Malvis

I should print these words out and memorise them 😁 I have a big German carved bass, 44" string length, Eb neck, much like Nick's. Last year Martyn Bailey put a C-extension on it. It was a bit of a job because the fingerboard had been reshot a lot, and there wasn't much thickness to work with. Of course, he said, I could give you a new D neck and fingerboard, which would make the bass a lot more desirable, more durable, better all round. I couldn't even nearly afford it, but for the last year or so couldn't help wondering, what if...? This thread has helped me put that notion to bed, and get on with enjoying the beautiful bass I already have. Cheers Nick & Neil! PS If you're thinking about a C-extension, give Martyn a call. His work is amazing. Apols for the thread drift!

You won’t go wrong with Laurence Dixon. Lovely guy as well as being a first-rate luthier. For the quality of his work, he’s not expensive...

You've got some great advice here Chris. I agree that you'll get much more bang for your buck from a 2nd hand bass. The one Clarky recommended above could be just the job. Last year I bought a similar bass from Ben at the Double Bass Room, but one with a carved top. I had it on approval and brought it to the bass bash, where I was fortunate enough to meet Nick A and bassace. They both gave it an unequivocal thumbs up. It cost just shy of £1000, but it wasn't well set up at all. That was another £200 or so, including the strings. There's an almost identical one in the For Sale section, which might still be available... That's way more money than you had in mind, I know. But as others have mentioned, if you can stretch your budget to about a grand now, you'll be glad you did. My first bass was a £500 Gear4Music ply, and it did me well for years. But I wish I'd discovered sooner how much more fun it is to play on a bass that "really has a voice", as bassace so memorably put it. Good luck in your quest, and let us know how you get on...

I bought drewk_ie’s KK baby bass a couple of years ago, and you’re more than welcome to come over and try it out. I live near Bicester, which should be more or less within striking distance. Drop me a PM if you like, and we’ll make a plan...

Ah, the Helicore hybrids... Thanks Owen, you reminded me I have a knackered old set somewhere that I can experiment with. I didn't much like them in regular tuning, but it's worth a try. My other bass is loving your Innovations btw! Jack, you're right in that it'd be a lot more straightforward if we could just play our tunes in a different key. We do sometimes, but it's not quite the same thing. The Arabic system is based on maqams, which are like modes, but aren't based on western ideas of harmony. To find out about the whys and wherefores of this habit of tuning down a tone, I asked a pal of mine in the band. He's an expert, whereas I am just the opposite. If what follows is unclear it'll be because I've garbled his answer... There was no standardised tuning in Arab music traditionally. In 1932 in Cairo, there was a Congress of Arab Music, which was massive, and the first of its kind. The explicit aim was to modernise and standardise, and one of the main maqams, called Rast, was identified with the C Major scale (more or less the same, give or take a quarter-tone). Turkish tuning is standardised a tone higher, but when accompanying they tend to play 3 or 4 tones below pitch. My friend from the band, Martin, said that "all this suggests that the standardisation of pitch was for the benefit of the instrumentalists, together with the hegemony of the Western 'soprano' i.e. G clef - the clef adapted in western music for the highest imaginable voices. Most adult voices in either octave tend to fall naturally a fourth or fifth lower as their comfort range." As I said, my own understanding of this stuff is still fairly slender, but if you're curious to find out more maqamworld.com has loads of info. There, I've only gone and derailed my own thread 🙄 Any other string suggestions would be most gratefully received...

Lately I've been playing with an Arabic classical band, where the convention is to play with all the instruments tuned down a tone. My regular bass, an Eastern European cannon, copes with being tuned down to DGCF well enough. However, I've recently bought a removable-neck Kolstein travel bass from @Lodekka for an upcoming tour, and the Evah Weichs I like to use are inclined to be a bit floppy when they're tuned down. Which strings might be a good choice for a bit more tension - ideally something that'll be stable enough to cope with the removable neck? Thanks very much 😁

Belated congratulations Silvia! I hope you and Jack have been having heaps of fun with your beautiful new basses.

Thanks. It's in lovely condition, no sign of any repairs at all. Fingers crossed I can keep it that way... And you're right, the brown bass is a beast, 4/4 with a 44" scale length, so it's not exactly portable. Mainly it's the camera angle though I think.

Ok, to be honest it's more of a nearly-new-belated-bass-day, as a few of you have already seen this bass at last month's bass bash. It's a 1965 Szegedi hybrid from Hungary, and I'm rather enamoured with it. I picked it up on approval from Ben at the Double Bass Room last month, and brought it along to the bash, hoping to hear what better players than me would make of it. Bassace and NickA kindly took a look, and it sang when they played. This was despite gammy old strings, a buzzing fingerboard and a turnip-shaped lump of timber where I'd expected to find an endpin. Following some excellent advice, I made Ben an offer slightly north of the asking price (which was a grand) provided he'd get his luthier Jerome Davies to sort out the endpin and fingerboard, and put some playable strings on it. He agreed, and I went to pick it up last week. I was delighted to find when I got home that what had been sold as a ply bass in fact had a carved top. Yesterday I put on a set of Evahs, replacing the well-worn Helicores it came with, and the bass is sounding and playing very sweetly indeed. I got it as a pub and festival bass, and it'll get its first run-out at the Common People fest in Oxford at the weekend. I can't wait. So thanks again to the basschatters who made such encouraging noises at the bash...

Thanks a million Silvia, these are fantastic photos. Looking forward to seeing you all at the next bass bash 😁

Thanks for a lovely day folks, the bash really couldn't have been more enjoyable. I'm not sure about the mystical powers Roger, I just happened upon a great venue. The great atmosphere was all thanks to the excellent company - and of course all the gorgeous basses, amps and other gadgetry, especially Roger's Kolstein . The GAS is strong with that one... Thanks as well to Nick and Roger for showing me the potential of the laminate bass I have on loan. Having thought it would be traveling home to Kent, I made its owner the offer you suggested Roger. And so we have a deal, and I have a new bass! Fantastic photo Silvia - thanks for all your hard work as basschat archivist! Looking forward to seeing more...

Just in case you missed it on the Events page of the forum, here's a link: https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/317927-double-bass-bash-nr-bicester-oxon-saturday-14-april-2018/ Come and join us. You'll meet lots of lovely people and get to geek out over basses, amps, strings, pickups, mics and all the rest of it. What could be more fun?

Yesterday I went to The Double Bass Room in Kent to meet Ben and his lovely basses. He gave me the loan of this one for a week or two, to see if we get along: https://thedoublebassroom.com/product/hungarian-1965-3-4/#.Ws86aGaZPOQ It's a bit hard to tell at the moment as it has manky old strings and a bridge and endpin that aren't fit for purpose, but I'll bring it along on Saturday and look forward to hearing what y'all reckon. I meant to mention as well, I've also got an Ear Trumpet Labs 'Nadine' mic that you might be curious to try out. On another note, thinking about local pubs and where you might get fed, this place is really nice... http://www.themuddyduckpub.co.uk

Thanks for all your posts. I've just caught up with your bass uke thread Owen, and it looks like we've got quite a treat in store. I reckon that strange and beautiful instrument will be worth the trip alone. Roger, I'd love to get acquainted with your Kolstein travel bass as well, if it's not too much hassle to bring it. Are there any gut string aficionados thinking of making the trip? A couple of months back I had a play for the first time on an old Kay strung with guts, and it's been on my mind ever since. Also, I'd love to see a Chadwick folding bass up close if anyone's willing and able... Thanks for the offer of a butty run Pete. The Butcher's Arms in Fringford does good honest pub grub, none of that gastric-pub nonsense, and the landlady Pat is a star. Looking forward to meeting y'all next weekend!

Thanks for the tips Rabbie, I see there are plenty of interesting threads about the cabs you mentioned. I'll be sure to keep an eye on the basschat amp mart!

Dates for more DB workshops with David Heyes have been added to the Recital Music website: http://www.recitalmusic.net/spweb/content.php?contentid=392 There's one in Reading on May 20, another in Oxford on November 18, and a few in Yorkshire in March 2019. Hope to see some of you at the workshop in Bushey on April 15th...

Itsmedunc was asking a question along these lines in an earlier thread - I've rephrased it and hopefully we'll get a few more replies. In general if my AI Coda S4 isn't loud enough onstage I ask whoever's engineering to give me a bit more bass in the monitor. Occasionally it'd be handy to have an extension cab though, as it'd give me more control and leave less to chance. As lovely as the AI kit is, I wouldn't be looking for anything quite so extravagant, so I'd love to know what the better, cheaper options might be. Thanks very much...