Staggering on

I saw it at the bash and am glad you were able to make a deal on a lovely bass, but that was an odd looking endpin, the new one looks nicer and is adjustable...great!

Does he/she have a good DB stand?The Bass Bar stand is highly recommended and is discussed in a recent thread in the EUB and double bass forum on this site, it seems to be ideal for those who play both DB and EB and need to switch easily.There are other stands too. What about a bow,you can spend little or a lot on these. A case/gig bag/wheels(bass buggy)? I'm done.Good luck.

Finally a magazine for people like me.Subscription info please.

Careful,we're a sensitive lot...

Like many of you I've played so many hot gigs none really stands out but I remember the coldest one. I was playing(depping) tenor banjo(!) in a Dixieland/trad band called Professor Futz and His Band Of Nutz who played gigs wearing clown costumes.It was a strange band and the costumes were part of the "schtick" but the players were legit musicians, many of them played in the Toronto Symphony.This gig was an outdoor strolling gig at the Toronto zoo in February in the mid 1970's and the temp was -21or -22(I can't remember but it was COLD).We were all wildly out of tune and the valves, slides and keys of the wind instruments would freeze so the trombone player might be stuck in first position and that sort of thing.We would play a few songs and then go inside to warm up and return to the cold for another few songs.It was crazy but we got paid.I played the intro to the first song on banjo in the key we had agreed on(C) and when the band came in I thought they were fumbling around a bit.At the end of the song the trumpet player asked why I had played it in C#.The cold had shrunk the strings so they were a half tone higher, it made the rest of the gig pretty interesting and one I won't forget.

Works for me on my Yamaha EUB too, easy to apply and remove or touch up as required.

Thank you all for a great day and thank you bluejay for the photos.I saw this post as I was leaving for Heathrow to fly back to Canada...what a good way to end my trip.It will be good to get home and play my bass(rehearsal Sunday!) and try to learn to live with the GAS that I acquired at the bash.

Well I had great time at the double bass bash today! Thanks to Brother Malvis for organizing the event and to all of you who brought basses and let us all try them out.After seeing and playing Roger's Kolstein travel bass and Audrey's Emminence I have a serious case of GAS. Nice day,nice basses,nice people...perfect day. Special thanks to Bassace for the ride to the bash. Bob

Speaking of stance, I love the sound of my EUB(Yamaha SLB200) but I LOVE the stance I use when playing upright, it makes me feel like a "real" bass player...you'll know what that means if you play any upright EUB or DB.Heaven.

This is starting to look like a really good day! I'll be there but my SLB200 will be sitting at home in Canada. Bob

As I suggested earlier, check out the Double Bass bash April 14 near Bicester,there will be some EUBs there.See Events forum for more details.

Many(most?) punters" hear what they see "to a certain extent.The last sentence in the quote above is what it's all about.

I have found the same thing happens when I play different music.I am in two bands that play essentially the same type of jazz/swing music but one is a quartet where we just use a lead sheet for melody and chords and the other band is a seven piece swing band where we play professional arrangements from charts and that demands real concentration and accuracy.Each band requires a different type of playing, in the quartet I can be more creative and in the septet I have to be right on the money or the arrangement doesn't work.One result is that my reading skills have gone up a lot and using some ideas from the arrangements I have started to be more inventive in the quartet. I also feel better playing bass after a session where I play guitar or banjo, like you, bass is the right instrument. And we are all so lucky that we have music in our lives!

It was NOT this Canadian! ...and Canadians rarely get irate... Bob

Your persistence paid off...and you were right, medium it is. Much as I love my SLB200 I have found it very frustrating when I have contacted Yamaha and asked any technical questions (ex."should I use a preamp?")so you have done well. Bob in Canada

This is his only appearance in the UK and should be a great show.I will be back in Canada by then(poor timing) so I'll miss it but you can find ticket sources easily online.Lucky you!

Yup,probably medium but it will be nice to hear what they say. I just checked the string ID chart at Gollihur Music(https://www.gollihurmusic.com/faq/57-STRINGS_STRING_IDENTIFICATION_CHART.html) and it seems that string is only shown as light or heavy.The plot thickens.... ...a few minutes later... I went to the Gollihur site again and found that they sell that string in light, heavy AND medium!There is also a video from the manufacturer and they mention the three weights too.This is getting interesting.

That would be great,I would love to hear an Eminence in a live setting, it's hard to tell what they really sound like on videos.I want to hear how it compares to my Yamaha SLB200, which I will be leaving at home in Canada unfortunately. Bob

My SLB 200 has the stock strings the same as yours.Not sure of the gauge but here are the colours of the silks on mine if that's any help. Tailpiece-red and gold Pegbox-E green,A black,D gold,G red There are sites where you can use the colours to identify your strings and there are other sites that deal with the Yamaha SLB200(Talkbass...oops,sorry about that BC). I'm in Canada and there is a phone contact on the Yamaha website but nobody seemed to know much about the instrument.I have the owners manual but it does not give any details about the strings other than how to change them and tune.In the specifications it says "contra bass strings" with no names or gauges. Good luck!

I started with a Stagg and it was a good intro to upright for me and the neck is similar to many DBs (being careful here...).A few months later I came across a Yamaha SLB 200 at a price that I couldn't resist and I have been using it for about 3 years for gigs.It has a better sound and can be set up pretty much like a DB and although some would disagree, it is a really good instrument, at least for me.Because it is not usually very easy to try out several EUBs at one time since most stores carry a limited stock, it might a good idea to take your time and try as many as you can,it seems what is great for one person doesn't work for others. I'm sure you'll get lots of ideas on BC and there might be other threads on here to check out.The Double Bass Bash in April near Bicester(see Events) could be a good source of advice and there may be some EUBs there to try out. Good luck and happy hunting!

And here we are... p

First outing for our seven piece swing band Sunday afternoon.Most of the two swing sets were charts by the arranger and composer Dave Wolpe and I would recommend them-good arrangements and a good challenge with lots of key changes and interesting timings.All but two of us have music degrees and everyone reads well with me as the weakest link but I managed to get through with only a few minor problems.I was using my Yamaha SLB 200 EUB and went straight into our Bose PA along with the piano.I had a busy time as I am also the frontman and did the between song chatter. The third set was a Dixieland/Trad set and I switched to tenor banjo and one of the horn players switched to tuba. All in all a good afternoon with a sold out hall(OK,it was small but packed with close to 100 people)and we got a standing O at the end of the gig and are being booked back in June. Trying to keep live music alive here in Canada... Bob

Thomann also has the Stagg stand.