neilp

I've got several music stands thanks, Hiram. Some play better than others! With regard to upgrading amps/cabs, to what end? I have a sound from the rig that I'm happy with, and the different sounds from the basses give me the variety I need. I do gig, maybe I m bored. As far as budget goes, I don't really mind. I thought about a fretted Wal to match the fretless, but that did seem a tad extravagant! Maybe an Alembic never played one but who knows? I know one thing, the Aria isn't going anywhere! Love it too much

I know I have a tendency to be a bit stuck in my ways, so I thought I'd see if I can make a change. I've had my Aria SB 1000 for over 30 years now, and I love it. It has occurred to me though that there might be modern alternatives worth a look. So, given that I love the SB, the way it feels and the way it sounds, and I also love my Wal fretless, give me some ideas for a bass that might replace my Aria. I don't do 5 string, don't like them. So what you got?

It always makes me laugh when people trot out the "why do orchestras use charts to play 200 year old music". Try it. Go on. 2 days rehearsal for, say, a 15 minute overture, 35 minute concerto and a 45 minute symphony. Yes, maybe you've played it all before, but last time you had 2 rehearsals before the gig too. Not every Wednesday night for 8 months. And by the way, you can't just wing it, change your part because you fancy it, or make it up cos you get lost. That sh*t will get you fired. Every note needs to be right, right note, right articulation, right bowing, right phrasing, right dynamics. And guess how many repeated sections there are in, say, Beethoven 9? None. So if you think you can learn a 40 minute symphony in a week, by all means take the piss out of orchestral musicians. It's a different, infinitely more detailed and precise world. That's why they use stands

That really does show how much difference it makes to me - it turns out the Jazz has a satin neck after all! Really don't care....

Cort B4FL. OK, it's active, but you don't have to switch it on. Sounds great, plays great

Look for a nice VM Squier. I've owned an American Standard, and thought it was overpriced. The VM Squiers are great. No idea what wood they're made of (does it matter? Really? Your fingers, amp and cab make far,far more difference) but my VM Jazz is lovely

Makes no odds to me at all. I have 4 basses, the Aria SB1000 (fretted) and the Jazz (fretless) have gloss necks. The Wal and the Cort (both fretless) have satin finishes. All 4 play beautifully, it never occurs to me what finish it is. I have no problems swapping from one to another, even though the finishes are different. To be honest, I've never understood the thing about neck profiles and string spacing either. All my basses are very different, all feel great, all get played regularly. I use the one that has the sound I want.

Reasons for not quitting: great songs, great guitar player, great singer, who are both great people too Reasons I might quit: Drummers......

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1496412169' post='3311247'] Bin there. Dun that. I was playing with a Spanish singer-songwriter, experienced musician, good guy. I was on DB and I was really, really struggling with my intonation. It didn't matter how hard I concentrated, I was always off-pitch with his guitar. We played our first gig together and it was the same problem throughout. As a newbie to DB I just assumed naturally it was down to my playing. At the next rehearsal I played with a Korg Pitchblack permanently on so I KNEW I was playing the right notes, and I challenged him instead. We checked our tuners. Mine was set to 440. His was set to 432. He never came up with a convincing explanation for that ... [/quote] I remember being shouted down for a luddite and a pedant when I suggested we should all learn to tune to each other.... Sadly for me, in the classical world they notice. They notice EVERYTHING. Down bow instead of an upbow, intonation, the works. I played Mahler's 1st symphony last year, which famously has a VERY exposed double bass solo. It's not very difficult, but it's scary as hell when you know 70 other musicians are listening, and depending on you not to spaff it. So I spaffed it. It wasn't great. In the bar afterwards I must have had 30 or 40 sympathetic "good effort" type comments and condescending smiles. Beam me up..... The worst of it was, the last time I'd played that solo was 35 years ago in the Albert Hall, and I smashed it.

Quite a fan of Walk On The Wild Side too.....

The Lemon Song, or Ramble On

I have a fairly nice carbon German bow that I'll part with for a reasonable sum. Bought it cos I took on a pupil who had learnt German and didn't wan to change, and I needed to be able to demo stuff to him. He's moved away, so I no longer need it. PM me if interested Neil

Hi All, Excuse my ignorance, but I have never played a double bass amplified, and I've just been booked to play for a schools performance of Les Mis and they want amplification. I'm looking for a reasonably priced pickup which can be mounted and removed without difficulty. Most piezos need a preamp too, no? All advice gratefully received Neil

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1495795022' post='3306646'] Yes, alright. It was me. A girl got up to do some singing, had a nice soulful kind of voice and had called out Chain Of Fools. To me it was a natural progression to move on to Mustang. In my defence, it was the ONLY time the whole night that any of the few punters present got up to dance. I've always said that on the rare occasions i play it I always enjoy doing it and last night was no exeption. Rather that than another rendition of Stormy Monday etc. The day I'm ashamed of trying to get a bit of atmos going and entertain folks is probaby the day I hang up the bass for good. [/quote] Well said that man.

What NickA said! I'd guess turn of the century German/Czech. What they call a "trade bass" built in their thousands, huge variations in quality. I would say, however if people over the years have deemed It worthy of decent quality repairs, that's a good sign! Enjoy!

Show up on time Play within yourself Smile Buy your round Help with load in/out Don't hit on the singer's girlfriend

I play more fretless than fretted, but the truth is that fretless is far more versatile and musically interesting, and if I had to ditch one, it would be the fretted. I might have to move heaven and earth to find a fretless SB1000.....

I use Korg Pitchclip, clipped to the wing of the bridge. Works fine on open strings. I also have a Boss TU3 app on my phone which isn't so good, and another app called gStrings which has a DB setting. I never use a tuner when playing in orchestras, but I do use them to keep the bass in tune for practice. For orchestral playing I have a bee in my bonnet about always taking the A from the oboe. Probably makes no difference at all, but makes me feel better!

I've never heard of anyone who's had a claim rejected, so make of that what you will

MU membership gets you £3K of insurance for nothing as well as PL and I think PI. Above that I use Allianz - very good to deal with and very reasonable. Unattended car coverage is essential for us DB players so we can go to the pub after rehearsals!!

I have a one in, one out policy that I almost never apply. Funnily enough I seem to buy fretless basses more often than fretted. The Aria SB1000 takes some beating and is my only fretted bass, apart from a cheapy acoustic that I just use for writing/noodling. I now have 3 fretless basses. Wal Custom, Cort B4FL and the latest, a Squier VM fretless which arrived today. I'm going to find a way to justify it....

Fender. I've just been "forced" to buy a Squier VM fretless Jazz Bass off eBay. Immacculate, as new (even down to the complete lack of any setting up), looks great and even pre-setup sounds brilliant. What would I get if I'd paid the extra for a Fender? A Fender logo.....

For me it was John Paul Jones' playing on "Good Times Bad Times". Then I got Zeppelin 2 and heard "The Lemon Song" and "Ramble On". Immediate thought was "I wanna do that!"

I have a K&M stool that came from Thomann which I find excellent. I don't use the backrest, but now I've been reminded of its existence I might try it!

1980 I think! Sattelite Jazz Bass copy, defretted by Ashley Pangbourne Carlsboro Bass combo of some kind (150 watt, maybe?) hired from the fabulous, supportive and helpful guys who ran Gig Riggers in Reigate. Without their encouragement, support and help I wouldn't be still doing this, I suspect. What happened to music shops like that? The Satellite was actually a pretty decent bass, had a really nice growly mwahhh to it. Shouldn't have sold it. I saved up my paper round money for that bass.....