hubrad

Speaking as a fretless player myself, that video perfectly encapsulates why some folks actively dislike fretless bass! Decent tone, mind you.

You can try the bridge part of things by putting a sliver of card under the E foot, folded if you need extra height. If it works well you could replace it with a sliver of maple or similar, or leave it for a few years as 'temporary'! (Never done that myself, oh no, never guv!) A higher tension E will rattle less. Some folks mix sets to get their desired result.

Haha, prior form! We were both regulars at the same folk club, and he did say judging by my guitar playing I'd be fine. I took it as a compliment!

Sounds pretty normal.. part exchange is convenient, but then the shop has to take on all the risk and work of selling your gear, usually with some warranty and involving covering some VAT. For the best deal, sell privately and offer cash/debit card. When I worked in a shop i always advised such, although some folks were happy or desperate enough (you're not coming home with another guitar!) to take the hit. Plan C. . Get a part exchange value, pay cash for the new item but take your gear home and do a mate a nice favour!

Danny Thompson and Dave Pegg for the obvious reasons. A chap who lived locally called Mic Hale, who rang up one evening and asked me to play bass in his ceilidh band for a one off, when I'd never actually played bass before . . 'I can lend you a bass'.

IIRC it was a couple of violin specialists, one of whom was quite sceptical about the price tags put on some instruments! Yes, I suppose once you're getting into mega price tags the game is different, but I was given that advice as rule of thumb at 'mere mortal' levels and in order to be getting the best out of each of them.

I remember it being said some while ago that the ideal balance of bow to bass is the bow should be worth about 1/3 - 1/2 the value of the bass. If, as it sounds, you're just after something for experimentation and practice then grab whatever you can afford and feels ok!

When I've had such a breakage in the past I've just bypassed the clip and tied the strap to the d-ring using some sturdy cord, e.g. 3 or 4mm climbing cord. No more problem! I know Hiscox Cases sell a strap of good heavy-duty nylon with screwgate steel ends.

I spoke to a French DB player who lived in Leeds quite some years back, and he didn't like the Realist (I love mine, and have for a long time.) as he said it was so natural that on his 'dark sounding' bass it was just too dark! Of all the transducer pickups I've tried so far, I really like that natural-as-possible vibe. It probably does, as he said, depend on your bass. I sometimes drop the bottom end a wee bit, but mostly just set everything flat. Even though DG recommend putting the pickup under the bass foot, on my first bass - Andreas Zeller Romanian 3/4 - a friend who's a violin specialist luthier said DBs need all the help they can get so, while sorting me a new bridge and soundpost, put the Realist under the treble foot. Sounded every bit as good, with possible a little more articulation.. it was 15 or so years ago!

That's why I have so much stuff.. so I can sound MORE! Some of the stuff is in very nice colours..

I have more than one email address for particular purposes, but a second BC profile? I'd be on here for twice the time!

Are the Bottesini studies from his double bass method? I was put on that when learning DB under an orchestral teacher, and they're mostly really good tunes in their own right, usually with some identifiable direction re technique.

Yup, it's the bg I have in one of mine.

The active preamp doesn't take its power from the gk, but there's a switch on the board which you can use so that powering up the gk also makes the necessary contact to switch on the active. When not using the gk, the active is switched as usual, ie the jack.

Great idea.. I bet Total Eclipse Of The Heart never sounded so good!

I left a band a while back.. didn't really want to stop playing the music, and got on really well with the folks, but was too busy with the first priority and hated the occasional need to let them down. I had a few conversations with the BL, saying if he found a regular bassist I'd happily be on his dep roster. Months down the line he contacted me later on a Friday night asking if I really meant it.. 'grab him' says I. Everyone is happy and still on fine terms, in fact I ended up depping for the new guy on his first gig! I suppose if you never intend seeing the folks again you could play it differently, but as said above a burned bridge might turn out to have teeth with which to come back and bite you! In fact, same band, a previous bassist had just not got on with the BL, but rather than being the grownup and saying 'look, guys, it's just not working for me' he emailed the rest of the band, telling them what a dangerous nutter said BL was. Obviously he'd missed the fact they were all best mates and they just showed him the emails! 😄

A mahoosive +1 to that!

I use a charity shop golf club bag for all manner of stands, cables and accessories. One of those brilliant chance scores!

I just bought a nice strap from Iain.. The strap was in tip-top condition, and all arrangements went smoothly. Excellent comms. Many thanks!

The logo does look the same as my early 90s USA Peavey Predator. If it's that generation it's good gear, but the price seems rather steep.

Excellent! I'll be following this to see what you think.

MXR Phase 90.. one knob, sounds great! Some folks particularly rate one of the versions, but I think I have an 'ordinary' one.