Beer of the Bass

And another one! He's just sorted me out with a 1x15" cab to go with my old Dynacord head. Very helpful, and he came up with just what I needed. I've now got the perfect shabby-chic rehearsal room setup!

What a waste? It's beautiful! Seriously.

I thought it was Francois Moze on that album? The copy I have uses pseudonyms for the band members, but it sounds like him. Great album though, if I'm in the mood for that sort of proggy nonsense!

I realised that I loved the sound of double bass when I was little, from hearing Danny Thompson on my parents' Pentangle records. I ended up playing guitar and electric bass (from the ages of about 9 and 13 respectively), and managed to borrow a double bass and have a couple of lessons when I was about 17 (I'm 28 now). Unfortunately, I had to give it back later on! Then spent a couple of years playing an EUB before I got back in to double bass about 4 years ago. I was playing in bands with lots of acoustic instruments, and the EUB just didn't seem right. I've just recently got back to having lessons again - should have done that earlier! I'm another public transport user, by the way. Lothian buses around Edinburgh mostly, though I'll also get the train through to Glasgow if I need to. I've been surprised by how few bus drivers have a problem with it, though there's the occasional awkward bugger!

Hi Graham, I can recommend a good bass luthier who lives over in Portobello, if you don't already know the guy.

Cool! Another plus is that no-one will nick it, as it's probably a bit too recognisable to shift...

So far, I've not been impressed by the set-up work on basses in the Violin shop. I'm sure they're generally competent, but there isn't anyone working there who really plays bass (as far as I know). I think luthiers who specialise in other instruments assume basses are [i]always[/i] hard to play, and consequently don't get the setup as good as it could be. If you're really short of cash, it's quite feasible to carefully deepen the slots using small round needle files (cheaper than specialised nut files). I did it on one bass I owned in the past, and had no problems, though I guess you could deepen the slots too much or widen them if you're not careful.

They're often pretty nice, those european laminates like the B&H basses. If you could find a good one at that sort of price, you could sink a bit into getting some new strings and any setup work needed, and have a good dependable bass that you'd probably want to hang on to even if you went to a more expensive bass later. My own bass is an older German carved flatback bass which I paid £750 for, but then spent a further £500-ish total for a new ebony fingerboard, new bridge and soundpost, seam repair and a set of Spirocores. It now sounds great and plays well, better than any new bass in my price range. So good used basses are out there, and can be better value than buying new, plus if you want to resell, you won't lose much. This is not to slate any new basses, just my opinion.

I had two of these several years back. Mine had good projection - it was louder than carved Stentor basses at around the same price. This, and the blondeness, were probably why I chose it. The first one had major structural issues; the end block split right the way down after only 3 months and the fit of the blocks and linings internally was very sloppy with gaps and glue all over the place. In fairness, the distributor were very helpful about taking it back and replacing it. The second one was put together more tidily, though still not amazingly. The end pin was a bit naff. Mine either rattled or started sinking, usually in the middle of a gig. The finishing on both was scruffy when viewed closely, with several bits of filler where the outer veneer had chipped before it was finished. The finish in the Contrabass shoppe pictures looks a bit neater than either of mine. Hopefully this means that they've improved their finishing standards/QC since mine was made (in 2005). And i'd presume a reputable bass shop like that would filter out and send back any duff ones before they went on sale.

I remember reading a discussion of this years ago on the musical instrument makers forum (MIMF). [url="http://www.mimf.com/archives/make_pickups.htm"]Here[/url]'s a link to the archived discussion. Apparently it's been tried, and can work...

I played an eub for a couple of years when a decent double bass was not practical or affordable, and personally, I kind of wish I hadn't started that way! I found that, while it got me used to the longer scale, I hadn't learned how to get a decent tone out of an acoustic without a lot of effort, which was a bit of a stumbling block when I first moved over to the double bass. In my opinion (feel free to disagree!), the EUB is either a cool instrument in its own right (think Eberhard Weber) or a travelling/loud gig tool for double bassists, not a great transitional step to learning double bass. Re. cars, I've had my bass in cars as small as a Nissan Micra, with the front seat reclined, neck heel on the front passenger seat and the scroll in the footwell. In a larger car putting the back seats down will work. You'll get it in most things as long as you don't have more than one passenger. Can't help with finding a teacher in London, but I think most will be willing to help you find an instrument, and might know people with basses to sell too.

I started out with one of these - they're pretty distorted at the level you'd need to keep up with an energetic drummer, even in a small venue. I found the sound was best with a patch lead linking the two channels. With a bright sounding bass, the grindy top end clank can be great fun - I guess that's what you're going for with the bi-amping. Actually I've had two - and bought and sold them both for a pittance when they were less sought after than now (last one was maybe 6 years ago).

I wasn't very impressed by the photography though - it looked rather obviously posed by a non-musician in a photographers studio. This negated the "rock'n'roll action shot" feel they were going for. Am I picky or what?

dismisseth us?

As far as I can remember, [url="http://www.brandoniguitars.co.uk"]Brandoni guitars[/url] used to have Hayman parts in their catalogue a few years back. I've no idea whether they still have them, but it might be worth getting in touch to see if they have a bridge or two stashed away.

[quote]As an non-double bassist but someone who is interested in the amplification of them, in what frequency ranges does feedback tend to manifest? Alex[/quote] At the last gig where I had feedback troubles, the frequency was close to my lowest C. So that'd be somewhere in the range of sixty-something Hz? The exact frequency varies, but i find it's usually somewhere around there for me.

I'm also using EA gear - a single Wizzy 10 cabinet, with an Acoustic Image Clarus amp. My band situation is kind of transitory at the moment, so I'm not using it for a steady gig currently, but I've used it in a number of different situations. In small venue gigs, with an unmiked drum kit, and other instruments miked through the PA it generally does a great job. With one particular drummer (who comes from a metal background), I feel as if I'm about at the limit of this rig though. On larger stages with a DI output to the PA, it provides plenty of level as a monitor, unless the sound guy has put lots of drums in the wedges, at which point it struggles a little. Provided I'm in a situation where the volume is sufficient, I'm very happy with the sound of this setup - it's very clear but not overly harsh in the high end. I think my ideal situation would be to have two of these, and leave one at home for smaller gigs. I get the impression that the fundamentals of the lowest few notes are a little shy with this cab (compared to listening to a recording of my bass pickup signal through studio monitors), but those frequencies aren't that prominent in the acoustic sound either. So the low-end roll off of the cab probably helps to tame the pickup sound somewhat.

If, for whatever reason, the loud drums are something you have to live with, I've had some success by dampening the afterlength of the strings (between bridge and tailpiece) to reduce feedback. If the amp is already off the floor, that's a good start, and there are also a couple of things you can do with EQ - make sure you're not boosting low end, and if the EQ of your amp allows, taking the very low frequencies (below 40hz) down a bit can reduce the boom. I played a loud gig on Friday, with heavily amplified drums, and ended up having to use the notch filter on my amp (an Acoustic Image Clarus/ EA wizzy 10 cab) to get rid of the boominess and feedback around one note. Sadly, all of this takes you further from your acoustic sound, but it can get you through the gig if all else fails. Some people reckon that the Realist isn't the best option for higher volumes - I haven't used one myself, so can't really comment on that.

Another vote for the pencil. I used 8B pencil marks on the upper positions for a little while, until they wore off. I think pencil is the way to go if you want to do this, as it's only a very temporary crutch. I found that while the marks lasted, it gave me that little bit of extra confidence to start moving around positions a little more, and once you've got to that point, you'll quickly stop needing it. The trick is having the willpower not to keep re-applying it!

Is that the one advertised on here? The stentors are among the nicer of the cheapish new basses, so if it's in good health and has had proper setup work, you'll be doing well. Good luck finding a smoky bar since the ban though!