neilp

That's dead. Get a new bridge fitted. It will destroy itself (and quite possibly the top of the bass) sooner or later. Don't try to bodge it, it's only likely to make the inevitable destruction worse

At a final pre-gig run through with a recent band, I mimed almost the entire set to try to make the point, and the keyboard player just said "but if i don't play in that octave it will just sound thin and gutless". I tried to explain that "if the bass was doing the job it's there for..........", but I got nowhere, so I played the gig then quit.

Where are you based? A teacher is probably the ideal way forward, I'll help if I can. It's not "inappropriate" to play both bows, but it's certainly not necessary or even advisable. Realistically, unless you are a full-time player (student or pro) nobody has time to master both German and French. I'm a French bow player, by choice having tried both in my student days. I find the french bow easier to get a relaxed hand and arm, but a lot of the choice is down to personal preference. In the end it may be very slightly easier to draw real power from your bass with a German bow, and very slightly easier to do some of the more delicate and subtle effects and strokes with a French bow, but it can all be done with either! Best advice I can give is pick one and devote all the practice time you have to that one. Either one, you choose!

I own a Wal Mk 1 fretless, and its a phenomenal instrument, and in my opinion worth every penny of what I would have to pay to replace it. If you want a Wal, you have a choice: order one today and wait the 3 years that I believe is the current lead time, or pay what the second hand market wants. It's not logical to say a second-hand Wal "isn't worth it", because by definition it's worth whatever it sells for! You could argue that a new one is overpriced (I wouldn't, but you could), but the market sets the price for a used one

But we aren't talking about a much messed with 19th century instrument, are we?

That bridge is a bit of a horror show! It will probably steam flat again, but you should really take a LOT of thickness out of the top of the bridge and scrape/plane the sides nice and smooth - otherwise all those dings and gouges will attract and absorb dirt, grime, rosin etc. As far as placement goes, the bridge should be EXACTLY centred on the inner notches of the f holes. That is the way the geometry of the bassbar, soundpost, top graduation etc is designed to work. For the money a decent luthier will charge for a bridge, I wouldn't faff about trying to do it myself. Sandpaper on the top doesn't work. I've never seen anyone get a bridge properly fitted like that. Roughly, yes, but it's the last little details that really make the difference

These are the only straps I use these days: Levys Garment Leather Bass Strap BK – Thomann UK There used to be a brown and a tan option which both seem to be out of stock or unavailable, but anyway, they are beautifully made, the suede stops them slipping, and they're the most comfortable straps I've ever used Neil

I've managed to have a Friday night off to go to Brighton and see Larkin Poe on 6th May. Can't wait

In reality, if you want a top quality bow, you won't be looking at carbon. Thwaites, Turners etc do not deal in mass produced bows, so no, you won't be able to get a carbon bow from them. I'm not sure where the "massive mark up" theory came from either. There isn't much margin to be had in either a good new bow from a named archetier, or an antique named bow such as a Pfretschner. Everyone in the trade knows the value of these things, so unless you're talking about Sartory, Peccate or Tourte etc, there's not much margin by the time a good rehair is taken into account and they've been shipped out on trial a couple of times! A good carbon bow is absolutely fine - I have one myself as a backup, for outdoor gigs and col legno heavy pieces - but a well made Pernambuco bow is a different thing entirely.

Not entirely sure that's true, is it? I may be wrong, but I thought the Elite I and II were built elsewhere in Japan? If not, I stand corrected, but the quality is not quite the same whatever...

Depending on your budget, it might be worth giving Bill a call at Thwaites.com. They probably have more at the higher end, but that may be where you are looking!

I use 2 mics - an AKG D112 and a Rode NT1A large diaphragm condenser. The mix of the two signals works really well for me. The AKG is pretty much an industry standard for bass frequencies and is bombproof, which is a big deal for me. The Rode is a Neumann U87 clone, and is absolutely spectacular value for money. It's a very accurate, transparent mic, but very smooth too.

The quality is not quite the same as the Matsumoku basses - the bat-ear early basses are SO well built - but the Elite is a fine bass, and the neck is less "individual" if that stuff does bother you

Interesting the things people pick on with instruments. I'm an unapologetic Aria fan - I have a pair of SB100s, fretted and fretless and I love them dearly, but I also have a fretless Wal, a P bass and a Jazz bass. It would be difficult to imagine a more diverse collection of nut widths, bridge spacing and neck profiles, but in reality it makes no difference at all. I swap between them all regularly and within a second or two I'm fully acclimatised. I'm not a believer in "I must have THIS nut width and THAT fingerboard radius". Play the bass that makes the noise you need. And by the way, you missed a great bass in that SB700. No comparison with the Westone, a different league

Best purchase - never having owned a P bass, and with a new project on the horizon which would benefit, I dipped my toe in to the extent of buying a Squier Classic Vibe 60s P bass, on the basis that it's cheap enough to just get chucked under the bed if I don't like it. And? It's great! Body is a bit light maybe, hardware is a tiny bit cheap feeling, but it plays and sounds great. Neck is very nice, finish on the fretting first class, generally way better than I expected. Highly reccommended

It's all very clever, but it's closer to a video game than it is to music. Get these kids out playing music with other humans, and then maybe they'll turn into great musicians. Youtube channels can't do that

A Satellite Jazz bass copy bought new in 1979, which I still have! I didn't realise it was still around, I assumed it had been "borrowed" at some stage after I bought my SB1000, but I was clearing out a cupboard for my mother the other week, and there it was!!! I must have chucked it in there when a pickup died and it just sat there. Now has new pickups and is back in the herd... Photos later

One last comment on this, and then I'll let you all make your lives difficult. Just because a phrase doesn't begin and end at the beginning of a 4/4 bar every time, doesn't mean it's not in 4/4.

That's the point. So am I, but this piece is neither polyrhythmic nor in multiple time signatures. Straightforward 4/4, and that's by far the easiest way to count it

Just because there's an accented beat, doesn't make it the '1'. Have a listen to Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, or almost any orchestral music by Brahms. There are accents all over the place, and it's almost impossible to play if you try to make the accents the 1 of every bar. Put the bar lines where they should be, so you can count a steady four, and it makes total sense. Try it. Trust me.

The drum track is the thing to listen to if you want this song to come out right. It's so much easier if you count it in 4 and learn where the accents come. Then all you need is a drummer who can keep time....🤣