Beer of the Bass

[quote name='bassace' timestamp='1435264032' post='2807181'] There are still a few jazz double bass fakers out there because the relative softness of the bass - especially with muddy amplification - means that their notes can stay hidden. [/quote] I'm counting on this, as I've somehow ended up with a couple of jazz gigs next month and I don't really consider myself a jazz musician. Still, it's a repeat booking so perhaps we weren't quite that bad!

[quote name='nick' timestamp='1435308938' post='2807431'] I've built a few of the Ginger pedals now. I like it, probably my favourite low gain overdrive. I prefer it to the SFT (old and new versions) & original circuit Blueberry, though I do like them too. I think it shines with flatwounds, more touch sensitive than the SFT, less compressed to my ears & a sweeter EQ section. [/quote] Interesting, which FETs did you use? The 2N5457 seems to be getting hard to find.

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1435264944' post='2807189'] Not tried one but have contemplated ordering a pre-built one from VFE. I'm pretty happy with my Bearfoot Blueberry though and would recommend either that or the Catalinbread SFT (later generation which is brighter) for that application if you haven't tried those out. [/quote] I'd looked at the SFT, and the fact that there are schematics and layouts out there for DIY versions is appealing too. I don't know whether the schematics available online are the older or newer version though.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1435267519' post='2807213'] Yes, I want one... are they currently only available from the US? [/quote] I've seen them here as well: [url="http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/accessories-c2/string-muters-c63/gruv-gear-gruv-gear-fump-bass-bridge-muter-dampener-p10306"]http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/accessories-c2/string-muters-c63/gruv-gear-gruv-gear-fump-bass-bridge-muter-dampener-p10306[/url] I quite like the idea of these, as while a bit of foam does the job for free, in practice it's a bit too much faff to fish the bit of foam in and out for specific songs.

Has anyone tried one of these? It's supposed to emulate an Ampeg Portaflex. I'd be particularly interested in how it compares to their earlier design, the Flipster. I have a Flipster and while I like what it does, I feel the bass and treble controls don't work so well and I would like to be able to get a little more upper mid/ lower treble out of it by cranking the treble knob. I gather that one of the improvements in the Ginger was supposed to be related to the frequency response and EQ range, so I'm wondering if the Ginger might be worth a try. The sort of treble I want is not the modern hi-fi slap variety, more the ability to extract a little more grunt from my flatwound-strung bass. I'm not looking for a lot of overdrive, just something I can leave on all the time and run in front of a DI for a little more of a valve amp-esque character. Sansamps and the like tend to be a little too "voiced" in the mids for my taste.

[quote name='Funky Dunky' timestamp='1434903810' post='2803721'] Eric Johnson claims to be able to hear the difference between a gold jack or not on a lead. I also read he claims to know by listening whether a pedal is powered by a Duracell battery or not, but I'll assume that was a joke. [/quote] Weirdly, the battery thing isn't a joke. It's specific to Fuzz Face type pedals, which really do sound a bit different with a zinc carbon battery than with an alkaline battery or a power supply. The Fuzz Face is such a crude and touchy circuit that the internal resistance of the battery affects the bias of the transistors - it's pretty subtle in practice but there is a difference.

Yes, the Stentors are decent starter basses - I have a friend who is gigging a 10 year old example without issues and a secondhand one will probably be in your price range. They tend to be at the small end of 3/4 size, which might be a good thing in this case.

If you're going for a bare fingerboard and want to use roundwounds, then I'd go for ebony (or other equally hard and dense woods) over rosewood. While basschat threads can go round in circles ad infinitum when discussing woods, a fretless fingerboard is one of the places where different materials really do affect the sound IMO.

[quote name='spacey' timestamp='1434878613' post='2803446'] If they were the Chinese Mackies the horns might have blown. They dont take much stick. [/quote] I did wonder if blown horns were a part of it. I've played a few pubs with small PA systems with blown horns and got exactly the results the OP describes, and you can't do much about it with EQ. And the landlord always seems to insist that they're fine because they still produce sound.

It's not just you. I'm between bands at the moment, and still have a small-gig setup, but I wound up selling my bigger 2x12" cab to cover some expenses when moving house. I'm now thinking I ought to replace that while things are quiet so that I don't have a mad last-minute scramble to find something when I join another band. It's surprisingly tricky to work out what your needs are when you don't know what sort of band you'll end up in though!

[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' timestamp='1434832022' post='2803221'] What if you're told there's something there , and there isn't ? What if it packs up/ makes dangerous noises when your banging away? [/quote] I've had an amp pack up mid-song on a festival stage, fortunately my DI was in front of the amp and I managed to finish the song by sight alone then ask the sound guy for some bass in the monitors. It wasn't much fun, admittedly!

One major advantage of using house rigs when available is the ability to get the bus to the gig, which means not having to faff about finding somewhere to park or get roped into driving anyone elses gear around and being able to have some beers. There are some gigs where that would tip the balance for me!

Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) in the bottom of the slot with a drop of thin superglue sets to a substance which is probably harder than the original plastic and can be filed cleanly. I haven't read up on the chemistry of this, but there must be something going on as it sets much faster than the glue does normally and produces some heat. Do it somewhere well ventilated! It works very well though, I've done it a few times to build up over-deepened nut slots.

[quote name='owen' timestamp='1434535769' post='2800473'] I have a student who is broke but needs a set of strings. Does anyone have a mature set of any Innovation strings they would do for £50? [/quote] I have a well-used set of Honeys which are redundant as I'm firmly in the Spiro camp now, but I wouldn't ask that much for them. I'll PM you.

I've recently had to get rid of my piano, as we had to move at short notice to a smaller flat. I'd spent ages replacing felts, pitch-raising it back to concert pitch and teaching myself to tune it, and had just got it working nicely when we were given our eviction notice! Still, it was an educational experience and I've kept the tuning tools I picked up.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1434365310' post='2798881'] ... but who the heck ever carries their Twin by its unique handle, eh..? [/quote] Indeed, the time honoured manner seems to be to hoist the thing like a bag of cement whilst grunting prodigiously, then stand around clutching your groin for ten minutes. I'd still like one though, even if it only came out a couple of times a year while I gigged my smaller combo!

[quote name='chriswareham' timestamp='1434320009' post='2798673'] The notion of tonewoods has been comprehensively proven to be bollocks in the violin world [/quote] Reference, please.

Could the listeners see the basses during the test, or was there some sort of screen involved?

Do you play with the bow at all? I had a Kent Armstrong magnetic for a while, and it could sound good played pizz, but with the bow the response was really uneven and barely usable. If it wasn't for that, I'd have kept it for use in louder settings.

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1434121444' post='2796937'] And then you plug into a DI box (pre EQ which is usually the case) and the sound person reduces your fastidiously, sculptured, sound into an inaudible, mushy, mess. I quite like the sounds of flats when I have control of how I EQ them. But that rarely happens if I'm going through a venue's PA and my amp is there purely for onstage monitoring. [/quote] That can happen, but it's a sound guy issue rather than a string issue. I'd rather stick with the flats and be able to get my favoured sound under certain circumstances than use rounds and not be able to get the sound I like under any circumstances.

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1434118823' post='2796895'] You can get a flatwound sound from roundwounds, if you take all the tone off your bass. [/quote] I hear this a lot, but I don't agree. I like flatwounds with no muting, tone control on full and the treble boosted on the amp, so the sound is actually quite bright but not in a metallic or zingy way That provides a sound which I can't get from roundwounds - you can get the harmonic content similar with tone controls and EQ but the attack/decay envelope is quite different.

I was sad to read about Ornette Coleman passing away yesterday. He was one of the real innovators and even his 50s records still sound fresh today IMO. He had a great ear for bassists too, as some of my favourite of Charlie Haden's playing was with Coleman, and then there's Scott LaFaro and David Izenzon. While his music has a reputation for being challenging, I've always found it more to my taste than straighter be-bop based jazz.

Since he seems to know so spectacularly little about it (Van Halen pickups?!), I can't help but wonder how he came by this bass. I hope it's all above board. But yes, if it's legit it's a very good price, as you could easily pay more than that for the pickups without the bass attached.

I saw him something like 20 years ago at the Dunoon Jazz Festival (when that still existed) with Nikki Yeoh. He had a Marmite jar velcroed to his bass which he used for some weird slide noises on one tune! I was a teenager and hadn't been playing long, so he made a bit of an impression. Nice to know he's still going strong.

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1433194509' post='2788887'] The makers of this bass posted it on a local FB muso group I use, mostly just to get reactions & feedback. This was my "assessment": [i]Aesthetically I love it - I'm a sucker for a see-through bass, but from a player's perspective I have a few misgivings about the practicality of the design & the pickup & switching choices. A bass is usually a pretty heavy instrument, and lots of hard edges & protruding fasteners might make this pretty uncomfortable to play over a long gig - the 4 sharp ridges where a forearm chamfer would be on a solid body look particularly eye-watering! Not at all convinced by the Strat-type pickup layout & switching - on the whole a pickup selector is pretty much useless on a bass, the facility to blend pickups (either individual volumes or a pan pot) is far more flexible. I'd be inclined to go for a 2 pickup arrangement with pan pot. And some LEDs. Lots of LEDs.[/i] Well, it's just a giant Strat really, innit? Jon. [/quote] I agree about the forearm chamfer. It might be possible for them to make the top layer full size and bend it in drop-top fashion to cover the edges of the lower layers.