Beer of the Bass

Just did a wee trade with Andy for a mexican p-bass pickup - very quick and easy, would deal with him again.

A while back, the drummer I played with in my first band gave me a cassette with an old live recording of this song on. The bassline on that version was much more stripped down - no slappy bits, just really solid and driving. As good as this version is, I think I preferred it that way. Quite cool to see a pointy bass like that outside of a hair metal band though!

Can you mix and match types in a bulk order? I'd chip in for a couple of sets of flatwounds if you're including any in the order...

Isn't the medium action/Fender association more of a stylistic thing? i.e. a slightly higher action may suit the kind of playing styles that people tend to use those basses for? Of course, it's a massive generalisation, but there could be something in it!

Great idea! Do you think I can get my double bass on one? It would be a bit of a squeeze getting it in the lift to my flat though...

Just measured the string height on my electric bass out of curiosity. 4mm on the E, and 3.5mm on the G, and I'd always thought it was quite low! I think double bass might have warped my perception of these things. So perversely, I'm going to try lowering it a bit...

I find a gigbag on the back is a bit of a nightmare for cycling - I can barely see behind myself and the centre of gravity is a bit high. If I'm nipping across town with a bass guitar, I'll put my gig bag in a rear pannier on one side, with a couple of bungee cords around it. The body fits neatly in to the pannier, with the neck sticking up to somewhere well below shoulder level. Much better visibility and balance.

Cheers for pointing those out Pablo. Dave Holland is always worth hearing.

Interesting - I've never seen one of those. Do you mean the top of the bridge is scalloped in between where the strings rest? I wonder if it's done to reduce the mass without thinning the bridge too much?

I've also seen an article by Dan Erlewine from a couple of years back [url="http://www.bassplayer.com/article/superglue-savior/jun-06/20674"]here[/url]. I've thought about trying it on my Westone fretless, but never got around to it...

It's interesting seeing the sort of values assigned to these old German flatbacks. My own bass is one, though with plain maple back and sides and devalued by a rather ugly coat of varnish. I have an insurance valuation of £2750 from a few years ago, it was tagged in the shop at about £1700 (If I recall correctly), and after some negotiation I took it away for £750! I've since put in a further £500 for a new fingerboard, bridge, soundpost etc, but I can't help but feel that I did OK.

Dunno if this is relevant, but I had Thomastik Dominants on my last bass. They're a nylon cored string which keeps some of the feel of the spirocores (i.e. not floppy), bow more easily than the spiros and still have decent growliness and sustain for pizz. The only downside is their tendency to sudden breakage, though some people reckon you can avoid that with careful installation. They sounded good on that bass, but I've stuck with spirocores on the current bass as it came with them and sounded great. Dominants could definitely be worth a shot for mixed arco/pizz duties.

I'm not one for casting aspersions, but one of his two feedback ratings is for purchasing a miniature set of digital scales. Is this a clue as to the guys occupation?

I've had a look through the old threads about earplugs, and I'm wondering, does anyone know of earplugs with a higher level of protection than the standard ER20s? I've just been at a 3 day music festival, wearing ER20s almost all the time, and my ears are still not right, nearly two days after it's over. I blame the dub tent, but the main stage was pretty loud too. My balance is off (it feels like being slightly drunk), I've lost some of the high frequencies and my ears just feel weird. I've been to see my GP, and she reckons I don't have any kind of ear infection, it's just the effects of excess volume. So, are there any plugs with more attenuation than ER20s (something for industrial use perhaps?), or should I declare that situations like that are just too loud and stop going? The size of the systems has increased massively in the past couple of years and it was never not loud enough to begin with!

I've got an old model one in my drawer. It's pretty well used, and there is a crack in the epoxy on the back (where it has been dropped at some point) which has been repaired with glue. However, it's fully working and could be had super cheap (say £15 posted?). PM me if interested. I've moved over to a Darkstar for my electric bass needs...

Just out of curiosity, have you noticed any change in acoustic response with that clamped to your bridge? Or is it pretty minor considering that you're amped up when using it?

I also think a preamp should be your first port of call. I've used a Little Mark 250 with my double bass (with an Upton RSII pickup), and the input impedance is definitely a little low for most piezo pickups. The sound without a preamp wasn't glaringly bad, but not as clear as it could be, with a hint of a nasty high-end peak. Putting a K&K preamp in line cleared things up considerably. I found the EQ on the Markbass to be plenty useable for double bass, so you would probably be fine with a simpler preamp than the Fishman Platinum - anything that has an input impedance of 1M ohms or higher.