Beer of the Bass

Wheels are turning rather slowly regarding my double bass strings with a defective G. I contacted them and got a response the following day saying that they would pass details to their "expert", then nothing else that day. I'm hoping I'll hear from them tomorrow, and that they don't quibble over it.

The authentic 50s attitude would probably be to grumble about the Fender bass but end up using one anyway 'cos it's easier to gig with and you can actually hear it! 😉

I wonder if you'll get dirty looks for bringing one of those newfangled Fender basses, rather than a gut-strung double bass?

Isn't she from the band Katzenjammer? I thought they were Norwegian rather than German. I have a friend and occasional bandmate who is a massive fan.

I've just bought a set of double bass strings from them which has a duff G string. It would be nice if they could sort me out with a new G without having to return the full set, as changing double bass strings is a hassle. I've contacted them about it, so I'll see how well they respond...

Looking at their website with Google translate, they have some intriguing looking amps. The rackmount 100 watt valve amp on their home page could probably tick a box on a few peoples wish lists. [url="https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.handbox.pl%2Fcgi-bin%2Findex.pl&edit-text=&act=url"]https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.handbox.pl%2Fcgi-bin%2Findex.pl&edit-text=&act=url[/url]

I was in a local venue last night which has had to keep levels down due to a series of complaints. Their gear isn't amazing in there, but it's kind of refreshing to go to a gig where I'd be comfortable without earplugs in most parts of the room.

Knowing that shop a little, they're not in the habit of pricing things low. Often they'll put something in the window at a wildly optimistic price and only revise it downwards if it's been there for a while without shifting. I don't know if that's what has happened with this one.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1460056328' post='3022247'] Well I wasn't going to say 'heft' - dammit! [/quote] Gawd, that new avatar is terrifying!

I spent some time modelling boxes with the same driver in WinISD, and it makes sense that the Thumpinator would help with power handing, especially if you go below E for anything. The crazy 4x12" stack looked like a fun experiment though!

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1460044603' post='3022066'] drum kits have got louder?! Any reason you think that? [/quote] I've heard similar, but going further back than the timescale being discussed here. Any veteran drummers care to comment?

Without looking at the existing votes I went for Subsonic Simpleton, King Bollock and Camden Rob. Nice to hear some double bass in there - maybe I should whip out my Zoom H4N and increase the double bass representation for April.

[quote name='zbd1960' timestamp='1459985813' post='3021605'] All bowed stirng instruments do this: as you apply the pressure to the string and until it 'settles' to normal vibration it usually is sharp for a moment. You can reduce it by not putting too much energy into the string. If you have the bow at the heel and rest it on a stirng, you should find that you can in fact pull the string a fair distance before it overcomes the resistance of the rosin on the hair. [/quote] Agreed, it will always happen to some extent, but I mention the string type as I've found that is more pronounced on the plain steel core strings you get on a lot of new basses. I'm not fully up to speed on the physics of this, but I presume that the stiffness of the core is a factor. When I was first changing over from EUB to double bass I rented a cheap plywood bass for a few months which had the original strings, and changing them out for a set of Thomastik Superflexibles was a huge improvement in intonation and pitch stability. The tone and volume from the instrument were improved too.

Orchestras don't play to small rooms of noisy drunks and they don't have DJs blasting out loud music while they're preparing to go on. So I don't feel bad about using a tuner at gigs rather than doing it by ear every time.

I like them, and the styling is totally of it's time. I had a go on one of these once and remember quite enjoying it. It didn't sound much like a double bass, but I presume the goal was just to make an upright bass that could be played loud in dance bands.

I don't know about the Vanderkley, but looking at your list, I'm fairly confident that the TKS S112 uses the Eminence Beta 12. They describe it as a ceramic Eminence driver and the specs check out. I also found an older post on a Swedish bass forum (via Google translate) where Tommy from TKS refers to using the Beta 12 in the earlier 112 model, the one before they changed the styling and added the S to the name.

I much prefer Joe Gore's demo; http://youtu.be/aWKQXzKVXP0

[quote name='machinehead' timestamp='1459803605' post='3019908'] The tone of the 12" cabs is too clean and revealing for some players. I can totally understand that. [/quote] I'm never sure about the idea that some gear is "too revealing" for some players, as it implies that those players have to choose gear to hide the deficiencies in their playing. This is not intended as a dig at yourself specifically, but it can come across as self-congratulatory on the part of the people who use the "revealing" gear. I don't think a cab with flat response is necessarily more revealing than one with a coloured response, as for example, a strong upper-mid peak can show up a lot of string and finger noise which would be less apparent with a flatter cab.

I wasn't very keen on the 90s photoflame thing. My brother had one of the Japanese strats with it on, and I always thought it looked a bit fake close up. He still has it, and the finish hasn't aged wonderfully either.

I suppose some of their claims do come across as a little overblown, like "compare one of our 12"s to two of [i]anyone else's[/i] 12s". Comparing the output to a pair of typical 12s like Eminence Betas or Deltalites, Faital 12PR300s etc doesn't seem outrageous, but even their own stated specs don't suggest that one of their 12"s would compare to two Kappalites or other high-excursion drivers. That's more a criticism of their copy writing than of the product, but perhaps they should tone it down a little...

[quote name='stevie' timestamp='1459779168' post='3019503'] It starts here, but the meaty stuff is in the middle. [url="https://www.talkbass.com/threads/smallest-2x12-cabinet.1183150/."]https://www.talkbass...binet.1183150/.[/url] [/quote] There are some interesting points in that thread, particularly concerning the Vd and frequency response measurements, and it seems healthy to hold manufacturers claims up to scrutiny and poke them for clarification where necessary. I can recall a couple of entertaining threads on here that have done this too (LawrenceH's posts were always worth a read on this sort of thing). But I'm a bit perplexed by the degree of polarisation on Basschat, where there is an almost evangelical zeal from just a few people in both the pro and anti camps. What's going on there? My take-away from that thread is that perhaps they don't eclipse other high-excursion, high end cabs by such a huge margin as some of their more enthusiastic users seem to imply, but they should certainly hold their own in that part of the market. If one 1x12" cab claims 496cc displacement and another claims 550cc I'm not going to lose any sleep over the difference - they'll both shift a lot of air for a 1x12" and the choice will come down to tone, portability, cosmetics etc. I did think McNach's Big Baby II was a good sounding and well thought-out cab when I've heard it at gigs, though I'd still check out some other cabs if I was in the market for one.

[quote name='borntohang' timestamp='1459764679' post='3019245'] I'm actually in the middle of working up a Devo tribute called DEVO:TION. It's a bit of a labour of love but we're getting some low-key bookings already and we're only a month or two in; we're playing a decent local venue in June and a cool electronic festival based around KLF-themed Discordianism which is entirely our jam. Currently sourcing hazmat suits and energy domes, and we'll probably do the black polo necks and shorts look too. The music isn't going to be an exact note for note tribute but we're aiming for a 'in spirit if not flesh' thing. I figure Devo might actually be amused by us playing their sh*t like a franchised band, but maybe they'd just sue us into oblivion instead. [/quote] That's exactly the sort of tribute band I would probably go and see!

[quote name='grandad' timestamp='1459756277' post='3019139'] Recently fitted a set of Rotosound RS77M on a Viola and another set on a Mustang, (90, 75, 50, 40). Good strings, tension and tone-wise. Good price too and very good advice from Jason and John at Rotosound. Some folks love them, some do not. [/quote] I've heard that the long scale Rotosound flats are a quite different string to the medium and short scale sets (in terms of tension, surface finish and tone). I don't know why they do that, but I've heard it from more than one person.

That's a confusing one. AFAIK LaBella do the only tapewounds with clear nylon, but they don't use coloured ball ends. D'Addario have the coloured ball ends and blue silk, but their tapewounds are black.

[quote name='dave_bass5' timestamp='1459712731' post='3018904'] Only if you are Talk bass ;-) [/quote] Though equally, you need two 2x12" cabs and 500 watts bare minimum to play a bar over there. And on the double bass side, you don't need an amp at all if you're a serious jazz cat. 'Tis a confusing place!