blinddrew

[quote name='owen' timestamp='1474789406' post='3140430'] WAIT! People clean and oil their fingerboards? [/quote] My bass is sitting behind me, staring accusingly...

Good stuff! I'd recommend getting in touch with Ben Bastin on this forum for one of his wooden endpins. I have the same model bass as you and the wooden pin made a noticeable improvement in the sound.

I've only been playing DB a few years but I have to say it's one of the most "fun" instruments to play. I can't tell you why, or even explain what I really mean by fun in this instance, but there is just something about it that makes playing and learning enjoyable in a pretty special way. Excuse the ramble, but welcome to the upright club :¬)

When people are quoting action heights above, where on the fingerboard is that measured? At the octave?

Another +1 for Ben's endpins here. Even on a dirt-cheap bass it made a noticeable improvement in tone, plus you have all the aforementioned convenience points. By the way, when I say "noticeable improvement in tone" I don't just mean noticeable to me in a good acoustic environment, I mean other musicians commented on how much better it was sounding when playing it in the pub. :¬)

did anyone get round to trying one of these?

I have one of the G4M cases (to go with the bass) but the only time I've used it has been to put it in a van a couple of times. It's big, really big (no more so than other hard cases I'd guess though). Build quality seems ok (for the little I've used it) and the wheels run ok. Most of my playing is in small pubs though, so taking up the space with a huge black coffin just doesn't work. Soft case on my back for me.

[quote name='oggiesnr' timestamp='1360359083' post='1969477'] This is quite a good video on the subject Steve [/quote] I have concluded that my belly is bigger than Mr Klinghoffer's :¬(

Snark do a clip on tuner (SN-2) that's a full range tuner (rather than the guitar-based SN-1) and works really well. I got a wooden end-pin from Ben Bastin (look him up on this site) that has made my cheapo bass sound waaay better (even when I'm playing it). Wheels and the like is very much a case of what you need. I carry my bass about a mile or so each way to my regular session in a standard gig-bag, but I'm lucky enough not to have any recurring injuries or strains. If you do go down the wheel route you'll still need to be careful with it, I've heard of end blocks getting pretty battered from going over bumps and kerbs. Only thing I wouldn't recommend is shelling out for a hard case. I got one free with mine and since I collected it I've not used it other than when I moved house. Most places you go to play just won't have the space to store a bloody great coffin!

I have nothing pertinent to add here other than to say that there are some belting tunes on this page. Thank you for the links

I've got one of the G4M cases (came with the bass) and I've never used it. It's just too darn big whenever you get anywhere.

[quote name='Ian Savage' timestamp='1400604896' post='2455396'] I'd put a couple of breeze blocks under the stands to get them up by another foot or so (or two of them if you can make 'em stable enough) - you could always wrap them in a bit of fabric if aesthetics are a consideration! [/quote] Yep, that would definitely be better, but softly softly catchee monkey... :¬)

https://soundcloud.com/blinddrew I just use this for demos and rough mixes though. Anything proper goes on bandcamp here: http://drewstephenson.bandcamp.com/

[quote name='RockfordStone' timestamp='1400164699' post='2451373'] I was going to say the same, if you lift them so they are around ear level when you sit you might get a better mix [/quote] Yep, but (again) there's a degree of negotiation going on here ;¬) Also I find that I kick away from the desk and slouch a bit when I'm properly listening back - which brings it much more in line. The THR10 on the right works as a nice "grot-box" and actually I do a lot of my mix monitoring through that in mono.

In an average set of messyness... No sound treatments to the room (not everything is negotiable) so it does sound a bit on the boxy side but it allows me to do what I want to do :¬)