alexpea

The icing on the cake for me would have been for Edgar to play some Bach

Well that was awesome!

[quote name='neilp' timestamp='1458063633' post='3004356'] The convention - as much as there is one with notation for harmonics! - would normally be that the normally shaped note indicates the finger position to find the harmonic and the diamond-shaped note indicates the pitch. I'm not sure how that would work in this case though! What show is it? Context might help to work it out... [/quote] That was my initial thinking too Neil but in this case that would sound an E harmonic. Sometimes it's done the other way round too where the diamond shaped note indicates the finger position. I've played some Ravel pieces where he adds a third note to instruct which string to play the harmonic on. Just tried playing it how I suggested in my earlier post though and it seems pretty impossible to achieve so not sure I'm right there. Could just be my playing though...

I'm going to this. So are most of the bass players in Bristol I think. As it's at St Georges and just the 2 of them I wouldn't be surprised if they play completely acoustic or just with mics. I turned up early for an orchestra gig there a few weeks a go and had the stage to myself for half an hour, it was great fun playing solo in that acoustic. Not sure the harp player who turned halfway through and tried to tune up would agree though

Looks to me as if they want you to play the C on the A string whilst stopping a harmonic roughly at F on the D string which would give you an A but 2 octaves higher. I think...

Hi all, I'm currently in the process of trying various new strings. It's quite important that I'm able to use a magnetic pickup for some very loud gigs. I blend a K&K Bass Max with a Kent Armstrong Magnetic Pickup. So I thought it'd be useful to post what strings I have found to work with the Mag Pickup. Hopefully other can add to the list and help me out... [i][b]Strings I've found to work with a Magnetic Pickup:[/b][/i] [b]D'addario Helicore Hybrid[/b] [b]D'addario Helicore Orchestral[/b] [b]Thomastik Super Flexible[/b] [b]Innovation Braided [/b] [b]Danny Thompson Signature Elites[/b] [b][i]Strings I've found NOT to work with a Magnetic Pickup:[/i][/b] [b][i]Pirastro Evah Pirazzi (Medium Tension)[/i][/b] [b][i]Gut Strings [/i][/b] Thanks for your time, Alex

A mag pickup is very useful if you're trying to compete with a loud band. The Kent Armstrong one is great and looks very subtle. I bought one of [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Behringer-MX400-Micromix-Noise-Channel/dp/B000KGYAYQ"]these[/url] and use it to mix the mag signal with my piezo on loud gigs where I can't stop the feedback. I hardly every use my Mag pickup but it's always in my case as a backup if I'm struggling with feedback at a particular venue.

I bought a plywood Gedo music bass as a back up bass and had it shipped over the UK. Very good value for money when compared to a similar priced ply bass I had bought in the UK. A plywood bass is good for most styles but you might find it may not work so well in an orchestral setting.

I have a Berlingo too. Mines a panel van version with 3 (ish) seats in the front. Lots of space and I love the fact that everything in the back is hidden from view.

Wow got any more pics?

Interesting article by Gary Karr on conductors and double basses... http://www.thestrad.com/cpt-latests/too-few-conductors-understand-their-double-bass-section/

Have you gigged the bass much yet? How's it doing? Are you able to get plenty of volume and good tone?

I've got one of these as a back up. It sounds great. I bought the double one which has a piezo for each side of the bridge. A bit like a double bass max

I reckon it's worth considering that buying a new bass is bound to depreciate in value to some extent however if you can find an old bass that fits in your budget then it should at least hold its value or even increase if you're lucky. It's good to bear this in mind if you think you may upgrade again in the future. I had a similar situation when I was looking to upgrade from my £300 starter bass. I ended up finding a nice carved flat back circa 1880, which although was slightly outside my budget I decided it would suit me better to stretch the budget a little and go for it.

Thanks for sharing! This video persuaded me to dig out my old gut strings this afternoon and stick them back on my bass. I've now got plain Cordes guts on the D & G which match rather nicely with my Innovation Braided Honeys on the E & A strings. Just gotta learn to play like Oscar now...

It's gotta be a Double Bass. If it was me I would use that £700 to buy a Gedo Musik plywood bass from Germany. I bought one 6 months ago as a backup bass and it's great. Solid build and the tone's pretty good too. I think these basses are great value for money when you compare them to some of the plywood basses available in the UK. This is the sort of thing... http://www.gedo-musik.de/shop/product.php?id_product=674 I think shipping to the UK was an extra 100 Euros. Any money you have left over could be spent on better strings and a simple piezo pickup. Then you're ready for your first Double Bass gig

I use a bass Max and have played on some pretty loud stages with it on a carved bass and have had very little feedback problems. I briefly owned a Realist and found I couldn't get anywhere near as much volume out of it before the dreaded feedback crept in. The sound was also a lot less punchy and defined which didn't suit the kind of music I play. I found the realist really dampened the acoustic volume of my bass too which wasn't great as I use the same bass for orchestra too

Thanks for the replies. Yep chatted to a Luthier today and he's gonna tweak sound post for me to see it will open the bass out a bit. Played on some Evah Weichs today tho, still want some

Yea Marc great value pickups. I did a comparison at a gig and found the bass Max had a slightly bassier sound whereas the J tone picked up a lot for finger noise. Would probably have just needed to EQ them differently.

Hi there I'm not happy with the arco sound on my 18th C german flatback at the moment, I find the arco sound is very bright. The bass has currently got Helicore Orchestral strings on it but I'm thinking of trying some different strings in the hope of darkening the sound. I play in an Orchestra as well as playing Klezmer, Americana and a bit of Jazz so I need strings that are quite flexible. At the moment I'm considering trying some Eva Pirazzi's possibly the Weichs. I appreciate that each bass is different but any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Alex

I wished I'd gone to this but had a gig. Will there be another?

I bought one of [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/J-tone-Black-Double-Bass-Pick-up-/191134096791?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Sting_Instruments&hash=item2c807add97"]these[/url] recently as a backup and I can't honestly tell the difference between it and my K&K Bass Max. Sounds great on my Ply Beater Bass