Beer of the Bass

[quote name='bassace' timestamp='1455983585' post='2984273'] How do you decide when they're dead? When they start to lose their nasal twang and give a satisfactory tone. There are a lot of dead Spiro enthusiasts. Just keep them clean with industrial alcohol and they'll last for ever, well almost. A useful trick is to de-tension them from time to time. You'll be surprised how their brightness comes back when you bring them up to pitch. [/quote] If I'm recalling this accurately, that objectionable metallic "zing" only lasted for about a month or so for me when the strings were new. That was in a period where I was spending a lot of time playing, so it might take longer now. I'm not looking for the sound of those first couple of weeks, more the sound that it settled into for the next couple of years. It does come back to some extent upon cleaning or just de-tuning and re-tuning, but that doesn't seem to last for long and I'm sure my bass is darker now than in the recordings linked in my signature, which were done about 2 1/2 years ago with the same set. On the other hand, they're certainly friendlier with the bow now.

I've had my old German (possibly Czech) flatback carved bass for about 8 years now and when I got it I had a new bridge, fingerboard and soundpost fitted along with a new set of Spirocore Mittels. People always talk about the longevity of Spiros, but I'm trying to decide what the trigger is for me to finally decide it's time for a new set. Due to trying some other sets, they've only done about 6 years of playing and I've cleaned them with alcohol several times. They don't sound terrible and they still have some sustain, but I'm sure they're lacking a bit of the brightness and liveliness that they had in the first few years. I enjoy that overt Spirocore growl and miss it if it's not all there - my big inspirations to get into double bass were Danny Thompson and Dave Holland, so I'm sure you get the idea. So, for any other Spiro enthusiasts, how long do you give yours? Is this the year for a new set?

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1455914719' post='2983680'] Agree with the above, also the Source Audio filters can cop a good down sweep too. I've sold my Zoom units now, but they have a really good Q-Tron model in them, although I can't remember if they can do a down sweep, anyone able to confirm? [/quote] That was another thought - if the filter in the Zooms does what I need, I could certainly find a few other uses for one too. Probably the MS60B, as I may not need everything in the B3 and the B1on/B1Xon look a bit too plasticky for gigging. Having a quick peek at the manual, the way the sensitivity is numbered from -10 to +10 suggests it might have a reverse sweep.

Vulcanised fibre board is the stuff they made pickup flatwork and amplifier eyelet boards from, so it makes sense that they'd use it elsewhere.

I've noticed that the Ashdown envelope filters go quite cheaply used, the silvery grey ones with the meter on the top. Are they worth a punt? I fancy something that can do the Mutron-esque downwards sweep "boww" sound, and it seems like many of the cheaper envelope filters are upwards only. Or is there anything else that's cheap and worth looking at for this? I suppose I could DIY something, but I have too many projects awaiting my attention as it is.

We're all going to think our basses sound great, aren't we? I've never heard someone in a guitar shop exclaim "Hmm, sounds a bit meh. I'll take it!"

Do we have to justify it? I'm sure that in tougher circumstances I would find[i] something [/i]to make music on (as you see people doing in many parts of the world), so the idea of necessity is a relative thing. That aside, I'll give it a go; [b]German/Czech double bass, circa 1900[/b]: Double bass is the instrument I wanted to play from a young age, but couldn't get hold of my own until a little later. Although I'll sometimes go through periods where I'm not playing it as much, I'm just less happy without a double bass around. After a rather disappointing modern plywood bass and one older bass with some issues, as soon as I had the opportunity to get hold of a solid, healthy older bass I jumped at it. Mine has been beaten up, badly re-varnished and then beaten up some more, but it's a great sounding instrument and will be with me for life (accidents or theft notwithstanding). [b]Home built 4 string[/b]: This is a bass I built (rather crudely) in my parent's shed when I was 18, with the aid of Melvyn Hiscock's "Make Your Own Electric Guitar" book. It has a walnut body, maple/rosewood neck and originally used the hardware from my Ibanez Ric copy which had collapsed at the neck joint. It was my main electric bass for something like 10 years and has it's own sound, but on the downside it weighs 13lbs. It gets little use at the moment, but it has a fair bit of sentimental value and is probably too crude and quirky to sell anyway! [b]Home built 5 string[/b]: Several years ago I was playing in a band which was rehearsing and gigging very regularly. I had sold the Fender Jazz I'd been playing due to general skintness and the weight of my 4 string was getting to me. I'm not sure why I decided to go 5 string, it just seemed like a good idea. My pickups and tuners were secondhand from eBay and the BC classifieds to keep costs down and it originally used an OLP MM5 neck, though later I built a new neck for it. This one is ash with a maple neck and fingerboard and a pair of Jazz pickups from a Lakland Joe Osborne. It's currently my main electric bass. [b]Gallien Krueger MB200[/b]: This sees quite a bit of use, I'm not in love with it but it's very convenient and usually loud enough. [b]Dynacord Eminent II[/b]: This is less practical, I like valve amps and I like to build, tweak and repair things as a bit of a hobby. Musically I could probably do without this one, but I do enjoy tinkering about with old amps. [b]Home built cabs, 1x10" and 1x12"[/b]: The 1x10" comes out for low volume stuff, double bass use or for taking on the bus. The pair of 1x12" cabs will cover any other gigs. They've only done one gig so far, as I only finished them last week! All of this is either actively used or not worth selling, and building things has become a hobby for me. I probably do have some "indulgences" in other instruments, like a 30's Gibson-made Kalamazoo acoustic guitar which I don't actually gig, but the bass stuff is all quite functional really.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1455026490' post='2975146'] Carla Bley - Escalator Over the Hill [/quote] This is an interesting one, it certainly has the feel and structure of a concept album but Paul Haines' lyrics are so abstruse that I couldn't tell you what the concept was, or what happened to whom in a narrative sense. Great album though!

How about a second matching cab for your existing head? That should get you a bit more volume and bring the speaker closer to ear level for monitoring.

Cutting down the strips for bracing, working out their positions and getting it all fitted definitely added a fair chunk of time to my build, especially as I didn't have a table saw to cut long parallel strips with. With that in mind I could see the appeal of using 18mm ply with a simplified bracing scheme.

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1455662378' post='2981366'] Link still works for me. Go to BBC News and search for Kanye. [/quote] I can find it on their website, but still can't use the link. Hmm, what an odd man. I don't have much more to add than that!

What is this new bit of twuntery linked to in the OP? I'm just getting a "content unavailable" message when I click on it.

It took me a while to work out that Briwax have two different lines of wax polish in almost identical looking tins. "Briwax Original" contains Toluene, which is really unpleasant if used in a poorly ventilated area and will strip a Tru-Oil finish right off (which confused me as several people had recommended using Briwax with Tru-Oil), while "Briwax" uses less unpleasant solvents. The only visible difference seems to be the word Original on the tin, and many shops will sell the two interchangeably.

I reckon "heft" is one of these rather nebulous concepts like "growl", where we might be referring to at least three different things by it and end up speaking at cross-purposes most of the time! I'm not even sure that the tonal characteristics that come from a valve power amp can usefully be described by a single term, as one might have under-rated transformers and filtering with minimal feedback, while another might have conservatively rated transformers, lots of filtering and extensive feedback, and the two would respond very differently. If you're getting a sound that you like with that preamp into a class-D power amp, that's got to be worth exploring further.

I wonder if LaBella could be approached about making a set? I've heard of people ordering other custom length sets from them, so they might be open to the idea.

It's crying out for matching yellow and black leggings, vest top and wristbands. Not sure I could pull off that look myself, but I take my hat off to anyone who wants to attempt it!

[quote name='SubsonicSimpleton' timestamp='1455540510' post='2979967'] Have you tried them with your upright yet? [/quote] I haven't tried it yet, though I should give it a go when I have the opportunity. I don't ever amplify the double bass at home as I live in a flat, so it would have to wait for the next louder gig or rehearsal with a drummer. My gut feeling is that the strong upper mid response of these drivers might take a bit of EQ to avoid sounding too "electric", but it'll be interesting to try it out.

That does look like someone who works with guitar finishes would be able to drop-fill it, and it wouldn't be a huge job. It might be worth finding out from Fender what type of finish was used (lacquer or poly) so that you when you phone round repairers you have the information to hand.

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1455525333' post='2979721'] I know, I was hoping for a discussion of the article linked rather than the same old rubbish again. But that was yesterday ... [/quote] Yes, I found the article interesting. Most tourist-focussed cities have a broader range of reasons for people to visit, so it puts Liverpool in a fairly unique situation. There must be other notable things about the history and culture of the city, but the Beatles are the first thing we all think of.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1455502000' post='2979671'] You missed the biggest part of rock & roll history there is. And the band that laid the foundation for all subsequent bands. You have to understand The Beatles were a way of life. I feel so sorry for folks that are too young to understand The Beatles and that time period. Blue [/quote] Yes, it must be time for this thread again. It's been at least a week...

Nowadays I'm living slightly further out of town and we have a car, but living in the city centre with no car I used a combination of an endpin wheel, shoulder strap, buses (outside of the rush hour) and the occasional black cab. While some people worry about damaging the instrument with an endpin wheel, my wheel has done so many miles that the tread is wearing off the tyre yet I have never damaged my 100-year old bass using it. If you choose one with a pneumatic tyre, keep the tyre fairly soft and take care with kerbs then it's not a big issue IMO. A shoulder strap is a very useful thing, especially as the wheel makes the bass too tall to easily get in and out of buses or taxis. Rather than relying on the sewn-on straps on a case, I have one which fastens around the bass neck outside of the case and has a loop for the endpin at the bottom, similar to this one: [url="http://www.bassbags.co.uk/product/double-bass-carrying-strap-black/"]http://www.bassbags.co.uk/product/double-bass-carrying-strap-black/[/url]

Yeah, I find it tricky describing sounds. What I mean is that they bring out midrange detail well, so that if I want to emphasise a line and bring out the bark and growl a little with my right hand it comes through nicely with these cabs. Some rigs I've played before don't respond so well to that. I'm playing a bass I built; ash body, maple neck and fingerboard, passive Jazz pickups, standard Jazz wiring. The bass can be quite bright and aggressive sounding but then I use Sadowsky flatwounds which balance that out, so it's a flatwound sound but less dark than the Motown style. I usually keep both pickups on but back one off a little (either bridge or neck depending on the tune), tone control right up and played mostly with fingers, and occasional pick/palm muting. The amp is currently a GK MB200, contour switch turned off and nothing extreme going on with the EQ. I don't like to have highs in the tweeter range, but I like to hear plenty of content at the top end of what a tweeterless cab can do. I guess that gets across what I'm going for a little better.

Some of the seemingly flawed designs from previoud decades live on in the guitar world. Tweed era Fender combos used an unbraced baffle made of thin softwood ply which was only attached at a few points around the edge, not solidly glued in. And that was true even of the 4x10" models. Some people insist that they just wouldn't sound the same with a stiffer baffle.

The cabs' inaugural gig went well. It was in a hall that was a larger space than the venues I usually play, and I wasn't through the PA though the drums were lightly mic'ed, so I was glad I'd brought the pair. I can only describe the band as not-quite-jazz quartet; sax, keys, drums and bass, we get quite noisy and riffy but probably less loud than most rock genres. I had my GK MB200 turned up halfway, and I get the impression that they would cheerfully take a slightly more powerful amp if I needed to (within reason). The MB200 was just starting to compress a little on the attack of hard played notes at that point though there were no noises of complaint from the cabs. I liked the tone; they feel quite lively somehow, sproingy even. I'm not the best at verbalising such things without sounding silly!

I should also say thanks to Stevie and Phil for their useful input, both here and on the 1x12" design diary thread which had a lot of good info. Also, cheers to everyone else who has commented on this thread.