Staggering on

I'd say go with the dots, at least to start. The anti-dot movement has never made much sense to me. Every guitar and bass (except for some fretless basses) have dots and inlays on the fingerboard and I've never heard anyone saying that they shouldn't be there and that you will rely on them and hence be a worse player and probably a "bad musician" too. Not only that but guitars, basses,mandolins and banjoes have frets to make getting the right pitch easier! I have put removable dots on my EUB and DB and find them useful sometimes in the heat of the battle to just check occasionally so I actually know I'm in tune, which isn't always easy when playing in a band as opposed to practicing alone. I don't play with my eyes focused on the dots, I'm reading a chart or playing from memory and rarely look at the fingerboard, but it's nice to know the dots are there for a quick reference. ...shuffles off to work on intonation...

Two gigs this week. On Thursday the jazz standards quartet played four sets of "wallpaper music" music while about 150 of Canada's mining company executives mingled and networked and ate a stand up banquet of seafood "finger foods" in a large ballroom and drank lots of booze. Nice crowd and several came over to say nice things to us about our music and we had several enquiries re future gigs.The organizers have already booked us for next year. We play quite a few gigs like this and while it may sound like a really boring and thankless job it is interesting to watch toes tapping in the crowd even as they talk and eat and to watch someone walking around doing a bit of grooving to our "background" music which some would call live Muzak. We look at these gigs as paid rehearsals and play a lot of music we don't get to play at our normal gigs and often stretch the song and our solos by adding a few choruses so it is actually fun, believe it or not. You have to have the right attitude to survive these gigs and the fact that we were well paid helps. Last night the seven piece "little big band" played two sets of swing(me on DB) and a set of Dixieland (me on tenor banjo) in a smallish function room at a craft brewery.We drove through a snowstorm to get there and were worried about the turn out but the room was almost full(about 40 something people) and we had a great night with a standing "O" at the end and are booked back for a date in August. All in all a good week and my Engelhardt Swingmaster ES 9 sounded great using the KNA DB 1 pickup into a Schatten Mini Pre (input gain and volume control only) that goes into our Bose PA so I don't even need to take an amp.😊

I'm Canadian and I'm not offended, at least I don't think I'm offended. What's wrong with my vowels, eh?😉

....ahem...sound "person" perhaps?🤔

Congratulations on moving to DB! Many of us have done the same thing and you will get lots of good ideas and advice on here, there are other threads about this topic on this site. It is definitely a different instrument than EB but it is so much fun to play you will love it. Good luck!😀

Yup, just lucky I guess.😉

Careful, banjo owner here...and I don't just own it,I play and gig it!!!😊

This is me too, even after 56 years of gigging. If other musicians are in the audience I have to work hard to forget about them and just play. Once I just relax a bit and stop worrying(it takes a considerable conscious effort for me to do this) everything goes fine because I actually can play the music. It's all a mental thing.😕

I love it, I love it, I love it! Been there, done that and it feels great! 😊

Ah,you are following many of us on the pathway that leads to the dark side! Yes upright is addictive and wonderful and makes you feel free and you will play things you never thought of playing on EB and you will feel like (gasp) a "real" bass player.I have played guitar and EB for 58 years but became a better person and a better bass player about five years ago when I went upright with a Stagg EUB and then upgraded to a Yamaha SLB 200 EUB. After a trip to England last April and attending the BC Double Bass Bash I just had to have the real thing and three months later I bought a DB and I love it. I think part of the good feeling you get playing upright is due to the fact that you are connected to the instrument physically in a way that is unique.It is a difficult instrument to play in the strictly physical sense but with a DB you get the vibe from the sound and the vibration of the instrument...heaven! Welcome to the club, you are in for a great time!😊

Sounds like a band I would not want to be in. No give, no take, no learning.😖

If it hasn't ever happened you haven't played enough gigs yet! It happens to everyone eventually and how you recover is the important part. At a gig a few months ago I was part way through singing a song that I first heard as a kid in 1959 and I have been playing in jazz bands and singing for years and suddenly the second verse was completely gone from my head so I developed a very bad coughing fit that lasted long enough to get to the next verse and get back on track.The people listening didn't even seem to notice but the the rest of the band were all doubled over laughing and still give me a hard time when we do the song and start telling me that the memory thing is the first thing to go at my age(72) but of course I pretend I can't hear them. 😉

Lots of info re adjustable bridges and whether they affect sound quality and volume on the Gollihur website.Click their Upright Bass Resources and then FAQ's for info and links.There is also info in the bridge section of their catalogue. Bottom line is there is very little effect and they refer to several studies that have been done on this topic. I'm in Canada and many bass players(including orchestral) use them and I'm planning to eventually replace the regular bridge on my DB with an adjustable.I have an adjustable on my Yamaha SLB 200 EUB and it is interesting to see what happens to sound and playability when I make changes to the bridge height. I think they are a great idea for any bass. Some players change the height if they play several very different genres of music on the same bass and can change easily from slap to bowing or pizz with a few turns of the adjusters. Good luck!

Go in a different direction.Put the money into a hire/rent/lease arrangement for a decent double bass and some lessons.You will have a lot of fun and will be a few steps along the winding path that leads to the dark side! 😊

Slightly off topic, but when I was in a very trying relationship with a female that I should have run from instead of inviting her to live with me, I was an hour from home(and her) on my way to a rehearsal and in a very distressed frame of mind when I realized I had left my bass and music at home.I went back and had to deal with a hassle from her and finally got to rehearsal.The band members were very understanding and asked no questions but did I ever feel dumb.She is gone but my sanity certainly took a beating for the years that she was in my life and house. ...haven't forgotten anything lately...😊

I couldn't resist calling my blonde and curvy bass "Marilyn". It's been fun on gigs and my band mates and a lot of punters always call "her" by name and there are often running jokes about how I handle "her" and treat "her" at home. Not very PC, but fun.😊 BTW I don't have names for my EB and EUB.

It sounds like you have a pretty good practice routine. You will always be learning, at least you should be, and that's a good thing. I started playing when I was 14 and was gigging at 16 and I'll be 73 this year and I try to play every day and I'm having fun! I gig and rehearse with two bands and I learn something every time I play.I have several hundred songs from the two jazz bands to work on, lots of method books and a big collection of music including some classical stuff and I work on something new every time I play.Most of the musicians I play with are very skilled and experienced and I have to work hard to get close to their level. That's one of the great things about music-there is always something new and different to work on.If you're bored with your practice routine you can always find something challenging to learn. I played a gig yesterday and now I'm going to go over a few of the bits where I wasn't happy with my playing, I will try a few new bass lines and see if I can figure out better fingering, always a challenge on DB. Like everyone else I have had my share of difficulties in life but music has certainly helped me cope and given me great pleasure.As I have said before on here, we are so lucky that we have music in our lives and get to make music with others or perhaps just for ourselves. Didn't mean to go on so long, time to play some bass.😄

There's a YouTube video by Jay Leonhart called "It's Impossible To Sing And Play The Bass".He's playing DB and I and many others know exactly what he is talking about.I do a few vocals and backup vocals and it took a while to get things coordinated, especially when trying to learn a new song while reading music and words at the same time. I can do it easily on guitar but DB is a whole other world.

Your tutor might be able to help you stand more comfortably but if you are new to upright bass you can expect a bit of discomfort until your body gets used to what is at best, an awkward position. Your left arm and hand will need to develop more strength which will happen as you play more. I play standing because I like to move a lot when I play and whether it is DB or EUB I'm on my feet, it just seems more natural to me. After a long gig or practice session I am sometimes a bit sore but I think the fact that I move a lot helps avoid pain. If you are in an orchestra or other formal ensemble you can't move around but in the small jazz bands I play in it is OK. I am 72 and started upright about five years ago and my left arm is the first area to start feeling pain but that is partly due to age and my dodgy technique and I find using the bow is worse for me than pizz. Good luck and have fun. 😊

Congratulations, what a great way to start 2019! 👍

Perfect! 👍

Looks great! Always exciting to get something new, especially a DB.👍

About four years ago I switched from EB to an EUB for the jazz and swing bands I'm in. I started with the Stagg which was OK but several months later I came across a used Yamaha SLB 200 at a great price and it is much better than the Stagg in terms of playability and sound, although others on here don't like the Yamaha it works for me.Of course it is also much more expensive. Then last summer I bought a DB and with the right pickup and strings it is a whole new world of fun. Now I use the EUB for some gigs where space and/or access are issues and the Engelhardt DB on the rest of the gigs.Both work great and I have had lots of compliments and questions about both instruments. I guess my suggestion would be to try as many EUB's and DB's as you can and go from there.I was lucky to be in England last April for the BC double bass bash and got the chance to hear and play a number of EUB's and DB's. I was really impressed with the Eminence EUB but it is pretty pricey. Check out the stuff for sale on BC, often real bargains show up. Upright is hard work but it is great fun, for me it's the best way to go and my playing has improved a lot since I've gone upright and when you play upright you feel like a "real" bass player! Go for it!😊

Thanks, but it's probably just because I'm old. 😉

I have posted this pic before on BC. I just had to buy the shirt when I discovered it online and here I am posing with "Marilyn", my blonde double bass. I always get comments when I wear the shirt, especially if I'm playing "Marilyn".