orm-irian

Yeah the headphones were the issue. I've got some almost-new Sennheiser HD599s and they're perfect.

May be because the headphones have a volume control - I'm getting some "new" phones today that are more standard, better bass response too. We'll see.

WAV, passive pickup. The problem may turn out to be my headphones! They work fine on a tablet but I couldn't get any sound out of them on my Scarlett Solo either so I'm trying other headphones tomorrow.

I got a little Blackstar headphone amp for my NS eub, which I know has a high impedance pickup - but I'm not getting any sound out of it at all. Is this normal? Is there a workaround?

I can't hold a bow at all, thanks to missing hand-arm-shoulder muscles. I'm going to experiment with bowing left-handed at some point in the future, but I doubt my right hand can hold the strings down (certainly I can't do 1/2 or 1st or 2nd position stretch with my shorter fingers). I'm content with pizz. also fwiw in not a he, I'm a they 🙂

Thanks, I've got The Evolving Bassist in order already, plus Ray Brown's Bass Method.

My eub lands next week, I've got a teacher lined up, but I'm wondering if anyone's got recommendations for good exercise books to learn from for pizz only? (I won't be using a bow because I can't hold one for reasons of anatomy, but pizz is fine). I guess I'm after books with scales, études, that kind of thing, ideally not aimed at kids (I'm Old™). I already have a solid musical background, so I don't need "this is a bar line" level of education. Any thoughts?

I'm actually going to try out their stock endpin - I can return it if it doesn't work (or use it as a model for something better before I return it), I've got some ideas up my sleeve but need to actually have the bass in my hands to work out what will work best. in other news, someone in the US pointed me to a thing called a ninomute that makes EUBs sound way more acoustic-like, and wanted to sell me one for $50 plus shipping (and then VAT and the UK charging me £10 to collect that), so I took a good look at the thing in a couple of video reviews, and realised I can make my own for like 50p. It's literally just a strip of compact foam with slices into it that fit over the strings, up against the bridge. Different thicknesses give more or less dampening, so you can have more or less "thump". I've got an old leather belt and some packing foam that'll do the trick fine, I can experiment with different thicknesses and then have a couple handy for different sounds.

Sorry, just me geeking out that I've finally been able to order an NS WAV 5 eub, set up with trad flat sound strings and raised bridge, and with an endpin so I can play sat down in my wheelchair. I've been wanting one of these for literally almost a decade, since my disappointment trying to play an acoustic upright (I bought a lovely old Stentor, but my mutant arm couldn't cope with their body size). That's all, just excited to get into it! It's so great now compared to a decade ago, you can just go online and find free video lessons and so on, while I'm looking for a local teacher.

I mean I'm going to have to make my own adaptations to make it doable, because of course it's harder pizz. And I'm not expecting to make anything perfect. For now, the only one I know off by heart already is the Prelude to the third suite (I actually learned it on a marimba 15 years ago), so I have some kind of head start there!

Thanks - incidentally, for further evidence of how amazing a double bass pizz version might sound, it's worth listening to Christian Roderberg playing the cello suites on a marimba. All the space!

I'm gonna be playing it pizz anyway, as I can't use a bow

Excellent news, thanks - I have the cello edition, this will make a good addition.

Someone elsewhere suggested a sling, but I'm not sure whether my mutant shoulders can take the weight. I'd be best off with a spike.