BeckyBass

Sorry I don't think I was very clear on this... It was originally a right-handed double bass but the owner said that no adjustments were made to turn it into a leftie. If I can find a local double bass luthier I think I shall get them to look over it though!

Hello, I've been playing bass guitar for 10 years (professionally for 2) and I thought I'd try branching out into playing double bass. I've just bought a 3/4 size double bass which is currently strung leftie but nothing has been altered so it should be fine to just swap the strings around (I play right-handed). I've been told to only remove one string at a time which is reasonable, but if I'm swapping them from left to right I will need to remove two at a time. Is this ok for keeping the bridge and neck all happy or am I pushing my luck a bit? I intend to get new strings soon so I could just wait until that happens, but I sort of want to try to out the current strings first... and new strings are expensive and I spent a little more on this bass than I'd hoped! Need a bit of time to claw back funds! Strings: I have been recommended these strings http://omegamusic.co.uk/buy/pirastro-obligato-double-bass-strings-set?EAN=5050127086901&gclid=CMv9p7XU2L4CFQbMtAodDhAAOg and some others - Thomastik Infeld superflexible steels. I want to play rock n roll/rockabilly kinda stuff - are either of these strings popular with other Basschatters? I've been told that weedwackers are normal for the music I want to play, but they may also sound quite dull so if I can handle the blisters then maybe avoid them. I am also looking for a few DB tutors for a infrequent lessons. I live in Bristol but will travel a bit if needed... I'm open to learning from a few people to try different styles. I can read music and I'll practice hard but I'd just like a few informal sessions to make sure my technique isn't rubbish and to inspire me to be awesome! All general tips are welcome, cheers everyone!

Dep gig for a wedding last night. We were (/I was) foolish enough to not fill up the van with diesel before we hit the motorway... Then kept thinking "we'll see a station soon on our way through this town..." but then found ourselves going down miles of country roads and got to the gig. We decided to set up at the venue and then go to find fuel during the break before our performance. Headed out to the closest petrol station our Satnav was recommending (4 miles away) - as we were leaving the venue the van displayed "0 miles left"... The station we were heading for turned out to have been closed for years (sounds like the start of a horror film!) But we found a local man out walking his dogs and he says the closest one is 8 miles away. Most nailbiting 8 miles I have ever driven... But we made it! But obviously we hadn't expected to drive so far in our break, so we had another scary drive back to make it to the gig for the first dance which was at 8:30... We pulled up at 7:28, ran in, grabbed instruments and played the first set! I quite enjoy high-pressure gigs so the show was a blast for me. The crowd were 100% up for a party and we had a full dance floor all night - great to have weddings like this! A couple of the guests were absolutely trollied by the end and I am guilty of standing by watching while a guy fall over every 3 steps outside the marquee. The field was not really lit in any way and had a lot of ditches and plant pots to fall over. I bet that guy is more than a little sore today...

[quote name='fretmeister' timestamp='1376059424' post='2169179'] Any 1 of your cabs will give an 8ohm load. Any 2 will give a 4ohm load. The difference is that when the cabs have a higher impedance the amp will be a little bit quieter for any given settings - so More cabs = lower impedence = a bit louder. As your cabs are 200W rating or 400W with both you couldn't crank many modern amps all the way up, so you'd have to be sensible on the volume control of a higher powered amp. Not a big deal though. My cabs have a total handling of 700W and I use a 900W head. [/quote] Little bit nervous about potentially breaking my cabs... I blew a speaker last year and I guess because SWR are a relatively small company it was a mission to get the right stuff to fix it. I don't really want to be worrying about hurting my gear during a loud gig. But thanks for expanding on how it all works... I might look around for a 500W amp so I wont need to worry much about driving my cabs too hard, then when (/if I ever) have some more money I can invest in some cabs that can take more abuse. Does that make sense or is that a science that only works inside my head?

Thank you for the responses already! I use a Rickenbacker... I mostly play rock and metal but do a lot of function gigs also doing pop and funk so an adaptable amp is required, I don't really have a sound or influence in mind! My budget is around £400, possibly £500 max at a push - but if I can get something of good quality for less than that, that would be wicked! I'm probably asking for too much, but that's why I'm definately looking at second hand gear. Would it change much if I used just one cab? I have found for most shows that just one is more than enough (usually got a lot of other gear in the car too!) so would most amps be ok to run through just one cab? (I have read many conflicting things about impedance, I have no idea what to believe). My SWR head has been muting itself at seemingly random intervals... I've had a few different people look at it and they couldn't find any problems so I think it's time to move on! The past few months of gigs have been ok but I am worried that it will happen again at the worst possible time. But thank you to everyone so far who have made some suggestions, I will have a good look around! Cheers!

Bass tutor available for lessons in the Bristol area. Lessons are taught from a dedicated studio in Downend, but travelling to your own home is also an option. I teach with [url="http://www.bristolrockguitar.co.uk"]Bristol Rock Guitar[/url] who specialise in rock music tuition - students will also benefit from having a small team of different tutors behind them to support their musical endeavours. Our aim is to liberate musicians from their bedrooms by offering great opportunities for students to develop their live and ensemble performance skills. We do this by holding sessions where musicians of different disciplines can play music together in a relaxed atmosphere, guided by the tutors. This has helped many of our students to form their own bands - these bands can also benefit from tutors help with booking and promoting gigs, arranging radio apppearances and receiving band tutoring. But enough about the band stuff, here's some info about me and my lessons: I specialise in Rock, Pop and Metal but can also help with a range of other musical genres. Lesson content can be focused on technique, music theory, sight reading, improvisation, achieving grades, live performance skills, having fun learning songs, or any combination of the above! I am CRB checked and a member of the Musician's Union. I hold a BA (Hons) degree in Professional Musicianship and have been working as a musician for a nuber of years, including working on sessions for magazine Total Guitar and exam board Rockschool. I have a few free lessons on the [url="https://www.youtube.com/BristolRockGuitar"]Bristol Rock Guitar Youtube[/url] which we will keep adding to. The accompanying transcriptions are on the [url="http://www.bristolrockguitar.co.uk/resources/"]BRG Resources Page[/url] so please visit our pages if you'd like to get a better feel of us or the lessons. To book a lesson please email [email protected] or call 0117 9565380. Thanks, Becky Baldwin Bristol Rock Guitar - [url="http://www.bristolrockguitar.co.uk"]Website[/url] - [url="http://www.facebook.com/bristolrockguitar"]Facebook Page[/url] - [url="https://www.youtube.com/BristolRockGuitar"]Youtube[/url] - [url="http://twitter.com/BRG_Tuition"]Twitter[/url] Becky Baldwin - [url="http://www.facebook.com/beckybaldwinbass"]Facebook Page[/url] - [url="http://twitter.com/BeckyB_Bass"]Twitter[/url]

Apologies if this topic is more suited to the "Items Wanted" section - but I'm not exactly sure what I want yet and would like some advice! Please move the topic if necessary. I currently use an SWR WorkingPro 400 head with 2 2x10 and 1 1x15 cabs (not all at the same time though!)... But I'm looking for a head that isn't SWR that I can use with the same cabs - I can't afford to change them all and I quite like having small, light cabs that I can mix and match. All the cabs run 200W at 8 ohms. Does anyone know of other heads that would match this impedance? Or even better, does anyone know someone who is selling a head that would work with this setup? I'm pretty skint so would like to buy second hand. All tips and advice for where to look and what else to look out for are very welcome... This is my first post on this board but I hope to stick around. Cheers!