Kairyu

Apparently this sold....

Somebody bid last second!

I initially thought it looked very cool until I saw the back... My God is the back ugly. At least the audience won't see it. Wasn't there a UK based luthier that made pickups for each string like 30 years ago?

Anyone here ever have an experience with gut-a-likes? There was a set on the first bass I ever borrowed and I remember that they were much easier to play than standard steel strings (the tension was lower). Dunno if they do a solo set but it might be worth a punt? Much cheaper than spiros.

As I said in my previous post; I don't notice a difference in gauge between my solo strings and my concert strings. If there is a difference in gauge, it's so minuscule that I can't tell. Also, I'm perplexed by you saying the guy's bass you played was (From high to low) CGDA tuned down a tone to GDAE; to tune that set down to GDAE would actually be going down two and a half tones, not one. I would imagine those strings would be flappy as hell and not loud at all. Are you definitely sure this is what he did and not something else that you may have misunderstood? Try tuning your current strings down a tone, that will give you a feel for what solo strings would feel like in orchestral tuning (If you want, try tuning them down an extra tone and a half from there and see the difference; I'm pretty sure for a start you will lose a lot of volume).

The solo strings that were on my EUB were Evah Pirazzis. The gauge felt the same as the Evahs I had on my main bass at the time.

That sounds a tad extreme to myself to be honest. That being said, I prefer strings with a slightly higher tension so I can dig in more. I'd suggest maybe getting solo strings (These are tuned F#,B,E,A) and tuning them down a tone to concert pitch. I had this setup on an EUB I got from another BCer and it was like butter to play. It would probably also be easier / cheaper than buying a full set of strings and an extra C. Also, I'm not sure what you intend to get out of playing upright bass, but you might not want to make your tension too low if you plan to ever play at any jams/situations where you're playing a different bass. It could make transitioning very difficult, and I know a lot of guys who have gotten 'owned' playing a bass at a jam session as the tension/action was too high (Myself included!)

The difference in sound could be due to the fact that the sound post on your bass may be too tight/not in the optimal place. I can't give any advice on DIY sound post adjustments, but I will say that it makes a noticeable difference (It certainly did on my bass). Maybe you could trawl the internet if you want to go down that route? Either that or find a luthier? Also you can lower your string tension by raising the saddle at the bottom of the bass; you could shim it or make a new block. I know one person that had their saddle raised to solve a problem he was having with his string tension, I don't know if it was a long term fix or if he did something else however. It'd be interesting to catch up with him and see what the outcome was.

One thing on the note of bass tone; while a lot of factors can affect the sound of a upright bass, one factor that does seem to be overlooked is how you play it! Sounds obvious/silly, but your technique will come into play a lot when generating a good tone on upright bass. The closer you pick with your right hand towards the end of the fingerboard, the brighter it will sound. Getting a lot of flesh on the string with your picking hand will also help to build a nice resonant sound. Your left hand technique will also dictate your sound a lot; I've personally found I get more note definition and 'ping' if I use the tips of my fingers as opposed to the pads of my fingers. I would advise having someone play your bass and stand in front of it & have a listen, or better yet, record yourself and someone else playing the same bass line on your bass and do an A/B comparison. Do note that what you hear playing the instrument isn't necessarily what listeners here due to the way the instrument projects.

This made me think of Simon & Garfunkel - For Emily (Wherever I May Find Her). Nice vibe!

Cheers for this, this should give me the go-ahead to go for one of these units now. Interestingly enough, I didn't see anything in the manual specifically stating about being able to record 16 simultaneous tracks, but I did notice that the phantom power for the mic preamps work in groups of 4. If my kit is fully mic'd, I have 5 unpowered mics and 3 phantom powered mics, so I'll have to either change one of my mics, use an XLR to jack in a different channel, or record with one less mic. Maybe I can use a LDC on the bass drum... Research continues!

Hi guys, I've done a little searching online and on this forum regarding some interface queries I had; basically I'm currently running 2 Presonus Firestudios daisy chained together, and used to have my drum kit fully mic'd permanently (Into the second interface). The other interface would then handle any other instruments I fancied recording, without having to mess with the other inputs. However, there appears to be a certain level of instability with the two units daisychained together that would occasionally cause them to stop reading inputs/outputs (this would cause a red flashing light on both units). I tried to find a resolution for this online, but haven't had any luck. The two units work fine on their own, so my plan is to sell them individually and get a single unit with more inputs to handle my recording needs. This brings me to the Tascam US-16x08. On the face value of it, it has everything I'd need (8 mic inputs minimum being important). The only thing I'm not clear on or able to find a difinative answer for online is how many tracks you can record simultaneously into a DAW. My initial experience with USB interfaces left a bitter taste in my mouth as I could only record from the master out of my interface, leaving no space to tweak individual levels post recording, etc. The Tascam seems to be able to simultaneously multitrack, but from what I've read, it can only multitrack 8 channels at once. Is this true? How would this work if there is 16 inputs? If anyone has any first hand experience with this interface, or can direct me to more information that can clarify this for me, I would very much appreciate your input. P.S; sorry for my long-winded essay; I realised at the end of writing it that the last 4 sentences basically explains the important part of my post, lol

Kudos on your hard work!

I actually kind of like this. Couldn't help noticing there aren't any strap buttons on it though. If I ever had time I'd try and make something like this out of an old board I have lying around.

Well, that was painful to read...

Thanks Phil! Great little bass. Thanks for showing me your other cool bass stuff too

Ironically, isn't Gumtree's parent company actually eBay?