Staggering on

I got my first guitar in 1959 as a young teenager and have been playing ever since. Much like Dad it's been on various instruments and from no gigs to full time. The last 30+ years I have been playing bass in a variety of jazz groups from trios to big bands and switched to DB and EUB about six years ago and was gigging with two bands before lockdown. In the last year I have improved a lot and am playing almost every day using sheet music and a huge collection of books I have accumulated, iRealPro, video lessons and playing along with recordings I have or other sources. I have watched a lot more videos(performance and instruction) than before lockdown and always find something to learn from them, great to have a resource like the internet, much better than "the good old days" with just records and books. My reading is much better and I feel more confident in my reading and my ability to actually play what I'm reading. Playing along with recordings (everything from pop, oldies, jazz standards and even big bands) has really improved my ear and I am getting much better at finding the key and chord progression before the song ends, well sometimes.😉 I have also been struggling with the bow on DB. I really miss the gigs and the rehearsals(usually 2 a week) and playing with other musicians and since I retired from my very hectic day job a couple of years ago music has been the main social part of my life until last March. I am a much better player than I was before lockdown and can't wait to get back to gigging, and at almost 75 I hope that happens soon!

I think this old adage came from double bass players, "high for show, low for dough". I have seen this in several places including somewhere on Basschat but can't find it now.

That's why I designed the rack I posted above. My luthier saw it when my bass was in for some work and approved of the design and asked for some photos to show it to some of his customers, I felt good about that.😊 Now if only I had some gigs or rehearsals to go to so I can use it again.☹️

Actually London has about 9,000,000 and Canada is 37,000,000 but as you point out density is the real problem. London's population density is about 5600 per km2 and Canada's is 3.9 per km2 for the whole country. Comparing cities we have 4500 per km2 in Toronto and our highest density is Vancouver at 5300. I live in a very rural area of Northern Ontario where the density is very low and the number of covid cases is small. A major issue here is visitors from the hot spots in the south coming up here. Our current lockdown is based on "STAY HOME" (government's mantra) but it isn't being enforced so we are getting a bit nervous out here in the boonies.🇨🇦

My Yamaha SLB 200 has a 34" fingerboard, nut to bridge is 40 3/4 ".

This is what I made to make it easier to get the bass in and out over the 8" lip at the back of my car, a Hyundai Elantra GT hatchback. It also keeps the neck and scroll up higher so there is no interference with the shifter. In actual use I put an old quilt over the frame for more padding and a wide strap across the bass to keep it in place. There is also a pillow at the back so the bottom of the bass is snug against the hatchback. The front passenger seat is unobstructed and there is plenty of room for an amp, other instruments and all the gear needed for a gig. It's a ply bass and my luthier says he sees no problem with putting it on a rack like this. I made the rack to be a snug fit between the back of the car and the back of the front seats so that when it it is in place it doesn't move. Now it's easy to slide the bass in and out without having to worry about the lip at the back and mess around with pillows to raise the neck and scroll above the shifter. I used this a number of times for gigs and rehearsals so I know it works and I'm hoping it won't be too long before I use it again...sigh...

Thanks for that. 😊

Yup, and the number of posts seems to be working, I've posted a couple of things today. Not much of a tech guy so all of this stuff is a mystery to me. The numbers aren't a big deal, I just noticed that they had been the same for quite a while. Thanks for your interest and whatever you did to get things rolling again, at least for now. Gotta love this site.😊

See edit in my message, your point did show up when I checked again. Thanks!

Thanks for the idea, never thought to look, I'll check it out but my posts seem to be stuck at 425 now. Edit: just looked and it's been at 910 for quite a while....hmmmm.....

Happy Birthday from over here!😊🇨🇦

Could be part of it but I have also posted in General Discussion and EUB and Double Bass too, thanks for replying. Interesting that I'm now at 423, thanks for noticing that, but I wonder what happened to all the others. As above, not concerned, just curious.🤔

I just noticed that the statistics (posts and points) for me have been the same for some time. I looked back several months and I seem to be stuck at 422/ 900 and I'm wondering why that is happening and how many times I actually have posted. Can anyone explain this and update things?Not a big deal, just curious. Thanks

Thanks Al, I'd forgotten about that post. 😊

I have several of these and they work well and stay almost invisible to the audience when placed as in the photo. I use them on EB, EUB, DB, guitar, banjo and mandolin and have never had a problem at home or playing gigs. For EUB and DB I mount them on the bridge, secure and easy to see. I find the large clip ons very distracting when I'm watching someone playing, my eyes just seem to be attracted to them, even more so when they are on banjos and mandolins.

I've seen the country music one on PBS and it is well done and I learned a lot. Before the actual series PBS ran a show telling how the series was made, interesting stuff.

It won't be any time soon in Ontario. The whole province will go into shutdown as of December 26 with only essential stores(food mainly) and some services open, similar to the situation in March. This will last a minimum of 14 days in the northern part and 28 days in the more densely populated south. Restaurants can do take out or delivery only. Limited numbers in big box stores but only if they sell food(Walmart) and hardware and building supply stores. All personal services are closing and the school holiday has been extended well into January. Here we go again, very limited social interaction rules so no live shows and rehearsals only under special conditions, neither of the bands I am in have rehearsed since March and won't be any time soon. They have also ordered all ski hills and cross country ski centres to close, just as most are opening and were hoping to get some business over the holidays. I am lucky that I live in a very rural area and have ski trails on my own property and can use neighbour's trails too. The snowmobile trails (thousands of km crisscrossing the province) were just starting to open in some area and I assume that won't happen now. No idea when any live music venues will open, it looks like a bleak future, at least for a few months.

I've got the box set too and have watched some of the segments several times and learn something every time and enjoy the music. I agree with your feelings about it and was very surprised when I Googled some reviews and found some very harsh criticism from some pretty big names as well as others, I hadn't realized it was so controversial. That being said, maybe I'll watch a couple of segments over the holidays.

Re dots I just looked at the Thomann UK website and searched "fret markers" and they have several kinds of stick ons including dots for the side of the fingerboard. Might be worth checking out if you get a EUB without dots. Good luck.

I use liquid Whiteout on my EUB, it comes in a pen format and you can make whatever size marks you want and it is easy to remove and doesn't damage your bass. Recently I ordered some stick on dots(non permanent) from Gollihur Music and got both the white colour and the light maple. I put the maple ones on my blonde DB and while I can see them they are not very obvious to anyone else. I have been playing EUB and DB for just over 5 years now and while I'm not particularly good I have played a lot of gigs with several bands using both instruments and do some vocals too and I use the dots as a quick reference once in a while as I'm playing but don't use them all the time. Some professional DB players have dots in thumb position for reference and I've never heard anyone criticize that. Re the suggestion that you shouldn't use dots or marks because you will come to rely on them I don't agree with that. I would argue that every guitar and EB I have seen, including fretless EB, have dots and other markers on them and I've never heard the argument that they are a learning crutch and are a bad thing when you are learning to play. If they are OK on those instruments why not on EUB and DB where people like me can sneak a peek just to check exactly where I am on the fingerboard, especially important when playing in a loud band. I haven't seen many guitar or EB players using the dots except as a quick reference unless they are beginners. Why make things harder for yourself, I use my ears and muscle memory for intonation but sometimes in the heat of the battle it's nice to have a visual reference. I am a bass player who likes to move a lot as I play and sometimes I need a look to make sure where I am on the fingerboard unlike many players who don't move much or use a stool while playing and the instrument stays in the same place relative to their body. Obviously I don't play in an orchestra, at least not yet, and I will have to change a few things if that ever happens. ...running for cover....😊

Ooooh, can't wait, a musical extravaganza with both DB's? Maybe something for NYE? 😋

What? No DB? (and I know you have at least two and the one in the video looks lovely but doesn't count because you're not playing it)🙂

Thank you for the good wishes, I appreciate that. I lived in that area for many years before I moved about four hours north to a very rural area 40 years ago and built a house and a new life. Up here we have real winters and I snowshoe and ski on my trails on my 100 acres, much better than the dreary slush and rain and crowded life in the south. Still missing the gigs and playing with other musicians although it's no better in the areas with higher/denser population. Sigh...

Neither band I'm in has rehearsed or gigged since March and like many of you this would be a busy time year for us but over here the live scene is basically dead. Nothing happening in my rural area and in the nearest city(45 miles away, 50,000 population) there is a bit of music in a craft brewery with very limited seating, most band members don't want to play there, it's too risky. Three bandmates, all horn players, play in the pit band for a high school musical that is in rehearsal and will be done on video and then available as a pay per view option. The band rehearses in a room separate from the stage area and on the video show night they will be mic'd and fed to the auditorium as the show goes on. I would not have done that if asked, too risky with high school kids who are very social and the 8 or 9 piece band in a room blowing for hours at a time. I am not optimistic about much happening soon, perhaps by next summer and I'm hoping the public will still be interested in seeing live music in bars and clubs(the ones that survive) and at various social functions. At 74 and after playing in bands or on my own for almost 60 years I realize my playing days are numbered now and although I'm still in good shape anything can happen at this age and I sometimes get pretty down wondering if the gig I played at the end of February was the last one I'll ever play. I still practice almost daily(DB) and have done a bit of recording and work with iRealPro but it's not like playing with real bandmates. The drummer, who also plays vibes and marimba, and I have talked about getting together to jam and that might finally be happening soon and that would be fun. At this point no gigs at all in the foreseeable future, too bad because during all this my playing and reading have definitely improved, very frustrating.☹️