ubassman

Hadnt picked up that the top was laminated spruce on the Rockabilly - good call Rabbie!

This thread might be of interest - the same basses. http://basschat.co.uk/topic/216686-stentor-1950-student-model/

That reminds me, my newly found pal was also busy in the interval marking a specific finger positions on his bass with a soft pencil. He explained that theres one part of the opera where theres just a very exposed bass part where the rest of the orchestra goes silent - too embarrassing for words to be even remotely out with intonation and the beauty of soft pencil is that it glistens and goes silver in the stage lights !

I'm assuming that for intonation you rip the tape into little pieces first Rabbie ? !!

[quote name='Shonks' timestamp='1383663478' post='2267262'] it's still up...bloody ebay! [/quote] ..thats the great thing about selling on BC - this type of ad just would be gunned down in seconds !

Was at a performance of Aida during the week. It was a Rumanian touring company. Rather than being in a pit, the orchestra was on the level with the audience and I couldn't help notice the one and only bassist with this small opera company had a strange small rectangular packet fixed to the top of the bass tucked neatly away under the fingerboard. At the interval curiosity got the better of me and speaking in perfect English he explained thats where he keeps his Korg tuner ! It was on strip of double sided velcro and stays there permanently . Then under the tailpiece another bit of velcro and he pulled out a tub of Pops rosin ! Smiling away he then reached up into the peg box and pulled out a pencil and sharpener that were wedged between the strings . He explained that as a jobbing DB player life on the road meant that he had to be contained and when in a really tight pit he needed everything within arms reach ...simples ! He had a beautiful but battle-scarred East German 5 string Rubner and played with a carbon fibre bow that he proudly said he got on e-bay for a snip. His G string had some black insulation tape around it where it was frayed and worn under the right hand fingers. He was going to get a new Flexocore G string when he could but being on the move it was a challenge ordering anything in advance and so was just being resourceful keeping things going for the time being till he found a DB friendly shop in a major city ! Best of all was watching him play pizzicato on extended passages where he simply laid the bow down flat horizontally on the bridge ( none of these expensive bow quivers or bow hooks for this chap ) ! Got to say he produced a great full sound and none of the 'Mods' seemed to have any negative affect on his bass. Anyone else got any tips ?

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1383423690' post='2264411'] Merge? [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/221334-why/"]http://basschat.co.u...pic/221334-why/[/url] [/quote] ..done !

Hercules are good . Personally I like these http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stentor-1562-Cello-Double-Stand/dp/B002R0GBP4 The curved feet are padded with rubber and are adjustable and mean that you can set the height according to the length of the end pin. With some stands you have to put your end pin back in . The other feature is that I think is important is that it has an extendable arm that holds the neck in place. With some other stands if the bass gets accidentally knocked it can simply push out sideways from the stand as the point of contact is rather low. I use it for orchestra rehearsals where at break times the 50 or so musicians in the band all weave through the seats past my DB off for their cup of tea - never had a problem. This one also has a bow hook ....works for me!

[b]Who: [/b][color=#0000FF][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][size=3]Christian McBride (Trio)[/size][/font][/color] [b]Why: [/b][color=#0000FF][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][size=3]No introduction needed ![/size][/font][/color] [b]What: [/b][color=#0000FF][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][size=3]Jazz gig[/size][/font][/color] [b]Where[/b][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][size=3]: [/size][/font][/color][color=#0000FF][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][size=3]Ronnie Scotts 7.15pm Monday 18th November [/size][/font][/color] [b]More info :[/b][url="http://www.ronniescotts.co.uk/performances/view/1631-christian-mcbride-trio"]http://www.ronniesco...an-mcbride-trio[/url] [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhXCcrnMisM&list=RD025-VHmA2D36M"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhXCcrnMisM&list=RD025-VHmA2D36M[/url]

Duplicated topic.

We had a school nylon strung guitar which I completely demolished one wet rainy lunch time as I was running along the corridor and slipped trying to get to my music lesson on time. They never replaced it .

[quote name='geoffbassist' timestamp='1383209363' post='2261462'] Life's hard enough already without Flugehorn gas! I'm just down the road in sunny Armley so feel free to call in to talk bass....especially if you bring your lovely Italian bass! [/quote] Hehe ...so, folks here's the choice:- 1/. spend the afternoon chatting, laughing, playing and doing 'all things bass' with the awesome, amazing and inspirational Mr G.C. ! or 2/. improve my 'shoppers shuffle' technique and 'bag carrying endurance' with the patient and long suffering Mrs Ubassman ! ....life throws up some impossible choices sometimes !! EDIT - "Flugehorn Gas" sounds like something to be avoided at all costs!

If it goes pear shaped you can always to a baking soda + superglue repair.

I actually feel sickened ...I would have paid £163 Somebody lucky person has just made a fortune !! http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/20770/lot/248/

[quote name='artisan' timestamp='1383142865' post='2260700'] The cab is 4ohm so will enable me to use the full 600 watts the head produces & if that ain't loud enough i'll just quit. [/quote] That should cause a rumble in the jungle all right !

Great thanks guys - early music centre sounds interesting as long as I dont come away with GAS for a Flugehorn! Keith that would have been great but I'm there this thursday ( daughter is in a production of Aida at St George's Hall and we have a lot of time to kill between rehearsal and show!).

Bit of an indulgent post but I am going to be spending a day in Bradford soon. Are there any DB shops in area worth a look see?

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1383071485' post='2259886'] Very reasonable premium... Never had to claim, mind. [/quote] ...tempting fate here or what !

[quote name='geoffbassist' timestamp='1383037828' post='2259269'] Thanks for the tip off. I just went through a few quotes and found their process the easiest to use and the price was good. [/quote] Cheers Geoff , glad the info was of some help ! I've always found them really simple to deal with. BTW...eagerly waiting for the next great vid in the series !

Reminds me a little of this [url="http://www.kensmithbasses.com/doublebasses/kreutzer/"]http://www.kensmithb...asses/kreutzer/[/url] - a producer from the Eastern side of the country and away from the hubbub of the German Western border. Maybe what you have here is from the East ( now Slovakia and sharing its Southern border with Hungary - the lower Bout dims are wide and the Hungarians like "big Bouts" ! ). Thats what I would put my money on anyway - 1950s "production" bass from Eastern Czechoslovakia !

The interesting thing that maybe helps age and locate your bass is that has violin corners which again makes me think that this was done for the post war modern export market. If you Google an image search of 'Czech double basses' you will see that they are 99 times out of 100 cornerless Gamba shapes. There is a good reason for this as the Gamba shape was used almost exclusively by German bow players. The Czech border changed several times between the wars and immediately after. A lot of Czech luthiers during this period found themselves one minute based in Germany / Austria making instruments for local players with German Bows and then through political change found themselves the next minute making instruments for the same local market but having to put on a label "Made in Czechoslovakia"! After the war everything changed and post-war companies once they got a handle on plywood production ( the stocks of seasoned instrument making wood were somewhat decimated by the war), started to trade again to foreign parts and pitch their wares to other countries and experiment with different shapes. So my educated guess is that it maybe a 1950's /1960s bass unless anyone else has any insights. Either way - the bass has got all the curves in the right places!

Are the back and sides plywood ( not so easy to tell from the photos )? Shooting from the hip I dont think the bass is more than about 50 - 60 years old . Czechoslovakia as a country was born in 1918 and ended in 1992 and had a really turbulent political time in between http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Czechoslovakia. Have a read and you may be able to narrow time down further making distinctions between when it might have been stamped "made in Czech Republic" or "Made in Czechoslovakia" or another political regime. The 'top hat' tuning machines look to be 1960's era rather than the early type that came in at the turn of the century and the wood has a certain modern era glow to it rather than the patina of age. Either way its a beautiful looking bass.

You will need to post some photos to get anywhere close!

Just wondering who supplies the 1.7m long strings? [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/THE-BIGEST-old-VINTAGE-bass-guitar-double-bass-FRETLESS-STRANGE-rar-/281177715037?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item41777f715d"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item41777f715d[/url]