Burns-bass

I won’t be soliciting advice for a price as I’m a law abiding, fee-paying, upstanding member of the BC community!

Yes that seems correct. Ok. Looks like we know what it is then!

I think it’s an old one. I’ll measure tomorrow - appreciate both of your help.

Hi, I have this cabinet which is excellent but I’m going to sell (as the 10s do the job I need). I will advertise it properly and ma a subscriber. Can anyone tell me precisely what cabinet it is?

Likely to be the valves but an amp that old should be looked over by a tech and serviced to avoid any issues. Might need a re-bias etc. Valves aren't cheap and it's never a good idea to mess around with electrical devices unless know what you're doing.

My wife named Alex James and Paul McCartney. She had a huge crush on Alex James who admittedly was a very beautiful man in the 1990s. (Not so much now)

If you’re getting the sound you want, that’s the only thing that matters.

Ahh so you bought one and it works? Thats excellent. Will invest if nobody buys the bass in the next few months.

This was the advice I was given by Thomann. The 1/4 was just a little too small.

Quite agree. I should say, my question wasn't so much about how to manage this financially, but socially – to ensure that it's positive and friendly, not acrimonious.

This is what we did with the original PA. I bought it and stored it until we jointly paid it off. Resale value is £0 I'm sure. The point, I guess, is that the musicians (singers, don't get upset) spend thousands on gear, including ongoing maintenance, consumables and the like. Singer's outlay = 0.

I play in a 4-piece band. We gig maybe 20-25 times a year. We bought a used PA from the lovely (and incredibly helpful and warm) chap here, but it’s showing it’s age. The singer wants us all to invest in a new, lightweight PA. This is purely used as a vocal PA (bigger gigs we’ll rent one). The drummer isn’t happy. He’s not hugely well off and his argument is that we (bass, drums and guitar) all spend thousands. I’m taking £5k of gear to each gig, for example, so I can see his point. So, how have you guys navigated this?

Great pub and some fantastic images!

I interviewed Carol Kaye once and she wasn’t very complimentary about Fender basses. Being a brand ambassador is more than being a generational talent, you’re forced to sell the product and she’s not going to win many friends on YouTube.

A lot of being successful is turning up on time, doing the job and not being an annoying idiot. Get that right and you’ll do fine. This applies as much to bass as anything else. Music producers don’t care much about looks but they do about talent. Perhaps she has great creative ideas, is fun to be around, nails things in one take and gets a great bass sound. (Likely all these things.) I understand more young women are learning to play guitar and bass. (My daughter is at school) and Fender wants to tap into that. Plus this bass looks cool.

You seem to think everyone here is out to make you look silly or belittle your achievements. That’s not the case at all. Wish you well for the future.

No worries. We’re all friends here and sorry if I came across as a stern and joyless. I just did what you are doing and it really messed up my hands until someone helped me to understand some of the basic principles. As people have said, you can get a lesson, check out some videos or even ask a player or two in the real world. Just be sure to protect your hands. You only get two.

Feels like 2005 again when posting stuff on the internet to get a rise out of people was risqué.

You’ve initiated a conversation here and people have offered advice and a view point that differs from yours. Your hubris is great. There are two ways to do everything: passably and properly. I’d politely suggest your 7 months experience, when compared with that of others here - many of whom have spent decades playing and do so professionally - doesn’t provide the evidence to support the assertion that DB is easy. Because it isn’t. Applying electric bass technique to double bass is a bad idea for several reasons, which people have tried to explain. It really isn’t a shortcut to anything but a bad sound, hand pain and long term damage. But their your hands, not mine so crack on.

It’s a fair point and the Discover Double Bass stuff is fantastically helpful. I hope the OP understands the the responses here are all people trying to help and offer the experience of many years of epic failures, dodgy gigs, painful fingers and eyewaterinlgy bad intonation (this is all me, by the way). 7 months in Id already started gigging though, and now have a lot of gigs if I want them.

Did two in a day (while since I’ve done that!) Played Wootton Blues Festival which was brilliant. Absolutely fantastically organised, great crowd and some lovely people there. Met a couple of bass players and had a delightful pint and burger. Will return (and recommend you apply to play there, too, if you play blues music). Next, a bar called Gin & Juice in Bristol full of very attractive, well dressed and actually very appreciative young people who danced and clapped along to a set of Chess-era blues classics. (Quite possibly in an ironic way, but the venue liked us and paid so can’t complain!) Ended up with damn near £200 for the night (minus taxi home), 3 free pints and a burger.

The problems is we’re all very trusting as BC is a community. You trust in the community but individuals can still let you down. Happened to me, too. I’m now all about meeting up where possible to avoid this. I did buy an amp here that didn’t work for me. The seller accepted my reasons, allowed me to return the all and we had an adult conversation to sort out details. It’s how things should be.

I also reckon that attempting to apply electric bass fingering to DB is a recipe for disaster in the long term. If you’re not using arm weight to pull the strings down you’re using your fingers and thumb which, if done over time, will really cause you issues. Love your enthusiasm but like all new experiences, it’s often easier with an experienced guide who can help you avoid common problems, pitfalls qnd potential disasters. Basically, get a few lessons.