Beer of the Bass

I wouldn't agree that a laminated bass is necessarily lighter than a solid bass. For example, my first bass was a Prima 50 laminated bass (which I'd hesitate to reccomend if you're looking for a new one). My current bass is an old German flat-backed carved bass, which is much lighter. The laminated bass will definitely withstand being bumped around spiral staircases better though! There's an old Kay for sale on here, though it's maybe a bit far away from you.

A cautionary tale: I bought the Zoom 506 when they first came out (1996 or so?), and I used to use it all the time with my first band, mostly for a bit of compression, sometimes some chorus or an octaver. One week I forgot to bring the Zoom to a rehearsal, plugged straight into the amp, and the drummer said "Hey, your bass sounds f****ng great today. Have you changed something?". I don't think I used the Zoom again after that, though I did get into individual stompboxes for a while. Somebody please tell me multi-effects have got better since my old Zoom. I dug it out of a cupboard a couple of years ago, and it sounds awful even on bypass...

Ashborys are great! I had one for about a year, and even gigged with it several times. After one gig, a guy came up to me and asked if it was some sort of midi controller, as he couldn't accept that something that size sounded like a bass! I didn't stick with it though, as the sheer tininess of it was a bit too much of a leap for me, and they really need a lighter right-hand touch than I have. They can be very deep-sounding, a little like a fretless electric with flatwounds. Not at all like a double bass though, despite what some say.

I dunno - it made sense to me, but I like Flann O'Brien. I presume you're suggesting that bassists rather enjoy moaning about our lot, and wouldn't dream of doing anything to change it.

Peacock, surely?

I've played with a few folkies of various sorts, but it's such a broad genre that it's impossible to suggest one approach. It can vary from having a fairly free rein with people doing their own interpretations of traditional songs and tunes, to playing Scottish dance tunes where doing anything different to the accordianist or pianists' left hand will get you dirty looks! It's surprising that more double bass doesn't pop up in folk music - to my mind it's the natural accompaniment to other acoustic stringed instruments, and really adds something...

If it helps, my Bassix EUB has a set of p-bass style schallers, and they've held up fine for about 7 years now. Mine are mounted on the tailpiece, as it's headless. One thing though - it's irritating to have to trim the strings to fit, as I can't swap them around between the EUB and my double bass, but that probably applies to many EUBs.

I've got the Ray Brown method book too. It's worth it for the terrifying thumb position photos and great tailoring! I find Rufus Reid's book more useful, but Ray's suits are sharper! I get the impression Ray would have been a pretty hard taskmaster as a teacher, but it'd probably pay off...

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?