neilp

We have two of the world's finest players here in the UK, David Heyes and Tom Martin. To be honest though, even Gary Karr was never a household name like,say, James Galway. You'd never get enough bums on seats at the Proms for a double bass performance. The Dittersdorf is a nice thing to play, but honestly doesn't stand up in quality against the well known concerti for other instruments. The greats didn't write for bass and orchestra, and there's a reason for that.

My double bass is valued at 12k for insurance purposes, and if I had to replace it that's actually not far off the mark. Amazingly, the Wal is about the same value as my new bow....

I don't know how you quantify the "extra", except to say I'd rather have the Wal than the what? £3k ish I could get for it?

Oh dear. Classical orchestras need them because we can't be expected to memorise all the notes, dynamics, tempo changes etc etc that we've rehearsed. In general, orchestral music is MUCH less repetitive than what most of us play and much more difficult to learn. In general, I learn the difficult bits, and carry on reading the easy bits, even in performance. The conductor? What's he for? Imagine how hard it would be for 80 musicians to deal with all the balance, tempo and expression details (MUCH more detail than we put into our performances) without some cues and help. It's a different world, so much more detailed.

I bet you don't kiss on the lips either Blue..........

What stands out for me is how few flaky bass players there are!!!!!!

Don't diss drummers, I've known some great drummers who also happened to be fully functional humans. The drummer in my current band, the lovely Lauren, is fab in every way

It's like most things DB in that respect - no short cuts!

I totally agree about the mandolin. When was the last time you heard the phrase "that mandolin part is a bit too aggressive"??

I'm a bass player - classical and otherwise - first and foremost, but I also play cello, guitar and mandolin. They are sideshows though. I'm a bass player

4ths are more difficult that 5ths or octaves, there's no real trick, just practice to get the string crossings smooth. Work and more work, I'm afraid!

Which fingers do you use at the moment? for the fourths in fast legato passages you can barre them but be careful with intonation, particularly in lower positions. If you're using the standard fingering technique ( 1, 2 and 4 supported by 3. One finger per semitone) then 4 for the 5ths and octaves is natural.

Rich may have been hated, but I bet he had no problem finding a bass player when he needed one...............

I'm half on Blue's side here. IF it's in the context of a really poor set - which is how it seems - and assuming this isn't the first one, then it may be a little bit over the top, but it's not the piano player's reputation on the line. If you can't stand the heat.... There are many, many "band leaders" out there with equally explosive debrief styles and equally huge egos, but Rich at least had the talent and dedication tohis own craft to back it all up.

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1465329915' post='3067299'] All of my gear is immaculate, despite heavy gigging. I just look after it, it's not difficult. [/quote] This. Exactly this.

Very good point, rehearsing should be fun. All of you who claim just to do it for fun should be rehearsing the hell out of it, surely?

3 hours 45 mins, no breaks. Should satisfy even Blue!

I'm not sure I understand the problem here. It's always fresh, because every time you play you play to a different crowd, and in the end you're there to entertain the people in front of you, not to indulge your own ego or musical tastes. Focus on the job. I saw Springsteen at Wembley on Sunday. He's been doing his thing for 40 odd years now. Whether you like what he does or not, you can't deny the energy, sincerity and passion he brings. Not to mention the world's best bar band - Blue will know!

No, 4 saddles. I might have to look at doing some mods, but the intonation's not horrible as it is, so I may just live with it. Hardware for 8-strings isn't exactly everywhere

[attachment=220873:IMG_20160604_113258.jpg] [attachment=220874:IMG_20160604_113311.jpg] [attachment=220875:IMG_20160604_113323.jpg] [attachment=220876:IMG_20160604_113337.jpg] It's not a bad thing, now it's had a bit of a set-up. Passive, volume and tone for each pickup. If it gets any use I might get carried away and think about a pre-amp.... Watch this space!

Does this still happen with the neck pickup turned right down? If so I'd say it's probably a bad pot, if not I'd suggest it's to do with the impedance of the bridge pickup being low (short-circuit somewhere in the windings).

Springsteen at Wembley on Sunday

That's the one. Could do with a bit of setting up and a set of strings, but it's nicely made and sounds good. Even got a tidy bit of "abalone" inlay on the headstock! I'll put some pics up tonight

This is great! Just a suggestion - some local orchestras will do the odd "open rehearsal" or workshop type event where you can go along and get some experience of playing in a section. That's the biggest difference for players coming into orchestral music, but it's great fun and the support is great for your confidence Neil

Talk about an impulse buy! It was cheap, it seems well made, it looks good and from a first 10-minute noodle it sounds good too. What will I use it for??? Who knows? Any suggestions (clean preferred)? Pics to follow Neil