fatback

Smiling and looking uber-confident when things are falling apart. plus, there's a drummer in every workplace.

[quote name='bassace' timestamp='1330075323' post='1552211'] I've just picked up this great piece by Ray Brown. Just look what he's done to the table (top) just under the E string! Hope the link works. [/quote] Wow, he's wearing a hole in it. Great vid. Ray Brown is #1 for me.

You've made the right decision, no doubt about it. On the practicalities, you'll find lots of info on here about what kinds of bass to get, but in general people mostly agree that: 1. 3/4 is the standard size. All-ply basses are fine, especially if not too new and mostly to be played amplified. A ply bass with a solid top is a little better. Again, an older one is likely to be a bit better than a new one, all else being equal. 2. Do NOT get an 'ebonised' fingerboard. It must be 'ebony'. 'Ebonised' is a painted softwood. Other kinds of board can be ok, but are less usual. 3. Second-hand basses can be great value, and if you buy off an experienced player on here you won't go far wrong. 4. Whether you buy new or old, you'll need to put maybe £200 aside for a luthier setup and (especially with new basses) maybe better strings. 5. If you're going to gig it, you'll need some kind of piezzo pickup. Lots of opinions and advice on here. Bassmax (around £70) is popular atm. Depending on your amp, you may need a preamp (£70-200). 6. You'll need a soft case. Getting one thrown in with the purchase will save you over £100. Can't think of anything else, except to say that you will very quickly fall in love with whatever bass you do get. On the learning front, +1 to getting a teacher for even a single lesson before you even touch your bass. I got a lesson before I even bought one, and I'm glad I did. I disagree with many here, in that I would recommend NOT starting with the bow. It's too much to master along with everything else in one go. You'll learn fastest and with least frustration by taking it one element at a time. I decided to postpone the bow for a year, and since I have started it i've been able to get along ok. At the beginning, it was a massive burden on top of everything else and was delaying my ability to get gigging (hugely important to get there as fast as you can). It's more important to get reading than bowing, i think. On the principle of breaking down the problems, I spent over a month working only on the right hand and open strings. Rufus Reid's book, the evolving bassist starts that way. You get your calouses and get reading while you're at it. Ed Friedland's jazz bass DVD is excellent to go along with this, as he shows right hand techniques really well. As for the left hand, I'm not going to say much. If you've been playing electric with a one-finger-per-fret technique, you'll probably find the dreaded Simandl double bass method horrible. There are alternatives, but maybe that's for another day. As i said, you've made the right decision. You'll have many days of despair and frustration (and pain), but it'll repay you a million times. And as said above, you'll find your bass guitar playing advancing by leaps and bounds without you even having to touch the thing.

[quote name='TheRev' timestamp='1329991908' post='1550823'] I have a crappy canvas/vinyl bag... but it does have some Glastonbury mud on it. Tres mojo! I'm considering getting a decent padded gig bag, but I wonder if they take up as much space as a hard case? My gig bag folds up and goes under the chair in my bass room - I can't see a heavy duty padded gig bag foldin up very much. If I had enough room for a double bass sized case, then I would have enough room for another double bass....so I'd get another double bass! [/quote] Even the soft cases are a pest to store. They seem to have minds of their own, so when you fold them up they unravel themselves over 10 minutes with lots of shooshing, creaking noises that make you jump. Under the bed is good (once they've quietened down). I'm going to try hanging mine on a wall.

I suppose you could keep children or pets in it?

Makes me dizzy I see a problem with these mini amps though. They're so small and light you have to put them in a big heavy case so a/ you can put knobs on and b/ they won't blow away.

[quote name='tinyd' timestamp='1329868446' post='1549019'] I did the latter, and I don't regret it - I was lucky and got a decent mid-range Shen for a lot less than the Thomann basses I was going to buy. I'd recommend looking for something used for a few months if you can stand to wait. [/quote] +1 Great value to be had if you're willing to wait and/or travel.

XLR to the desk, not sure which of the others would be best for your amp. You're safe trying both though, just keep the input levels down on the amp to start with.

[quote name='Mr Bassman' timestamp='1329843411' post='1548367'] Cheers Neil, it's a bit sore but I'll give it a go. Might have to switch to fender or ask someone in the audience to sit in. Attached are pics of work in progress and the finished bridge. [/quote] Superglue! Really, it works.

Should be fine with those subs. I guess you could send to the desk pre-eq (I think the Fishman has a switch?) and then roll off some bottom there, as advised above. You can choose to go into your gk preamp and eq that, or into the effects return and eq on the Fishman.

Ooh, lovely colour . Congrats. Have fun!

I reckon having a luthier you can trust is such a big part of the whole db thing, you'll be happy having spent the cash in the end. Honest. Maybe try someone recommended on here?

Exactly that used to drive me crazy. Best tips on right hand technique for me were in Ed Friedland's Jazz Upright DVD, He advocates using the knuckle, virtually no finger tip at all, on the E string, and a twist of the wrist. Works very well and gives a nice fat sound. Try and get hold of the Friedland; it's excellent.

Very helpful thread, thanks. There's just so much out there.

I thought the big thing was they could withstand the electromagnetic pulse from a nuclear detonation. I mean, otherwise we'd have to stop playing like the time the singer fell and broke his arm, a disaster, right?

Good advice. I know that ball and chain feeling.

Dashing down the motorway with my gear to a pub near where I usually stay to get in a drink while the rest of the (non-driving) band sits back in the venue getting happily pissed. Welcome to the world of upright bass. Dorothy Sayers said somewhere ''like a double bass player, permanently encumbered with luggage.

[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1329303083' post='1540185'] Probably best to go from the pre-amp so you can tweak your amp to suit you and not have to worry about it affecting PA feed... [/quote] Unless the DI out on your amp is pre-eq, which i think they most often are, but you'd need to check.

I go through a plain vanilla Midget, rarely through a PA. The midget on a stand is great for when there is a PA, but loses too much low mid if it's raised high and has to fill a space. On the floor, it's mighty loud and my bass sounds just great through it. It seems to put out pretty much waht you put in, as does the EA Doubler I use with it. I would think that the 2X12 would be feedback hell if you used a fraction of the volume you could get, unless you use a mag pickup. Much more to carry too. The Midget T is a bit pricier than the standard, so you might want to think whether it's worth it to you, but there's certainly lots of love around here for it.

Wow, that brings back memories. I can even still tell my plinn from my dro. Amazing instrumnents to hear outdoors. Carries for miles and miles. Is that you on binou?

I definitely have the wrist sorted out for pizz, Sarah. But if I keep the same height and drop the right shoulder for arco, the wrist angle changes, and that's what I don't like. The Sheehan trick makes sense. I guess the equivelant would be to change the pin height so arco involves no bending. I've only had one lesson (for distance reasons) and my teacher had me set the bass quite a bit higher than I have it now, but that was for arco only. I think I need different arms. Who does cheap ones?

+1 for Golllihur's. Got mine from them and it's excellent.

Point taken. Matter of fact, i used to play the bombarde. A sort of bagpipe in which you're the bag. Guaranteed apoplexy. i fully appreciated the bag in bagpipe after that.

I have the nut at eyebrow height, but I'm guessing that arm length is going to be a hugely important factor in standing arco. Part of trouble may be that i'm absolutely paranoid about straight left wrist having had bad rsi from keyboards for years, and unless a thing is comfortable I won't do it.