Staggering on

Don't give up yet, you never know what might come along. I play DB in a swing band and jam with two different groups of friends who play jazz and might end up gigging, another band I was in might be getting together again and I am in the band for a theatre show this summer. Just to keep my interest up and learn new things I started taking weekly lessons last October to learn to play better and use the bow, it is tough but a good challenge and I can see improvement in all my playing due to the lessons and the bow is starting to sound almost nice...well, sometimes. On top of that I just got called to play with a friend who is a mandolin player and has a bluegrass band so it looks like I'll be playing at a couple of festivals this summer. It should be interesting because I've only jammed a little, never played in an actual bluegrass band but I guess he thinks I can handle it. I'll be 77 in May and after 60 years of playing and gigging I have no plans to stop and have been lucky to have played guitar, EB, tenor banjo, DB and EUB in an incredible variety of bands. If something comes along, I would suggest that you go for it. Keep most of your gear, you never know when you might need/want it. I was about to sell my second double bass just when the bluegrass guy phoned and now I'm doing some work on it and will use it at outdoor festivals this summer and save my good bass for indoor gigs.😊 Edit: I should add that I live in a rural area in northern Ontario so I have to be prepared to drive an hour or more for jams, rehearsals or gigs and there aren't many venues to play at but I have decided that I want to play so I'll just live with the driving, even in winter.

My teacher has just started me with drones and he feels if you are practicing scales you should use the dominant (5th) of the scale as the drone note, it is easier to hear the intervals and you get more overtones on each note when bowing. I tried it at my lesson yesterday and just got an app so I can work on it at home.

I remember seeing this when you originally posted it and like a lot of us gasped when I saw the actual crash, it served to confirm in my mind that these things are just so prone to problems that I always take my EUB. I still cringe when I watch your video but at least the bass was able to be repaired and you had the EB, good thing you didn't have the aluminum bass that day!

I share your concern re damage in transit or some sort of disaster while playing, you're right about the big awkward and delicate aspects of DB. I play very few gigs that are less than an hour from home and running back for a spare is out of the question so for peace of mind I take my Yamaha SLB200 to most gigs "just in case". It may seem a bit silly but the Yamaha doesn't take up much room and I am more relaxed knowing that I can carry on if something bad happens to my DB. My bass is a Shen SB100 laminate so it is a sturdy bass but I still worry, so far I have had no problems but still take the Yammy and also a spare DB bridge pickup that fits my bass in my gig bag. Belt and braces.

When I bought my Stagg in 2015 it came with one of these stands and I used it at home and at gigs, it's sturdy and folds up better than some stands. I liked it so much that when I sold the Stagg and bought a Yamaha SLB 200 I kept the stand and it works well with the Yamaha, I have used it on many gigs and at rehearsals. It may work quite well for a lot of different EUB's.

I had one I made from a big washtub 'way back in the late 60's and it added a decent thud to a fast song and sometimes the pitch was fairly accurate but it was pretty useless on slow songs. Good fun to play and just about anyone could have a go at it, I'd classify it as an instrument but not necessarily a "musical" instrument.😊

The last one in 2018 was a great day and took me farther down the DB path, three basses and some lessons later it was definitely a turning point for me. If there is one this year I might have to make another trip across the Atlantic and reconnect with some of the folks I met at Bicester and see and hear some more basses and enjoy another little sightseeing tour in England. 😊🇨🇦

Same thing here in Ontario, I live 41/2 hours north of Toronto and it has been a struggle to get gigs for years and Covid has really had an impact and gigs are few and far between. As has been said in previous posts it is easier and cheaper and safer to stay home and as more venues cut back on live music things will get worse. My main band is a seven piece swing band and there are limited audiences for this type of music up here and right now we have nothing booked, we had some gigs in '22 and are rehearsing and hoping things will get better. Luckily I have a theatre gig in June to get ready for. I'm old and have had a good time playing gigs for about 60 years but I feel sorry for young musicians who just can't find places to play. I'm all about playing for live audiences but I can see why a lot of folks have decided to record their music instead of gigging but that's not for me. It's one of the reasons why I started taking DB lessons and working with the bow, maybe something will open up with a totally different kind of music for me. I'm also jamming with friends on a casual basis with no plans for public performances and that has been fun and it keeps me playing and working on new material.😊

Definitely a favourite of mine, just watched it again last week. The follow up Blues Brothers 2000 isn't much of a story but there is some good music in it.

Most Rockabilly players, and a lot of other players use adjusters in their bridges so they can experiment with bridge height or to set it at different heights for different types of playing. I have them on both of my DBs and my EUB and they are really useful and allow for fine tuning the bridge. Have you thought about having them installed in your new bridge? The Deuce bridge that you mentioned in your other thread has adjusters. You can install them yourself and several are available from Gollihur who can also give you some advice. Good luck!

Three things... A Shen SB100 DB that I bought last January, the third DB I have bought but it's the one that will be my "forever" DB, love it and used it on gigs all year. The Acoustic Image Coda combo amp that came with the bass. Best purchase of all has been weekly DB lessons since late October, something I should have done years ago. I have learned a lot and sometimes my work with the bow actually sounds pretty good and I am using more of the fingerboard (dusty end) too. I will continue the lessons in 2023. 😊

Anything by Edgar Meyer. He plays everything from bluegrass to jazz to Bottesini and back again with everyone from Christian McBride to Yo Yo Ma to Bela Fleck to symphony orchestras. Amazing with bow or pizz and can draw incredibly powerful sound from his bass.

Our seven piece swing band played inside a store as part of the city's downtown Christmas walk last night. It's a small shop but we had hundreds of people coming in for the three hours we played and got lots of good feedback as we worked our way through a mix of swing charts and some Christmas songs arranged for a band like ours. We played well and were done at 9 and got paid too . I used my Yamaha SLB 200 instead of my DB due to limited space. A shot from inside and one through the window from the street. 👍🎅

Do it. After more than 40 years of playing and gigging on guitar, banjo and EB I went over to the dark side of upright bass in 2015 with a Stagg EUB and now I play upright most of the time and I'm having the best time of my life. DB presents a whole different world of bass playing and I have learned a lot about bass lines and music in general since I went upright and I just started serious lessons a couple of months ago and that is opening up a new challenge using the bow. I love my DB but I also have a Yamaha SLB200 EUB to use at rehearsals and some gigs where space is limited. I have to add that attending the BassChat double bass bash in 2018 added to my GAS and I came home and bought a DB to use instead of the EUB and I haven't looked back, that was great day and I met some fine people and played some nice basses.😊

Kijiji has been important to me. It was the source of my first EUB(Stagg), then a Yamaha SLB 200 and then my first DB, the luthier that I found to work on it and eventually the last bass I will buy (Shen SB100) and an Acoustic Image amp. I got unbelievable deals on all of them, especially the SLB 200 and Shen, and would not have bought them new so Kijiji really has changed my life, I would probably still be playing EB without Kijiji. It is very rare to find deep discounts on new DB in normal retail shops or online, used is the only way to go for many of us. It was also where I found my sailboat and a number of vehicles over the years, I check it every day even though I'm not actually in the market for anything at this point in my life. Small stuff like tuners and strings I will buy at shops or online.😊🇨🇦

Minor derail from the OP but I plan to use my Yamaha SLB 200 at a gig on Friday instead of using my DB. The gig is part of a downtown Christmas walk in a nearby city on Friday evening and the street will be closed and various events will be going on culminating with turning on the lights on the downtown Christmas tree. My seven piece swing band will be playing inside a store that is quite small and we will be jammed in a corner and it just makes sense to use the EUB, not just for playing but also getting it in and out of a small crowded space where our audience will be wandering by and only staying for a few minutes. The DB looks better for a this kind of music but the EUB is a better choice for this gig and out front the sound will be just fine.

Just confirmed a booking to play inside a store in downtown North Bay on November 25 as part of the "downtown Christmas walk". I've played there before in a quartet but fitting a seven piece band with keys and drums it that space will be interesting. I think I'll use my Yamaha SLB200 instead of my DB, saves a lot of room and I'll use a small amp instead of our full on Bose PA. Should be easy and relaxed and we are getting paid.👍 Nothing in the book for 2023 yet.

Still a pretty dead scene in my area and no gigs booked yet for 2023 for the seven piece jazz "little big band" which of course has a limited market. As mentioned above many venues are booking singles and duos instead of bands which saves them a lot of money and they can still offer live entertainment but makes it tough for bigger groups regardless of their genre.

Seven piece swing/Dixie "little big band" last night with a good crowd, not quite a full room but about 50 fans who were very appreciative. As usual two swing sets and then I switch to tenor banjo and a sax player takes over the bass parts on Bari and we do a set of trad/Dixieland. I had a few lapses of concentration but overall the band was really cooking and the crowd loved it, we have a loyal following and even had some new folks there as well. We must have done something right because someone in the audience left a $200 tip for the band, first time that has happened. Good playing, good crowd and extra money= good gig.😄 Photo was during set up, as usual I used the Boss WL-20 wireless for my bass and went straight into our Bose PA, easy to set up, no amp to lug and excellent sound and the Bose acts as monitor for the whole band.👍

A bit too far away for me, I hope some BC members can get to see him.😊

Last night just by chance I noticed that a new documentary about Ron Carter was going to premiere on PBS and of course I had to check it out. Part of it was shot in 2017 and some from 2022 and it gives a very good picture of this amazing musician who has played on over 2200 recording sessions and at 85 is still touring and composing, he won his third Grammy this year. I don't know when/if/how it will be available outside North America but it is definitely worth watching, it's called Ron Carter: Finding the right notes and features comments from many of the great musicians he has played with and contemporary interviews with players and the man himself.

You're right of course but I was sitting here thinking I should try a few of those lines on my bass and it would be a lot easier (for me) to not have to transpose up an octave, although that would be good thing to practice.😊

Thanks for the link.👍 Lots of good info here but too bad they showed all but the last one ( I think) an octave lower than it should be and out of the range of standard 4 string bass, but I guess that's being picky. If the presenters actually played bass I bet it would be shown correctly. Rant: Interesting stuff if you can handle the show off name dropping presenters who really know their stuff but are annoying. Typical of so many of these videos where the presenter tries to make it all about himself to make it more "interesting" and some of the good stuff gets lost amidst the keyboard riffs and talking. 🙄 Sorry to sound so negative, it's still early here and I haven't had enough coffee yet but I did like the material.

The Coda has a down firing main speaker mounted on the bottom and another smaller speaker on the front and that spreads the sound around in a way regular combos can't and is good for most DB situations. I don't have the additional speaker shown in that post (don't need it) but the output increases and fires out to the front so it makes a good combination. Yes, they are expensive but I managed to get a very good deal that included the DB, Coda, bass case and both of the (expensive) covers for the Coda, everything was about 10 years old and in new condition, I lucked out on that deal.👍

We use a Bose L1 system with their 8 channel ToneMatch mixer. The EQ in the mixer is very good and very versatile and I can make my DB sound almost exactly how I like it although that may not not be the "my bass only louder" ideal. The Bose also works well with my banjo and a SM58(I think) and with the ToneMatch my natural "acoustic" singing voice can actually sound pretty good. 😊 When I jam with friends I might use the amp with the DB or just do the acoustic thing, it depends on the circumstances.