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The 'lost' Coltrane album, Both Directions At Once, is pretty nice. I treated myself to a vinyl copy as it's not often that you get to buy a new Coltrane album... It's a big step up from the usual 'undiscovered' recordings that surface from time to time, and it has much more of the feel of a proper studio release. The recording quality is good and the quartet are in their prime so the playing is great, I'm really enjoying Jimmy Garrison's bass playing in particular. The two new untitled tunes are very good and there are a few versions of Impressions which is interesting because I haven't heard any studio versions before.

Saw Amadou & Mariam at the Galway Arts Festival on Wednesday - they were really great, both in their 60s but still loads of energy. The band were excellent - not just great players, but loads of audience interaction and generally enjoying themselves.

Haha, fair enough, it does make a massive racket when being wheeled so there is a lot of movement going on that might affect a more delicate instrument.

+ 1 on the Westbury - I have the one with wheels and it's great as it's often a bit of a walk from the car / house to gig. I don't think the wheels have caused any damage to the bass but I couldn't be certain...as NickA says though, the Westbury's have loads of handles / pockets and are really well made.

In my very limited experience, it's not worth bothering with the feed from the pickup and you should always go with the mic(s). Pickups work live because they're easy to use and don't feedback. But in a recording situation a mic will always sound much better.

Yep, that's fair enough - they're often relegated alright. I think the reason for this is that rhythm itself is often treated as secondary in a lot of genres for some reason. I think as bass players we're always looking for some kind of groove, but a lot of people aren't that bothered.

Although instruments like claves are superficially easy to get a sound out of, to play them properly in context takes a load of skill, and in terms of supporting role it's not that far removed from bass in some ways. In a genre like Cuban rumba, the clave is essential as it is (as the name suggests) the key that keeps all the other rhythms together:

A couple of points to add to the above - a preamp is usually a good idea but some pickups / amps work well together without one (I have a GK MB150 combo and I haven't needed to use my preamp). So it might be worth waiting until after you get an amp before investing in a preamp. Another point is that you say that you need the amp for using around the house - if you have a DB (as opposed to an EUB) then there's probably no need for an amp at all to be honest. You'll get a much better feel for your sound / intonation etc playing acoustically. Unlike with bass guitars, the 'real' sound of a DB is the acoustic sound - most DB players are looking for the elusive "my bass, only louder" tone when they start amplifying so until you start playing gigs you might be better off avoiding the hassle.

I think that a lot of modern bands manage to be both great musicians plus great performers. I don't really keep up with contemporary pop / rock but whenever I see young bands on Jools / YouTube / whatever I'm often impressed by their overall ability compared to some of the bands of my youth. My theory is that it's a lot more competitive out there these days so to get anywhere at all bands really have to work at all aspects of their act, plus the sheer amount of material available online means that the bar is set higher (you can't get away with being sloppy because you have easy access to videos of great bands). This is not to say that older musicians aren't also great; I'm just saying that the days of cool-looking but musically-suspect young bands getting record deals are probably in the past.

I'm pretty conservative in my bass-taste but I don't think they look too bad. What puts me off a bit is the way that the 'upper bout' (i.e. the horns) is wider than the section where the bridge is. But I can honestly say that they're far less offensive to my eyes than some of those giant woody 6 strings with curly horns that look like they were designed by/for elves.

The first one is pronounced something like "vrots-woff" according to a Polish bloke I know. I don't know how he pronounces bass manufacturers though...

Sounds like you're bored of the material - might be worth speaking to the others (apart from drummer), suggesting a completely new set list and seeing who wants to join you.

That's a nice bassline, very reminiscent of a reggae "one drop" line.

Good point. To elaborate a bit more, there's a 'system' that I read somewhere that helps me remember which notes become sharpened / flattened using the circle of fifths. To move round the flats, first flatten the 7th degree of the current scale and then move down a fifth (or up a fourth). e.g. starting in C, first flatten the B and then move down a fifth to F, so F major has one flat, Bb. Going again, flatten the 7th degree of F major (the E natural) and then move down a fifth to Bb. So Bb has two flats - Bb and Eb. To move in the 'sharps' direction, move down a fourth (or up a fifth) and then sharpen the 7th degree of the scale. So starting again at C, move down a fourth to G, and then sharpen the F to F# - so G major has one sharp, the F#. The next move is again down a fourth to D and then sharpen the 7th (the C) to C#. So D major has F# and C#. This might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's a lot less confusing when you actually do it on the bass since the movement is always up or down strings.

It's probably an unpopular choice, but the sound of rock guitars playing a melody (as opposed to rhythm or soloing) always sounds a bit suspect to me, especially if there are more than one of them at the same time. It always sounds a bit thin and weak for some reason, although I'm sure that as soon as I post this I'll immediately think of counter examples....

This is just based on my personal experience and I'm in no way disparaging EUBs, but unless you absolutely don't have the space, I'd go straight for a DB. EUBs definitely have their place and you might get one at a later date if you need the portability, but the satisfaction of getting a sound out of a big acoustic instrument is hard to beat.

I bought a Westbury from gear4music and I really like it. It has wheels so it's slightly bulkier than one without but it still folds in half.

+1 . On the other hand, if you want to keep the whole acoustic look-and-feel and you decide that you can live with amplification after all, you could always get a Ukulele bass. I tried one of these out recently and I really liked it - https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Laka-VUB60EA-Electro-Acoustic-Bass-Ukulele-Mahogany/1LLY For portability you could match it with one of these https://www.roland.com/us/products/micro_cube_bass_rx/ and then you'd have a setup that you can take anywhere and even busk if it takes your fancy.

Some of the previous suggestions would make my list, but here are three that I never get tired of listening to: - Bill Evans - Live at the Village Vanguard - Miles Davis - Miles Smiles (any of the other "second quintet" albums would do instead) - Velvet Underground and Nico

@NickA, unfortunately I can't really claim the ability to transcribe by ear, I had a couple of great apps on my phone to help me - the first to slow down and loop the track and the second to enter the score (Audipo and Chaconne respectively). So it was "by ear" in the sense of not having a bass with me, but I needed to be able to loop a few times before I could get it. The tune itself is a standard Bb jazz blues so you should be able to play the melody over the one that's in iRealPro I think. TheJim Stinnett book looks great but it is pricey alright... Maybe a nice Xmas pressie to myself...

@pfretrock, @The Jaywalker - I must get Bob Magnusson book, I hadn't heard of it before. I have more technique books than I can use, but I figure that even if I just get a couple of tips from each one it's money well spent. And a lot cheaper than instrument-related GAS....

@petebassist - arpeggios are pretty fundamental to walking lines so your approach isn't wrong. However, apart from outlining the chords, one of the other 'jobs' of a walking bassline is to provide a sense of forward motion, so using diatonic / chromatic tones to lead smoothly to the next chord can transforms it into something more musical. I'm not saying that I can do this consistently of course, but it's one of my goals

Thanks @geoffbassist - it was just a quick job that I did while I was in the car waiting around for one of the kids. I'd like to try and transcribe a few choruses of the walking bass line next so I'll post that up if I get round to it...