Staggering on

Busy couple of days with a rehearsal with my teacher's youth orchestra yesterday where I am one of a few adults who fill out the cello and bass sections, not enough big kids to play full size cello and bass. Lots of fun playing everything from Pachelbel's canon to a medley of fiddle tunes and we are getting ready for a May concert. I left that one a bit early to rush across town to a rehearsal for the swing band I am in, we have a show in early May. Five of the seven members have music degrees of one sort or another so it is a challenging group to play with, we have been together for 6 or 7 years and have played gigs in a lot of different venues. This afternoon I had a three hour rehearsal with a bluegrass band that will be playing at three festivals this summer, it is our first get together since autumn, the band leader spends the winter in Forida. Lots of fun and we managed to remember most of the music and our vocal harmony was pretty good considering the long break. The banjo player is a joy to play with, he is a sensitive musician and doesn't overdo things, quite rare for a bluegrass banjoist! Lots of variety, I played my Shen ply bass arco for the youth orchestra, same bass through an amp for the swing band and an old beater ply Czech bass acoustically with the bluegrass band. For the rest of the week I will be practicing for these bands at home and prepping for my lesson on Friday, happy to be busy.😊

That's a great idea! Mine go into my gig bag in a small fabric bag with a drawstring along with a usb cable and adaptors so I can plug in and charge if necessary. The WL 20 is great, I have used it for practice, rehearsals and gigs for years with no problems.

Hmmmmm, what is the date today? 😊

To make it even better (or worse depending on your point of view) I play tenor banjo in a trad jazz band and in the bluegrass band I play bass but get to listen to our excellent 5 string banjo player...best of both worlds.😄 Edit: I had to remove the ' that somehow slipped into the original post...I am getting old I guess.🙄

Steady now, there are some banjo players on here, I'm one of them.....😊

Same way I feel, I'll be 78 in two months and love gigging with my DB and I've got a show, jazz gigs, some jams and three bluegrass festivals coming up this spring and summer and I'm taking weekly lessons and will be helping out my teacher's youth orchestra's bass section in a concert in May. I'm not sitting around because I know the clock is ticking and consider myself to be extremely lucky to be able to do this now.

Don't be silly, part of the joy of owning a DB is that you can brag/complain/compare about all the money you have spent, it's just part of the bargain when you play the best instrument and the one that is the most fun and most frustrating to play. Just today I spent CD $360 for a new set of strings for my "backup bass" that I have used at precisely three gigs in the four years that I have owned it. I have also had a new bridge fitted with adjusters, bought a better bow and had some set up work done on it and bought two pick ups and this is a beat up 50 year old ply bass.🙄 I hope to use it for some bluegrass festivals this summer and maybe recoup some money but it is fun to play and lets me save my "good bass" for jazz gigs. Crazy according to some but we all have to suffer for our art.😉

I like to play but I live in a very rural area with the nearest large town (50,000) an hour away and so that is where most rehearsals and jazz gigs are although we travel another hour or two for some gigs. At 77 I want to play as much as I can because time is passing quickly, this summer I have a jazz gig or two an hour away and 5-6 days of rehearsal and performances for a stage show at the same distance. I somehow got into a bluegrass band 18 months ago and we have three weekend festivals booked and another possible one. The closest is 2 hours away and the farthest is about 6 hours and the others 4 hours but I will make a weekend of it and have a little holiday while playing at the festivals. I will be playing DB at all of these gigs. My weekly DB lesson is also an hour away. At this point in my life I want to play all I can while I am still able to drive and play and the driving is the price I have to pay for living in my little part of paradise, I've been here for 45 years now and still love it.😊

Gollihur now handles the NUX system, it apparently avoids the impedance problem that some wireless systems have and Mark explains it in the product description.

I hated the wires too so about 5 years ago I bought a Boss WL20 to use with my EUB (Yamaha SLB 200) and DB (Shen SB100) and love it. Very simple to set up and I have used it hundreds of times for practice at home and for rehearsals, jams and gigs and never had a problem. it is easy to charge with a simple usb with no base needed and you can charge each unit separately or plugged in together. I used it with my DB for two gigs last week and for home practice too. I go from the bass pickup (Realist Lifeline) to a Schatten Design volume control unit that I mount on my music stand or mic stand with a bracket I made and from there it goes by cable to an amp or PA and I have never had it run out of power even at long gigs. It has been flawless for jazz, orchestra, bluegrass and I would buy another one if I ever have a problem with this one. I have also used it straight into the amp at some gigs or rehearsals where the amp is close enough to use the controls on the amp. There are similar units available but this one has worked for me and I know another DB player that uses the same system and loves it, highly recommended by me.

Me too, a lot louder. Realist Lifeline on my Shen SB100.

Two gigs with the seven piece swing/trad band. Last Tuesday was a Jazz at the Junction gig at a Legion hall where we have played several times, the place was full and they were right into the music, no dancing though, the place is too small. I was in some sort of weird place mentally(age and/or long Covid fog ?) but as front man I managed to say what I needed to say and played reasonably well if the recording was accurate. I came home frustrated and depressed with the whole night's performance even though the audience liked it. On Sunday we played a charity gig at a large (for our part of the world) church to raise money for roof repairs. Lots of stairs and twisty corridors to navigate for load in and out but great acoustics once the audience of about 300 came in and we played well and I was back in the real world and was happy with my performance. It was a strange set up with the band on several levels with a large immovable altar right in the middle and the band spread out with the Bose PA set up behind us, and since only the bass and keyboard use the PA it was hard to hear the horns on "stage" but it was great for the audience and they loved it. My bass teacher and another DB player were in the audience and that made me a bit nervous but after the concert he was complimentary, I'll find out what he really thinks at my lesson on Friday.

If you do opt for a new bridge I would recommend having adjusters installed. It means you can make changes without a luthier and also makes it possible to use some very good pickups like the Realist Lifeline and others that install at the adjusters. Nothing wrong with having two DB's, I have a Shen SB 100 with a Lifeline for jazz gigs and for any bowing and a beater Czech bass with a Vic's Model B (or similar) pickup for bluegrass and some outdoor work. Confession: I also have an EUB, Yamaha SLB 200 and all three instruments get played regularly. I have huge amount of GAS for a good hybrid or carved DB but at almost 78 I will get by with what I have now....I think.😉

You're lucky, in my part of the world crowds are small and many venues have closed or only have live music one or two nights a week. I do agree that some bands don't make an effort to be entertaining but I think cost is a large part of the reason that there are fewer live shows and also Covid kept people home listening to streamed music and they have become used to that and it's cheap. Some over here will pay huge sums to see a really big star or attend a big name country or pop music festival but the small venues are dying.

That's true but what struck me was the huge number...4 trillion, who would have guessed? To me it is another explanation why people don't go out to listen to live music very much any more.

I think the best thing to do is to get a bass player or luthier to look at and play your bass, even a bassist who is not a pro will be able to tell if it is you or your bass and you can move on from there. The type of music you play and whether you are using a bow or playing pizz are important things to consider as well. It would be well worth your money to get a pro set up and possibly different strings. I am not an expert but I went through the same thing when I started upright and wasted time and energy on a bad bass. I'm sure there must be some teachers and luthiers in your area and I'm sure you will get some suggestions and contacts from others on here. Good luck!

Thanks, that works! 👍😊

I'll try. I have had computers for quite a while and I know how to do the basic things I need to do but have only very basic skills. I will talk to someone here who can help me with this and try to post what you want, might not happen right away. Edit: I'm old.🙄

I just saw this and I think fits in this topic. Music streams hit 4 trillion in 2023. Global acts and Taylor Swift fueled growth - ABC News.webarchive

I was about to suggest this but you got there first. I have bumbled my way through my version of this on EUB and also on DB with a drummer who not only played on my strings but wandered around the room playing on the floor, tables, people's bottles and glasses and whatever else he could find before he found his way back to his drums. The crowd always loves it and of course it is a bit different every time and it's great fun to play. I think it has also been done on EB but DB is best of course.

Rehearsal that was planned for yesterday with a singer who has been trying to get a band together for months was cancelled. She is out west and has been for a few weeks and will be back "around the end of the third week of January". She has had a couple of bands before Covid and for seven months has been working on a new swing band and asked me to play DB and all my musician friends said stay away but I thought it might be interesting. Seven months with about 5 "rehearsals" and she keeps talking about booking gigs...crazy! The keyboard player is about the best musician that I have played with in 60+ years of making music and the drummer is very good but she just can't get her act together and I told her yesterday that she will have to find a different bass player. Most people who have been in her bands last only a couple of gigs and I should have listened to them and stayed clear. I am out now and all the emails I am getting from her won't get me back, she has a dream but without some focus and a lot of organization on her part it won't happen. At my age I should have known better but she will never change. The good thing is that I have been playing in a seven piece swing band for several years and we have a rehearsal tonight and a couple of gigs in February. I also play in a bluegrass band that is booked for at least two festivals next summer and I help out with a youth orchestra. Main message is that if it doesn't feel right get out before you waste too much time and energy on someone's dream, I know some of you know exactly what I'm talking about.

When I played EB I only had one bass and never had a problem and never had a spare bass at a gig. Now that I play mostly DB and a few EUB gigs things have changed. If it's a DB gig I always have my Yamaha SLB 200 with me just in case I have a problem with my DB, they are a lot more delicate than an EB. It's a bit of a hassle but it's good for my peace of mind since most gigs are at least an hour from home and borrowing a DB on short notice isn't easy, so far I've never had to use it. If it's a EUB gig I don't take a back up, I've never had a problem with the SLB 200 in six years of gigging and rehearsing with it.

Monday night was a Christmas concert with the youth orchestra that my teacher runs. Like the concert in June he asked several adults to play with the kids, mostly to fill out the low end and I was one of the people he asked. It was a great evening with a very enthusiastic audience of family members and friends. About 35 kids from 6 to 19 were in the orchestra with the youngest only playing on the simpler pieces. In the photo you can see the other bassist (15 years old) as well as amps and drums that are not usually in this orchestra but were necessary for "Wish Liszt" by the Trans Siberian Railway and it was a very challenging piece for me and several other adults but the kids breezed through it. Some more traditional orchestral works and a fun version of "Boomwhacker Christmas" that the audience and orchestra members loved filled out the programme. Lots of practicing for me but my bowing technique is getting better and I hope to play with them again, it's great fun but a bit intimidating playing with kids who are 71 years younger than I am and can play better than the old man on the bass.😊

Totally agree. I also have an EUB and EB but when I play DB I feel like a "real" bass player and as said above I play differently and play lines that I wouldn't even consider on EB and would not feel right on EUB, hard to explain but that's the way it is. Except when I am playing with a youth orchestra that needs a few adults to fill out the low end I always use an amp with my DB and just consider hauling all that stuff around to be part of the "double bass experience". At 77 I'm lucky to be in good shape so carrying gear is no problem and I plan to continue as long as I can and I started weekly lessons last year and am really enjoying working with the bow, which of course is one more thing to carry. 😊