JoeEvans

Is the focus of the pain and swelling around one side of the fingernail? You can get infections down there which result in swelling. If so maybe rub neat tea tree oil (super-strong anti-bacterial) into the edges of the nail. In due course it will open up and release all the pus, which isn't that nice but feels a lot better... A visit to the GP would be good if nothing changes soon. I don't think a German bow would help much, the forefinger does a fair bit of work there too. Pizzicato can't be much fun either I would think?

@Beedster goodness knows... I looked into the whole after length issue when I was doing it, but there is, to say the least, some diversity of opinion on what's desirable, and very little hard information. So I set the loop lengths just to make sure the washers didn't rattle against each other, and otherwise didn't worry too much. In practice I feel like it made the bass slightly more responsive to light touches and maybe a slightly richer tone. I think it's to do with reducing vibrating weight so that the strings are less damped.

@Beedster pics of the Dyneema tailpiece replacement here: It's been in place for a year now with no problems - the bass went a bit flat for the first month as the cords stretched a bit, then it settled and it's now very stable.

I'm wondering whether having the silks running over the nut would affect smooth tuning - with extra friction over the nut, would you maintain equal string tension on each side? A loop of 2mm Dyneema between the tailpiece and the string might be one of those quick, temporary solutions that turn out to last for years. I actually got rid of my tailpiece altogether and used a longer loop of Dyneema going round the endpin for each string - it improved the tone noticeably, although it was a very thick, heavy tailpiece, so possibly a lighter tailpiece would have generated the same improvement... You do need to use the right knot with Dyneema though, a water knot is good but there are other options too.

It would be a bad year for my car to cost me £2.5k ex fuel. I reckon on more like £2k a year for MOT, service, repairs, VED and insurance. No depreciation for me, the car was very cheap five years ago so nothing left to depreciate ...

Looks like an all-plywood instrument, can't see any damage from the soundpost incident. I would suggest getting a professional to put in a new soundpost and get the tailpiece, bridge, strings etc on. I think it would give you good rockabilly thumping, especially with a pickup on, but I don't think it's worth much - if it was well set up with new strings, a cheap pickup and a case it might be worth £750 maybe? If you were interested in working on a double bass yourself for the fun and challenge, this would be a perfect one to have a go on - with ongoing incremental improvement it could end up sounding pretty good for the purpose you have in mind.

I love orange basses myself and I reckon yours would look great in the right kind of orange with a cream pick guard...

I think Fender have an online thing you can put the serial number in to check model and year of manufacture.

My goodness... That's quite an extraordinary situation.

Have you just inherited this whole collection, or just the Hoyer?

Definition of a professional musician: someone who earns more money from music than they spend on equipment.

This is probably more a discussion about accordion playing than double bass playing - as a bassist, I don't think you need to do anything different or special in accompanying an accordionist. But as an accordionist, especially one with an electronically-augmented left hand capable of big bass sounds, you definitely need to leave more space down there for the bass. Depending on the musical genre, one easy change if playing a conventional left hand pattern (root-chord-root-chord, with the roots generally alternating I - V) is to only play every other riot note while still putting a chord on every off-beat (root-chord, chord-root-chord, chord).

You can give a super-subtle but convincing relic effect by dulling down the whole body (I'd recommend stripping everything off it then using 1000-grade wet and dry, dipping it regularly in a bowl of water to stop it from clogging); then using T-Cut to polish up just the areas where your right wrist and thumb would touch the bass while playing.

I also feel like the EMGs ought to give you respectable output levels, is it worth getting the pickups and wiring checked by someone? I guess I'm wondering if there might be a problem with the volume pot or something ...

Yes - I think keep it friendly and supportive re her journey into playing bass, but firm, polite and definite about her not playing bass in a band which already has a bassist ...

I play both those instruments and I'd say if you've got a double bass, the accordionist is freed up from having to carry the bass with their left hand and they can do looser, freer chords, maybe with a less bassy reed setting. Or come to that, since it's a midi accordion, use a piano sound on the left hand. Either way, let the bassist play the basslines and don't clutter up the bottom end.

Ah, the internet. When you're gagging for an argument and you really don't care what it's about...

This is a very heart-warming thread.

Thanks for this guys, it's just something I haven't really considered before. As I say, the bass in question (Ibanez Axstar) has an especially skinny neck and it seems to move more per tweak of the truss rod than other basses I've fiddled with, and to be more sensitive to changes in string type than other basses as well.

Do strings of the same gauge but different makes and types have much difference in string tension? I'm trying to get the truss rod right but the neck moved more than I expected when I changed the strings. It's a very skinny neck, mind...

That makes me feel a bit seasick.

I absolutely love my Beyerdynamic DT 990s.