knirirr

Last night there was an extra jazz jam in the usual pub, but tucked away in an area with a low ceiling to free up more space for dining. Therefore, I took a fretless bass guitar rather than a double bass so that I could much more easily fit into the space. I overheard a guitarist complaining to the drummer that "there's nothing quite like the sound of a double bass, though." As I said to him at the time, there's nothing quite like the sound of a bass guitar either; it's a great instrument that is not necessarily inferior to the upright, merely different. As it happens it was rather pleasant session; I got to sit in a comfy chair and play for two hours without having sore fingers at the end, as well as taking various solos in what would be thumb position without having to worry too much about dodgy intonation or fumbling the strings. The next one is in the same place so I look forward to another relaxing evening.

Last night's gig was a local fundraiser. Inoffensive background straight-ahead jazz required, so we prepared a set list full of ballads &c. and invited a vocalist to join us for them, thinking our clarinetist could play the heads of any instrumentals, take various solos etc. The usual pianist was unavailable so we had a dep. guitarist. He sounded like a proper jazz guitarist but was inexperienced (2nd time playing in public) so was only willing to take solos on two tunes. A mere 15 minutes before starting we got a message from the clarinetist that he hadn't felt well during the day and thought that he wasn't up to it. But, by padding things out with bass solos and the vocalist playing a baritone horn (almost left behind as she thought it wouldn't be needed) for heads/solos we managed to get away with it. The audience were pleased, so it must have been a success.

This is a good one, I think:

West Oxfordshire (around Chipping Norton) and I'd rather not post this, I'm afraid, as it would be rather uneconomical. Sorry about that.

Approx. height is 65 cm at full extension. The legs are supposed to fold but are rather stiff. As someone asked when I posted this elsewhere, pen not included - sorry.

Probably not something that many will want to do, but I have had some success with an Orange Terror (with 1x12 cab) for DB. It appears to work well with the Realist Lifeline pickup; the last time I played at a jam someone else with that pickup plugged their bass into my amp and they were pleased with the sound.

A while ago I got hold of Monk Montgomery's bass guitar book. The first part of this involves practicing every mode in every key around the cycle of fourths in every position on the bass, in thirds, fourths, fifths, sixths, sevenths and octaves. This takes rather a long time to get through but I found it extremely helpful for getting the notes under one's fingers. After doing a lot of those exercises it was much easier to pick up the bass and start playing something I'd just heard or could hear in my head.

Thanks for the comments - not something I'd thought of. Whether it would be of the slightest use I don't know, but I do have a Headway EDM-1 H.E. and could put the mic through that.

Thanks - I'll order one of those and will give it a go before the gig to see how it works out.

Later in the year I'll have to do a background jazz gig, most likely with acoustic instruments only (guitar and bass), no saxophones and a reduced drum kit, where the singer might benefit from a small amount of amplification. No PA will be provided and so I wondered if a cheap microphone might be plugged in to my Roland bass micro cube. This does appear to have a microphone EQ setting on it. Does this sound reasonable? If so, then the microphone mentioned has an XLR connector (I have no idea what that is) and the amp has a standard instrument plug. Are there any particular adapters that might work for this?

For some time I've fancied playing at a beer festival and got a chance yesterday at the Charlbury Oktoberfest. It went quite well despite having a dep guitarist (ours has Covid) who was only able to do a quick rehearsal the day before, which I couldn't attend due to work. No real mistakes, but the intros seemed a lot less tight. Sound was strange, though; the horn players kept complaining they couldn't hear me, yet I am told that my Orange Terror was distinctly audible in the bogs 200 yards away, and certainly clear where the audience were sitting. The guitar was barely audible to me most of the time but just about OK for the audience.

I don't subscribe to it either (nor do I have any plans to do so) and was able to read the whole thing. Here's some of the text: With hits like Apache, Kon-Tiki and Dance On, The Shadows remain the most successful instrumental band in British music history. However, their career could have taken a very different turn if they had listened to Harrison. Marvin encountered the Beatles guitarist in 1965 shortly after The Shadows released Don't Make My Baby Blue, a rarity for them because it featured vocals. He recalled: "I bumped into George Harrison in Abbey Road studios and he told me how much he loved the single. 'Take my advice,' he said, 'forget about being an instrumental group and follow up on the vocals.' "We didn't. We were idiots. Nice boys, but idiots. I remember we talked about it after I'd had that conversation with George - can't remember the substance of the debate but with hindsight we probably didn't apply very sound reasoning."

This article describes something that seems to me to be appropriate for the thread: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/6231899/Hank-Marvin-We-should-have-taken-Harrisons-advice-and-sung.html

How about The Sidewinder?

Tricky... There are so many albums where a track or two isn't particularly exciting. This might fit the bill, though: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_m6hixNLj6XQlfGvUqyfGYxYfPzYQX-2GA

I play regularly at a jazz jam. Somehow, any time something I like and over which I could solo competently (for an amateur in rural England) appeared then either the bass solo would be forgotten or someone else would play over it, etc. etc. If it was an unfamiliar/complicated piece I'd not fancy risking then the chance of a cry of "bass solo!" and everyone stopping to listen would increase. I think this is mostly fixed now, though. What makes the session go well is communication. Things are usually fine when someone clearly names the piece and the key (the actual key, not the first note of the melody or root of the first chord)*, explains any special arrangement they want, waits for those who require them to find the iReal charts or real book, then clearly counts everyone in* rather than simply starting to play and hoping everyone comes in. Probably a lot easier at a blues jam, but paying close attention to the form and where we are in it is something that improves the performance no end and is often neglected. * Guitarists...

A thought occurred to me - have you considered rental? For example: https://www.bassbags.co.uk/double-bass-hire-rental/ This is the route I'd have taken if it were not for the chance discovery of an instrument for sale locally I could borrow for a weekend before purchase (there's a similar Stentor for sale here for £900). Some places allow the rental payments to count against purchase. There is probably a 3-month minimum rental period.

We were at The Royal Oak, Ramsden, yesterday. A very nice pub, though we had some sound issues as we were playing in a small alcove and different instruments were clearer in different directions and at different distances. For example, the bass was very clear at the tables nearby but not indoors in the dining area (I didn't fancy turning up too much as the cab was pointed at the drummer). A fun gig, though, and we were accosted afterwards by locals offering other opportunities.

Today I have mostly been wearing one of these excellent shirts:

Strange that people feel the need to respond with abuse. "Sorry about that, I'll see what I can do" would get far better results. I recall a chap I knew (a metal singer) who behaved as those DIY fans you mention did and was punched when he told his (justifiably annoyed) neighbour to f. off. He called the police who, when taking his statement for the assault, found various stolen street signs in his flat and charged him with theft.

Living in a terrace I am concerned about disturbing neighbours due to practice; I do about 90 minutes a day, never after 10pm (usually well before), and either unamplified acoustic, electric through a small practice amp with 4" speakers or brass with a practice mute in. I asked the more sociable neighbours on one side about it and they said they rarely heard anything and didn't mind what little they did hear. The other neighbours have a loud dog and like to let it out to bark a few times per day, starting early. A few weeks ago, after 7 days straight of barking at 5:55 am I asked them if they wouldn't mind keeping the dog indoors until an hour or so later. The response was more or less "this is the price of living in a terrace, and anyway we have to listen to your constant music practice". They did reschedule the morning bark as requested, though, until this morning when it was back to 5:55am.