Paddy Morris

I have also tried Whackers. Much too clicky on my bass, very little actual note. Zero sustain. Silver slaps I liked very much. Again a bit too clicky on my fingerboard, but a good, defined note and plenty of sustain. I found the harmonic profile of the A in the set to be slightly too growly. Like a bass guitar string. I now have one bass set up for slap, with natural gut D, G, and Evah Pirazzi slap (the cheaper synthetic gut ones) on E, A. On my particular, inexpensive bass it's a great combination. Nice vintage thud. The click is less sharp and brittle. The sustain is moderate, but its enough. For arco you need to dig into them a bit to get them to start, but it's a nice dark tone.

In particular, some folks send the fingerboard output to a limiter, then recombine with the bridge pickup at the amplifier. It just helps you get a nice even click that doesn't take your head head off, without the limiter also squashing the main tone. With nothing plugged into the fingerboard o/p socket, the bridge o/p socket carries both signals mixed in proportion to the 2 knobs on the top of the preamp.

Get some good strings on it. If it has the factory strings still on then they're probably very cheap. The difference in the sound and playability is really dramatic with good strings.

I thought I'd ask this here, instead of starting yet another amp thread. Does anyone have experience of using GK amps for upright bass? Positive or negative? I have a little PJ two-four which is great. Also I have a brute of a 15" TC Electronics amp. This TC can sound great under ideal circumstances. Very clean, and I don't come remotely close to clipping ever. But it is just very prone to boominess, and I have to mess about with graphics and placing it on chairs and away from corners in most indoor venues, just to get it to sound acceptable. Someone on this thread said that a physically smaller amp might be better. And I'm looking at a 12" GK combo on ebay. I know they are very tailored to a certain type of electric bass sound, but was just wondering if anyone had tried one for upright?

Ah man. That's a shame. It looks tiny, but I guarantee that crack will screw you over on a gig sooner or later, regardless of what you do to it. I would have thought the maple would be too densely grained to absorb much of the glue. I'd get a new bridge fitted by a decent bass luthier, and not one of these jack of all trades guys either. It took me a few goes to find a luthier I trust, but the difference is night and day.

Feedback is very common, it's not just your college bass. I have also only tried the copperhead, but I found it very lacking in detail, just literally the fundamental bass note I was playing. So I would imagine that it might be more susceptible to feedback than some others, because a lot of feedback issues start with an over-emphasised low end - just a guess. You might find this useful if you haven't seen it already. But if you aren't needing to play too loud then a combination of both a mic and a piezo into a preamp like the Stanley Clarke or the Headway HB2 can give you a good, flexible jazz pizz sound. I play with a loud guitarist and a loud drummer and I freely admit that I have to sacrifice tone I would like, just to get the volume I need without feedback.

I bought a Yamahiko. Single transducer version. It's ¥35,000 which is £220 at today's exchange rate. The duty payment was another £60. So, not by any means a cheap option. But cheaper than a DPA say.

There are dozens of reasonable used basses on ebay at the moment. The 'don't buy new' adage is spot on. I bought new twice, and each time it took me at least 18 months of hard playing to get the wood to open up. With a used bass someone has done at least some of that work for you. Also, an average bass that has been played a lot, with really good strings and a luthier set-up, is going to work much better for you than a new bass, with factory strings and factory set-up.

Ha ha. I don't think I'm nuts. Would love to hear your thoughts though

Yes, it certainly is. If it's a high value instrument then get a luthier on the case. My first bass wasn't expensive, and still isn't. And I think that J-Tone was my first pick-up too. I used a very small file and some sand paper to enlarge the bridge wing. The sound of those J-Tones (and probably all piezo's) is very dependent on the tightness of the fit. Too tight and they tend to be a bit bright, and lacking in tone. Too loose and they're a bit quiet. So it will require a bit of trial and error.

Same here. I got an Eastman for jazz and swing. It's a lovely, warm instrument and Neil Heppleston set it up with a lovely action for me. But the difference in the string length between the 2 basses means my intonation is screwed when I switch between them.

Agree with Nick D. Superglue is the answer. Tape is fine but it's very difficult to feel the strings through it, so it affects your technique. Superglue, maybe a few coats, and you can still feel the sensation of the strings through your fingertips.

I've got a Zeller. A tiny 1/4 scale one, just for a laugh. It's fully carved. It sounds like yours is too. So not a hybrid. It has takes a lot of playing to wake up the tone though.

Hi Does anyone own a 3/4 1950 Stentor, and can they tell me if it has an Eb or D neck? I currently have an Eb for rockabilly and a D for jazz and swing. And frankly it's doing my head in.

Has anyone tried one of these? Or better still does anyone own one. The sound, from Yamaha's own marketing video, is extraordinary. But the price makes it difficult to justify taking a punt on one, and I can't find a dealer who will demo one for me. I was wondering if anyone had any first hand experience of this new version?

Eastman hybrid, as someone has said. And be prepared to get the sound post tweaked and to play the living hell out of it every day for 6 months to 'wake up' the top. Once you've done that they're lovely basses. Comfortable to play, robust and project well. If you can get hold of an ex-demo or used one then the playing-in will have been done for you already.

It's a bit of a feedback hazard in my experience.

Thanks for all this advice. It's very interesting. Yes I first started playing as a kid about 40 years ago, but have mostly played jazz and swing, and I hardly played at all for many years. The cramps have only really started in the last 5 or so years, since I started doing Rockabily. String tension is very low as I'm on gut D, G and wrapped synthetic E, A. But the action is quite high, much higher that one jaxx set-up bass. If I'm slapping them I tend to get entangled in the strings if the action is too low Also as a jazz player, I have found the technique pretty unnatural. I like it, but haven't found it that easy. Maybe I should look at my action in a bit more detail. Thanks again.

Thanks very much, it looks interesting. My warm-up usually involves just playing. I'll give this a try.

Does anyone have a remedy for hand cramps? I used to sometimes get cramps after a gig, but it's been getting steadily worse over the last couple of years. It's now at the stage where I can't make it through a set of more than about an hour and a half without a hand spasm that stops me playing. I've tried regulating my salt intake, taking potassium supplements, drinking more water (even when playing a beer festival FFS!) I need a fix or I may just have to stop playing - or worse I may even have to swap to bass guitar.

But they need to be played-in. Give them a good bit of abusive bowing for a week or so.

Absolutely brilliant strings. Got an A and E on my slapper, with natural gut D and G. Got a full set of synthetic EP slaps on my jazz bass and they sound warm and beautiful. At £200 from String Zone they are an incredible bargain and they will last you.

Thanks for the responses. I'm very happy with EP slaps on E and A, but you know. Always wondering if there's something better out there.

Hi. Has anyone tried Oliv E and A for slap bass? I'm sure someone has. I'm using EP slaps at the mo, and getting a good click from them, but they don't quite match the tone and volume of the natural guts I've got on D,G. But I've heard that Olivs are a bit fragile. And they aren't exactly a bargain either.

Superglue! Works every time. Recommended by my guitarist friend who is also a GP. Apparently its very commonly used in surgical procedures now. Or at least an expensive medical version probably. But I'm talking about Superglue from a corner shop. Get it on your fingertips and let it set. You might want to do a couple of coats. It affects your piz tone somewhat. Makes it slightly more clicky, but you gain a bit in volume too. You'll probably need to re-do it a few times, maybe between sets. I played 24 hours of upright bass over a 3 day weekend, by being greedy and over-committing myself. Superglue got me through it.