TheRev

I'm firmly in the 'lots of small drivers' camp for double bass.  I use  MAS cabs (4x5"), which are expensive and hard to come by these days. I didn't particularly like PJB cabs when I tried them, but plenty of DB players do.

I did like the Barefaced One10 - if I was buying again (and MAS wasn't an option) then a couple of One10s would be on my list. But, the one cab I really, really liked was the LFSys Monaco 12" cab, made by @stevie (

https://www.lfsys.co.uk/bassguitarproducts) - super clean, clear and loud. If I had to find a replacement for my MAS cabs, that's what I'd go for.

Hi all.

I'll post this here and on the RIP Norm thread:

Simon's funeral will be at 15:20 on 29th March at Yeovil Crematorium, Dress comfortably, though Si did appreciate a loud shirt! 

Reception afterwards at Yeovil town FC

Dave

We use Cram Duplication. Very happy with them.

https://www.cramduplication.co.uk/

I bought both my basses via Ebay, but mainly because there wasn't anything local available on Basschat.   I'd have much rather bought on here if it had been an option.

The only shops that I've ever seen a double bass for sale in Bristol was in Cremona House on Park Row and Hobgoblin Music on Park street, and that was 5 years ago at least.

Here's another nice photo of Si/Norm, taken when our bands were on tour together last year.

4 hours ago, sykilz said:

 

Wow, didn't know there was anything above the venue ( I'm from out of town and it was dark😆😆😆), hope your gig went well

It was great, we've played at The Grace and The Garage on a number of occasions and it's always been a good night.

4 hours ago, sykilz said:

Kris Barras band at Highbury Garage last night, great performance from the band, and the sound was one of the best hard rock mixes I've ever heard, everything was very tight, punchy and powerful, just how I like it. The bass player played a Dingwall ( I think) 6 string, and it was so clear and punchy, with no bloat at all, I couldn't see an amp on his side of the stage so not sure if he went straight to PA...???

 

 

 

 

 

I was playing in The Grace upstairs at the same time. Heard their soundcheck as we were loading in and the Dingwall was indeed a monstrous sounding thing.

On 25/02/2023 at 09:56, sprocketflup said:

Went to see the Skimmity Hitchers last night, hadn't twigged who'd be on bass duties, of course its @TheRev's band innit.

 

Cracking night, cider and jokes flowing nicely, and grooving tunes a-plenty. Really enjoyed it, and as a little bonus, even my home town had the p%ss took out of it, along with just about everywhere/everyone else
 

Excellent sweaty fun, get along and see them if you can

Churrz mate, it was great to see you there!

And it was very, very sweaty!

There's a pretty vibrant & supportive network of original bands, venues and grassroots festivals in the south west, but as has been pointed out, you will need to be prepared to travel a bit. 

In the 100s of gigs I've done with my double bass, the worst things that have happened were a paralytic bloke tripping over the edge of the stage and knocking it off it's stand onto the floor (no damage) and two stage invasions at the end of the set where my bridge got knocked over and even then, only one of those occasions resulted in the soundpost falling out of place and a subsequent visit to a luthier.

I can't see either of those situations arising with a swing band, so I reckon your bass is safe.

I do however, always carefully assess where I put my bass back stage or on stage, whether on a stand or on it's side, and make sure it's as out of the way of stage crew &  other band members as possible. 

That's not to say that Jayne (my bass) hasn't collected a few nicks and dents in the 10+ years we've been together, and I've twatted the scroll against door frames and low ceilings more times than I can remember, but so far nothing has actually broken off.  

Have you tried Devon Strings Workshop in Exeter? They don't specifically mention double bass setups, but they do everything else.

7 hours ago, knirirr said:

This reminds me that at some point in the 90s there was an "April fool" article in a bass magazine about an electric tea chest bass supposedly about to be released. This was a Trace Elliot BLX combo with a carbon fibre broom handle on the top (complete with LED position markers IIRC) and a kevlar string. If anyone ever comes across a copy that would be amusing to see again.

I remember that article - it also had a wing mirror mounted on the side so you could watch the drummer for cues.

46 minutes ago, Burns-bass said:

That’s tragic. I’ve seen RS numerous times and I love them. 

I missed them first time around in the mid-late 90s but was very pleased when they played at the Jam Jar in Bristol last year.  Ali Friend is a massive influence on my playing, both for Red Snapper and Clayhill.

I'm actually surprised that anyone could be arsed to steal a double bass - not really the sort of thing you can leg it down the street with.

The Red Snapper Facebook page has a post regarding the theft of Ali's bass from Hackney on 29th January

https://www.facebook.com/redsnapperofficialpage/

Anyone familiar with Red Snapper will know that Ali and his bass are total legends, so keep an eye/ear out out for this being offered for sale.

19 hours ago, Mudpup said:

At least you still have a chance of snagging a ZZB if you keep your eyes open...

True.  Plus Kate hasn't got back to me yet, so technically both options are still open.

3 hours ago, Paddy Morris said:

Thanks for that.  I bought one and will try it out.

 

I also ordered some open cell rubber foam and I'm going to try and replicate some F-Its for my carved bass.   I would love to get Bob to make them, he does such a beautiful job.  But his website has been taken down and his FB page seems to be inactive.   I'm sure he has good reasons.

He retired - I had a set made just before he closed up shop.   I think he once posted his manufacturing process on here, years ago. if that could be found it would be an amazing resource.

On 21/01/2023 at 10:48, Mudpup said:

And i always wanted one of these back in the day. It's an Aria ZZB which they also did in a blue sunburst or 50/50 black white graphic. I wasn't brave enough though and ended up with a safe looking Aria RSB Deluxe 2 instead...

 

 

When I was 15, I used to dream of having a ZZB, almost as much as I dreamt about having Kate Bush, and I did that a lot. 

I'd suggest Spirocore Weich. Bright & punchy, perfect for mumbling laminates.

If you can't get on with the tension, you'll easily be able to sell them on and try a set of Perpetuals. Perps are as bright as spiros but without the nasal G and feel a bit softer under the left hand. IME, obvs.

My laminate suffers from a bit of wooliness on the E so I have Perpetual G&A and a Spiro Weich E.

Another option would be Spiro Weich solos tuned to orchestra pitch. Tension would be super low but you'd also lose some definition in the process.

Superflexibles are warmer/less bright than spirocores. If you like an old school sound or have a bright bass that needs the top end taming, they can be a great alternative to Spirocores.

I use a Behringer Uphoria UM2 interface (£50 on Thomann) and Audacity.  The UM2 will work on it's own as an audio monitor to paly along with audio files if you're not recording. 

We're playing in a hotel on Portland in Dorset. The audience will be a mix of locals plus die hard regulars who have booked a room for the night, so it's going to be late and messy, which is just how we like it.

You started mixing sets yet? That's when it gets really interesting.

Unless you know exactly which effects you want (delay/echo/chorus/eq etc) then it could be helpful to get one of the cheap Zoom multi fx pedals and experiment untill you work what sound you want.

The separate outs for bridge and click/fingerboard pickups are so the individual signals from each pickup can be sent to different amps or inputs on the mixing desk.

I'm not familiar with the Shadow preamp, but the K&K one I had would send a blend of both pickups from the bridge output if the fingerboard output didn't have a cable plugged into it.

Maybe the shadow does the same.