Pirastro string cleaner (approx. £5.99 a bottle). I always apply a bit of this wonderful stuff pre-gig, and then wash my hands before going on stage. Smooth playing guaranteed. It's only a little bottle, but it goes a long way. Available from pretty much any stringed/large music store who have accounts with either [url="http://www.thesoundpost.co.uk"]The Sound Post[/url] or Stentor etc, and are Pirastro dealers. Not sure if you're based over here or in Canada, but if you're over the pond, you can still get hold of the stuff. Have found this place in Toronto that stocks it [url="http://www.thesoundpost.com/en/product/CL05"]http://www.thesoundpost.com/en/product/CL05[/url] I also use Planet Waves Hydrate fingerboard cleaner in the same instance. Again, a little goes a long way, and it's around £4 a bottle. Again likely to be available in all stores that stock D'Addario.

I would recommend checking out either a Primavera or Eastman. They both retail at the top of your budget, literally around £1k, but from experience I personally much preferred both to the Stentor equivalents. Eastman: [url="http://www.thesoundpost.co.uk/eastman-bass.html"]http://www.thesoundpost.co.uk/eastman-bass.html[/url] Primavera: [url="http://www.thesoundpost.co.uk/primavera-bass.html"]http://www.thesoundpost.co.uk/primavera-bass.html[/url] The Sound Post are the UK distributors and don't sell directly to the public, however they're extremely helpful and friendly, so I'm sure you could phone them up and ask if they know if any of their dealers have either bass in stock so you could possibly try one/them out. You can also search for all dealers in the UK who have an account with The Sound Post here: [url="http://www.thesoundpost.co.uk/violin-shops.html"]http://www.thesoundpost.co.uk/violin-shops.html[/url]

Have you tried a Wilson K4? They aren't the cheapest, and it does mean drilling little holes into your bridge, but it's honestly the best move I ever made. Zero feedback even at huge volumes with a big band and loud drums etc, and I don't get that horrible 'electric' sound. My bass still sounds like my bass. (to some degree. Not that perfect acoustic tone, obviously, but close!) I've read some people not getting on with them, but I'd recommend them to anyone.

I use the Tonebone PZ-Pre Acoustic Preamp. Absolutely LOVE it! Superb piece of gear. [url="http://www.tonebone.com/pzpre.php"]http://www.tonebone.com/pzpre.php[/url]

Although a bit pricey and not everyone's cup of tea, I am still in love with my Wilson K4 after several years. Very loud, not once have I encountered a feedback problem on any stage, big or small, and my bass sounds as 'real' as I've ever had it amplified. It's just a fantastic sound. So many other pickups get close to that 'real' sound but can't kick out decent volume without feeding back, or it goes the other way and you get pickups that provide the volume but you have to settle for that horrible 'electric' sound. With the Wilson K4 on my Westbury bass, it just works. I'm very lucky. I get the best of both worlds, and have happily had my current setup for a number of years now (bar my brand new AI Ten2 combo amp, which I'm already in love with). It really is experimentation though, and finding what works best for your bass, your existing gear, your requirements, the music you play, the types of venues/stage you generally play etc. It is expensive to keep buying these things just to try them out, and you will generally never recoup anywhere near what you paid if you decide to try and then shift gear on after trying a new pickup for example, then soon realising it's not for you, but keep networking, checking out new gear, pickups that other bassists are using, and most importantly, just remember to have fun

I had a DPA a few years back that I tried for live work. The sound was incredible, but I had endless feedback problems, so subsequently sold it on. I never actually got round to trying it in the studio. There are so many microphones on the market these days. You can pick up a matched pair of Rode NT5's brand new for £129 with free delivery from Andertons (if you're in the UK?). They require phantom power, but for the price are an absolutely steal. Very, very powerful, sensitive microphones, but you'll immediately fall in love with them. Great real sound. You could go for a bog-standard SM57, but I'm not a fan of them on double bass. I find 57's have a bit of a muddy sound to them when it comes to recording upright.

Always a Mic! I never take a line from my Wilson K4 pickup, as much as I love it. In my own studio, I'm currently favouring a Blue Kiwi bass bar side of the lower bout, and a couple of stereo Rode NT5's higher up and set further back for more of a room sound, although I'm always experimenting. The one thing that absolutely breaks my heart is going into a studio to lay down some bass for someone, and the engineer/producer fails to capture the real sound of my bass. It's not overly difficult to get an amazing, real, woody double bass sound, but it amazes me how many fail.

TU3 user here too. Absolutely perfect with Evah Pirazzi Weichs and my Wilson K4 pickup. Never a problem reading the signal. Well built tuners too. Robust and good for the road.

Taken last night in Tunbridge Wells. David Mumford on acoustic guitar, Mike Wilton on Electric Guitar. Mike is the frontman for the band the Standard Lamps, who recently supported The Who on their UK tour. Great guitarist!

Thanks Rabbie! That's reassuring. I intend to contact Schertler's Swiss office on Monday. It would be good to get the Unico back up and running to have as my back-up amp.

Thank you very, very much for all the advice, and also for some of the very kind offers. I have decided to go 'all-out' and have secured an AI Ten2 Plus from AI Europe. Needed something powerful that was going to get me straight back in action. In the mean-time I have tried contacting Schertler UK in Shropshire to see how I may go about getting my Unico repaired, but after leaving a message yesterday morning and requesting a call back, I am still yet to hear from them...

Sorry, I should have mentioned I'm after a combo.

My Schertler Unico appears to have well and truly died - New correct fuse fitted, but the amp is now popping, crackling, and emitting a strong, burning smell I may get it looked at for repair, but I have a crazy busy month of gigs and desperately need a replacement combo amp ASAP! I have a Wilson K4 pickup on my Wesbury bass, going into a Radial Tonebone PZ-Pre preamp, on which I prefer to use the XLR out, so I ideally need an amp with an XLR input or two. I need a combo amp that's powerful, reliable, and obviously has a great acoustic tone etc. Please post links to any recommendations or amps you use. Thanks in advance! Henry

The Westbury bag has zips approximately 3/4 of the way round the bag, so down the whole left side (E-string side) from the top of the scroll and all underneath and around the lower-bout up to the ribs (G-string side). So it does open out almost fully flat. I can confirm the material on mine is cordura. The bag is also reinforced underneath the lower-bout where the wheels are, to prevent damage to the underneath of the bass. It's a simply bag, but strong, durable, and well padded. Ticks all the boxes and does a sterling job

Personally, I've found wheels to be a god-send since upgrading my soft-case. I have no experience of the Gedo Luxury, but it looks like a great bag, and the only bag from your list with wheels, which would be the decision-maker for me. I use a Westbury BC003 which is a 22mm padded bag with wheels, which is slightly cheaper than the Gedo. [url="http://www.djmmusic.com/p-5989-westbury-22mm-padded-bass-bag-w-wheels.aspx"]http://www.djmmusic.com/p-5989-westbury-22mm-padded-bass-bag-w-wheels.aspx[/url]. Very good padding, great zips, storage compartments, plenty of really strong handles in all sorts of places, and of-course wheels on the bottom. Hopefully others on here will have first-hand experience of some of the bags you listed though. Good luck

Hi everyone, Just wondered if anyone's had any experience of this happening to them before, or if there are any amp wizards or part-time electricians who may be able to lend their knowledge. Mid-way through the second set of a big function last night, my Schertler Unico amp signal just cuts out. -It definitely wasn't my pre-amp, as I had to go through the PA speakers via my preamp for the rest of the set, and the pre-amp is definitely working fine. -We were not plugged in to a socket with a noise limiter -The light on the back of my amp DOES still light up when switched on, however there is no small deep 'pop' that I usually get when turning on the amp -The lights on top of the amp do NOT work (the low-cut and 'warm' buttons) -None of the input channels work -There are four fuses on the main circuit board inside the amp, and one fuse by the power switch. All currently look intact, however I am waiting for a friend to bring round a multimeter later today to test them. -The back of the amp had become very hot, but I wouldn't have said significantly hotter than usual. -I waited until this morning to test it out again, to allow the amp to cool down, but still no luck this morning. Any ideas/experience/advice? It's a £750 amp, which is really concerning. Such a big expense I could really do without! Thanks in advance, Henry

I was refused on to a London bus once with my double bass, because it was 'too big'. I try and completely avoid buses in the city now if I'm working up there. The tube was also a bit of a nightmare, and although do-able, became so much hassle. I used to just get the train into the city, and phone ahead for a people-carrier cab to the venue or studio. I have however completely ditched public transport around London with my bass & gear now, and opt to drive into the city for any bass work. I don't mind London driving at all, and it takes so much stress out of public transport, not to mention removing the additional small risk of damage or theft from my gear bag. Good luck, Hector!