Lazybirdpete

Hi Tim I don't know if you are still looking but I have an Acoustic Image Coda Series 4 you can try when you are up my way Pete

Wow! That was two quick replies and early on a Sunday morning too. Thanks I'll try that.

My FS VM 70s, a few weeks old seems to have an eneven sound across the strings: lowest 2 strings louder and fuller sound. Is that likely to be an issue of pick up height adjustment? Any advice welcome. Pete

Just two basses, a Martin 3/4 Concert Double Bass which I play every day, mainly classical music; and a Fender Squier VM 70s Jazz 4 which is about a month old and has hardly been out of the case but which will see the light of day this week for a rehearsal with a singer/pianist

Finally bought a VM that works, from my local guitar shop Mansons: only £12 more than Thomann and that includes a free 6 month set up!

PS Marc in both cases the packaging was intact so unlikely the damage occured in transit from Thomann to me

Well its gone back already. My local guitar shop is supposed to be getting a couple of VMs in next week and they are only about £10-15 more expensive than Thomann and I can try before I buy so that may be the way to go.Thanks for the comments.

No I'm giving up with Thomann, getting a refund. They seem to have all the dodgy Squier stock! Yes they ship from Germany. I might go to a local shop instead but this experience has put me off F/S so I'm having a rethink.

Just received the replacement F/S VM 70s jazz bass from Thomann - can't believe it but the front pick up on this one doesn't work at all!! Quality control seems to be an issue with these basses.

Just heard from Thomann that they have shipped the replacement. Please Mr Postman, be gentle with my new baby!

[quote name='ead' timestamp='1420792373' post='2653380'] Is the knob definitely set square in the hole? Might be worth taking it out and making sure it's all smooth around the area - a 5 minute job. [/quote] yes I did think about that but then thought I might mash up one of the screws or scratch the plate and if that wasn't the problem I'd then have a hard time convincing Thomann to do an exchange. I did pop into my local guitar and bass shop who said they've seen it quite often, the result of a knock in transit. Anyway it's gone back now.

Have decided to return it: although a few quid off would be nice, I think that wonky knob would always piss me off!

I've just taken delivery of a Fender Squire VM modified 70s NT from Thomann. It plays great but one of the volume knobs isn't sitting square. I've tried swapping them over and the problem remains so the spindle is bent or set in at an angle. Obviously this is for Thomann to sort out but just thought I'd enquire to see if this is something that happens a lot and if there's an easy remedy so I can avoid the faff of sending it back. cheers Pete

Depends what you are looking for - jazz - Marcus or Al as already suggested, classical - Michael Allnatt in Newton Abbott, jazz & classical & all styles - Jim Rintoul in Exeter who is on this forum somewhere.

I'm playing the EP Weichs as is a much more experienced double bass playing friend of mine. We both play orchestral music and he is also very active playing jazz. The Weichs are easy on the hands and produce a good sound arco and pizz so I would give them a try. Pete

I know this is an old thread: I'm wondering what relative humidity other people think I should be aiming at for a room where a double bass is stored and played. I have the opposite problem of high humidity levels in my studio because, for sound proofing reasons, it has low ventilation and playing and teaching the sax in there puts moisture into the air. Sometimes it gets up to around 70%. I have a dehumidifier which can pull it down to 55-65% depending on how I set it. Lowering the humidity really improves the sound of the bass but I don't want to go too far and risk damage to the bass or use more electricity than I need to. I think the comfortable level for an occupied room is also around the 50-60% mark. What do people think I should aim for?

[quote name='TheRev' timestamp='1407280320' post='2519209'] The bumps are the piezo elements. Eventually the pressure of the bridge will make little dents on the top of your bass and the bridge foot will sit flat. [/quote] Oh I thought before that you said the idea was to get small dents in the bass to make it fit snugly?

Thanks for the advice everyone. So bumps facing the bass or the bridge?

Anyone else had trouble making a DB bridge sit snugly after fitting a Realist pick up? Mine has two bumps in the copper plate which are stopping the bridge foot from sitting tightly. Any solutions? cheers Pete

Thomann now stock the bass buggie if anyone is interested so a bit quicker than a US import and no import duty or paying the post office fees. I've just ordered one myself. 125 euros inc postage. Pete

Thanks for those thoughts Gareth. Given there are only so many hours in a day, I'm asking myself what is the most valuable way to spend my practise time. I'm never short of things to work on. At the moment I'm struggling to see the particular value of the grade work or the benefit of having the grades given I'm not trying to get into music college or anything like that.

I think I've decided not to take grade exams after all. They feel like a bit of a diversion at the moment. I've been teaching myself all my 2-octave major scales bowed, working out the best fingerings etc and I've made good progress with that and now I'm starting to add minor scales, chord arpeggios and so on. In order to do a grade 5 or 6 exam which is what I might be able to cope with in terms of sight reading and so on, I would have to go back and work on a small subset of scales, working on certain bowing patterns etc. That feels like a step backwards. The thing I'm asking myself all the time what is it that I need to learn next in order to make me a better player, not what do I need to learn to get through a certain grade exam. I think the answer at the moment is lots of sight reading, learning new pieces and doing as much playing with other people as I can. Any thoughts?

Hi Marc, you could use adjustable legs as fitted to kitchen cabinets. My plan originally was to set the height so that I could keep the end pin on the bass at its ready to play position: unfortunately my studio ceiling is on the low side so that proved tricky.

Wells, Somerset [url="http://www.johnsydenham.co.uk/John_Sydenham_Luthier"]http://www.johnsydenham.co.uk/John_Sydenham_Luthier[/url] John did a great job of setting up my starter bass.