fatback

Thanks for the review. Sounds tasty.

Haven't had GAS for ages, and now you've gone and done it. I don't even need the thing as I've a two channel doubler, but this gizmo looks so neat. Any idea about pricing?

I'm wondering whether you might not try a decent preamp first. Notch filter rather than crude EQ, HP Filter and polarity switch. Some combination of these might help fix the feed back problem. Raising up the cab a foot or so can help too. Just a thought. PS Someone helpful on here years ago suggested I use a notch filter to test the bass to identify its bad frequencies for feedback and I've stuck with that setting ever since without a problem.

Why not both? Belt n braces.

First question should be, how many flights of stairs in your life? If any at all, choose separates. If lots, and you can stretch the funds, go lightweight-ish cab. Doesn't matter how young and fit you are. Pain is the same at any age.

I've experimented a lot with this, trying to avoid feedback from the double bass. Lifting the BF Midget to chest height on a keyboard stand lost a lot of low end oomph. To compensate I found myself cranking up the volume to the point of distortion. Incidentally, the keyboard stand was perfectly stable, although i did use a bungee to secure it and the amp, just in case. The problem was certainly caused by the loss of boundary reinforcement. If i was going through the PA for FOH and just using the cab to monitor, the result was acceptable, but not for full blast backline. The alternatives of tilting the cab up with wedges of sound insulating foam or raising it less than two foot on a low table or stool, worked well. No noticeable loss of volume or tone.

Worms, can of. I get the impression on here that the Full Circle produces good results with a wide variety of basses. Worked well for me, and I'd tried a few pups with poor results..

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1432638249' post='2783390'] I've not looked into Rabbath much - is that the method where you use all four fingers pivoting around the thumb? I think that the Simandl style 1-2-4 fingerings are so ingrained into my playing that it would almost like re-learning the instrument. [/quote] Yes, you pivot round the thumb, but you only use three thumb placements (I use four cos of small hands). You don't actually use all four fingers though, as the third always supports the pinkie. I was lucky in that when I started, and Simandl was driving me crazy, I stumbled on to Rabbath via this: [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54pMdTCmo8g"]https://www.youtube....h?v=54pMdTCmo8g[/url] It's amazing how intonation just ceases being a problem (as long as you're absolutely rigid about hitting the thumb positions - if you get sloppy with that it's no use.

Using a tuner clipped to the bridge did wonders for me. I used it only as a reference to spot check and find I hardly need it at all now. The point about just intonation and all that is important, but maybe not so much when all you're trying to do is get the basics right. I always say this, and I'm sure y'all yawn, but check out Rabbath's method. Intonation becomes a dream because there's so little arm shifting going on. And instead of learning by marking 'frets' you can learn by marking the thumb positions and practice those three (or four) shifts. If it works for me, it'll work for anybody.

All the above, plus if boom is an additional problem try some some sound insulating foam under the cab? I sometimes use a couple of wedges of the stuff. They help to point the cab up a bit too.

[quote name='lowlandtrees' timestamp='1431781496' post='2774934'] Been playing for 2 years and definitely wish that I had had some lessons but no one around here. Geoff Chalmers was a saviour. I have just started basic arco techniques (bowing) and have realised that I should have done this right at the beginning. It has taught me so much about left hand positioning, posture and tuning which can immediately be used in plucking. Not to mention the head turning sound that is produced. I have a quarter size DB...which I always wanted but sort of wished that I had bought the real thing. There are advantages in the small bodied......it is quiet so I can play for hours on end using headphones...transportation is easy....storage is a dream..... I still don't know how to go about getting the real thing though. [/quote] Tutors in Edinburgh or Glasgow? I had my first lesson (I had'nt even held one at that point, never mind bought one) in Edinburgh and I know there are a couple of peeps there. I won't pass on the name because it was a good few years ago and I don't know if the guy is teaching now. I'm sure someone on here can point you in the right direction. A teacher can help you buy as well.

[quote name='TheRev' timestamp='1431469529' post='2771791'] Have you looked into the BigE/Michael Arnapol Soundworks cabs? The MAS45 is a 4x5" cab voiced for double bass but the MAS46 (4X6") is designed for players who double on upright and electric bass. I had similar issues with my double bass sound, (but with my, otherwise amazing Bill Fitzmaurice Omni10.5 cab) and extensive research on the various bass forums led me to the MAS45 cab. I've had it about 2 years now and still very happy with it. [/quote] I wouldn't conclude too quickly that the Midget is the problem. Yes it's a little middy, but that's easily tamed with a small EQ adjustment. Do you raise the cab up much off the floor? The mids do get out of control then, I've found. I don;t know what the effect of the teweeter would be, but presumably you can switch that off anyhow. A bit baffling this.

[quote name='sarah thomas' timestamp='1431500256' post='2771866'] You could take a couple of lessons with a double bass tutor - look for one who plays the type of music you're interested in. That way, you can get safely addicted, get some valuable advice, and have someone to take with you when you go to buy one of your own. If you tell us your location, you may have a friendly bcer nearby who would give you a few pointers. [/quote] << Definitely this.

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1429792003' post='2754996'] I'm also still not sold on the bass as asolo instrument even now. But then you start getting into the 'what actually is a bass' thing. 30-40 years ago it was still pretty easy to define but now with all the 'extended' instruments the water is muddier. I'd still argue that if someone's got a 'bass' with enough strings on it so that they are playing what are effectively guitar strings in a way that is more similar to what a guitar player does then they are in fact playing a guitar solo. It's all clearly subjective though. [/quote] Good point. The register is what matters imo. Even in the upper reaches, bass isn't quite in the frequencies of the human voice, and I think that's where solos need to be for psychological reasons.

That's the best explanation yet to me of why most bass soloing is horrible. Also, why it seems (imo) that the most successful solos are more melodic than rhythnic. The melody carries better without backing. Basically though, I think it should stop.

Just got back to playing electric fretless for a little recording after more or less abandoning guitar in favour of upright for the last five years. What a pleasure! I'd forgotten how effortless it can be. Had lots of fun grunging up the sound with valve too, getting away from the usual. Great effect. Mwah with grunt. Oh go for it. I find frets feel just plain nasty. The only thing the've got going for them imo is that it's easier to leap about playing fretted. Anyone remember the way Mick Karn used to slide about like he was on rails? Only way of playing a fretless in tune while moving, I reckon. As for lines, you'll be glad you have them when you have to record and there's no time for messing up on intonation. Get one! Get two!

[quote name='philparker' timestamp='1428149591' post='2738494'] I think you've already made the correct decision by going to an established Luthier and going to see a recommended tutor! [/quote] This. You'll be overjoyed at what a good luthier can achieve. He'll move the soundpost probably and all kinds of other stuff. Then you'll be able to think about strings. Good to see another db-er from norn iron here. Not many about.

[quote name='odysseus' timestamp='1427835537' post='2734938'] Do you reckon the Dalai Lama was more of a Trace Elliot or Ampeg man? Shame Barefaced weren't around then. They would have knocked up a couple of righteous cabs for him. [/quote] Goes with the virtue of humility though doesn't it? We bassists are a modest lot. PS wonder what the DL was doing buying basses at auctions Essex. Or is it that sub-editors ain't what they used to be?

Now there's good company... [url="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/luxury/art/66225/art-sales-tales-of-a-sheikh%E2%80%99s-tastemaker.html"]http://www.telegraph...tastemaker.html[/url] "Among the many exotic string instruments (Hoare plays the guitar) is the 13th Dalai Lama’s double bass in its original, elaborately decorated case, which he bought at an auction in Essex."

[quote name='Jhowhdheyieh' timestamp='1427664822' post='2732897'] I got the full circle and wasn't too impressed, it was pretty nasal and took a lot of eqing to get a good sound. Then I tried the yamaha pickup with my Fdeck pre, sounds pretty darn good, probably should have thought of that before i spent a fortune on a pickup! Thank god for Thomann returns policies... [/quote] Did you try rotating the pup a few degrees either way? Can make a big difference.

I wonder how much of this applies to basses? http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/02/15/violin_acoustics_f_holes_mit/ Seems the thickness of the backplate is hugely important too. Haven't heard anybody mention that with basses. Any knowledgeable builders care to comment?

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1427449458' post='2730426'] Mindfullness is marmite. It was rolled out locally as a training event and some think it is the answer to everything whilst others think it is a load of old b*ll*cks. Bit like rap I guess. [/quote] Check the article above. Biology, not marmite. But mindfulness is a lot simpler, it seems, than the baloney that some people surround it with. And like most technical exercises it can be done well or badly, i guess. Very effective against chronic anxiety, the evidence seem to say. Then again, so is playing the double bass. Or maybe that just collects all your anxieties into one easily managed package.

For anyone interested in what might be going on in the brain with this mindfulness business: [url="http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2014/06/12/what-does-mindfulness-meditation-do-to-your-brain/"]http://blogs.scienti...-to-your-brain/[/url] Been telling myself for ages to take it up. Just what I need.

Totally agree with this. It's going to take me so long to learn to play this thing that I need some seriously extended life span. Can I add Ginseng and hormones stolen from a spring lamb? And all this effort could have been avoided if I'd started at two years of age.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1421665602' post='2663664'] But without Amazon, iTunes for your digital tracks etc. you are stuck in an indie ghetto. The people you want to reach if you aspire to sell if any meaningful quantities will only buy from the big well-known digital distributors. [/quote] That's a choice you should be able to make on marketing grounds rather than being forced into it. In the book busness, many writers and small publishers are selling direct because of Amazon's supermarket-like pricing and promotions policies. They're on the way to becoming a monopoly for ebooks for example. One more disincentive for anybody to bother running a business. Don't you just love the EU?