Paul Galbraith

Just discovered a crack on the rib of my double bass - gutted I'm in Leeds... have previously used Laurence Dixon as a luthier who is great (but is in London). Can anyone recommend a good luthier in Yorkshire ? I've found [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]www.KoplinViolins.co.uk on this thread in York... also [/font][/color]www.ViolinMan.co.uk in Harrogate. I frequent Harrogate, so tempted to give that chap a go... Cheers

I feel really lucky to have had an amazing & unique experience that introduced me to bass I was having tuba & guitar lessons at school - but I wasn't practising much & a bit frustrated with my lessons... I knew I wanted to play music - but something wasn't right, hence I wasn't practising much... Then when I was 13 there was a school concert. A guy two years older than me walks on stage & does an arrangement of 'Killing me softly + Portrait of Tracy' on his Aria Pro II bass with a Trace Elliot cab... the sound was awesome & I felt like I was struck by lightning... at that moment I quit playing guitar / tuba & when I got home I told my Mum I wanted to be a bass player. I got a bass about 7 months afterwards for my 14th birthday & that was it, I was obsessed... the anticipation of waiting to get my own bass was torture, all I could think about was that incredible sound that caused the snare drum to rattle - teachers were telling me off because I'd lost focus & I was telling them it was because I had a sound in my head that I needed to explore... I used to skip classes & sneak off to the music room to spend some time with the double bass. My persuit of bass took me to Leeds College of Music to study Jazz at degree level and introduced me to wonderful network of musical people ... & the guy I heard when I was a kid - his name was Phil Donkin... he's turned out to be a 'world class' jazz double bassist Check him out on Google. I didn't know this until a few years ago when I stumbled across him by chance while researching new listening material. On Friday 13th March he was finishing his new album release ( [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQsEQAAvjO4"]https://www.youtube....h?v=EQsEQAAvjO4[/url] ) tour in Wakefield & I thought I would pop along to check it out... it had been 20 years since I'd seen him play live & I made the decision to become a bassist myself, pivoting my life in a new direction - the cool thing was I could understand his music & appreciate it as a jazz musician. I also thought to myself - damn I made the right choice !! Two days ago I had the chance to re-visit that magical childhood moment with the guy who introduced bass to me, which sent me down the path to becoming a jazz musician. Not many people get a second chance to re-visit such an influencing turning point in their own personal destiny which shapes such a major part of their life. Here's a great solo of Phil's I found : [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaGlRefjjcM&index=2&list=PLto0sYfMbtvKExMWTJAJCMpBPIMIazupr"]https://www.youtube....AJCMpBPIMIazupr[/url] * Unfortunately life threw me a curve ball (tendonitis) which completely knocked my bass / music career off track with a very long time out & it ruined my chances of becoming a full time pro jazz musician - however 'the day job' (self-employed business) gives me a lot more financial stability than the majority of my full time musician friends... so I suppose I'm lucky this accident happened while I was still young enough to have the time to re-think & re-adapt my career path. These days I'm back in the game playing playing in a jazz big band & making life bassy when I get the opportunity.

I've been thinking about getting a Dual Mono case for a while... as I've found it's worth taking a back up bass for some rehearsals / gigs... am not a gear junky in live situations, in fact I hate lugging about more gear than necessary One thing I am curious about that you current Mono users could tell me about is : when the case is strapped on your back, does the bass neck stick up about 2-3ft about head head (assuming your somewhere between 5ft 7" - 6ft tall)... so if you don't pay enough attention when walking under a door you risk the neck hitting the top of the door frame ? It's so annoying to have to take your bass off / or duck when you need to go through a door way, but then again I can see why cases are designed like this for distributing the weight across your body. Was considering a GruvGear Gig Blade which solves this problem : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO_35s1wjRc , this is how most low end saxophone players carry their horn. PS : Some Mono discussion here comparing Mono & Gig Blade : http://www.talkbass.com/threads/gig-blade-v-s-mono-vertigo-v-s-m80.1113658/

Got an OverWater Progress 6 string fretless that cost over £2.3k - thought I would be a 'big boy' & get thru-neck, without fretlines as I was doing a jazz degree at Leeds College of Music... Hmmm... 6 String fretless, with no fretlines = dumb idea !! I felt such a lack of confidence with it that it was a piece of wall furniture from 2005 until recently... still undergoing final works. * Fretline solution : After thinking 'it's time I tackle this' - got it sorted with fretlines earlier this year, but what a nightmare... As I got a thru-neck very few luthiers wanted to touch it as you can't just remove the neck & clamp it in a workbench. Solutions were (1) have someone cut fretlines by hand or (2) plane the fingerboard within a few mm of the body, then fit a new machine cut fingerboard with fretlines which is more accurate Got Chris May from OverWater to do option 2 which he suggested - was not cheap Found out recently 'The Bass Gallery' / Sei Basses would have done this quite a bit cheaper - but given nature of the job & general luthier's feedback, I thought best give it back to the guy who made it to sort out as I don't want it to go wrong. * Strings : As it was so expensive to replace fingerboard on a thru-neck, I was then worried about chewing up the fingerboard to the point of needing to replace it... after some research decided to put on D'Addario nickel half-wounds (half way to flatwounds) as they will grind the fingerboard less than standard nickel. I phoned D'Addario in the US for advice who recommended me : [url="http://www.daddario.com/DADProductDetail.Page?ActiveID=3769&productid=191&productname=ENR71_6_Half_Rounds_Bass__Regular_Light__30_130__Long_Scale"]http://www.daddario....130__Long_Scale[/url] (turns out their the same strings that John Patitucci uses on his 6 string electric - so if their good enough for him...). I thought 'great I'm sorted'... or maybe not !! Had to get a bass tech to file out part of the bridge for the low B string in order to make the string fit, as my OverWater bass bridge only takes tapered strings. Bass tech ([url="http://alpher.co.uk/"]http://alpher.co.uk/[/url]) did a great job & he's a wicked player as well, which helps when explaining player concerns. Finally I'm sorted... ? Nope I made a mistake... turns out I need the 'super long' scale length D'Addario strings with 38" taper (I did confirm string length in correspondence, but we both measured differently)... & D'Addario don't make 'super long, half-wounds' for 6 string, only a 5 string !! Short term solution was I could recycle all of my 'long scale strings' with 36" taper except the low B (as it tapered to the nut too early) & bought a single 'super long' low B from Strings Direct... long term solution : buy 5 string 'super long' set & buy the high C single 'super long'... fortunately I don't like changing strings much & the half-wounds give more bottom end which is what I want for playing walking bass lines. * Other tweaks : Sorted yet ? Nope !!! Action was a bit low, so having this tweaked as I type... also thought I'd get a ramp made (removable if required as secured with double sided tape) - thought I might as well get one as it's come this far !! * Lessons learnt - if getting a custom / high end bass made or buying second hand : 1. Thru-neck basses are meant to have great sustain, but certainly more problematic for long term maintenance - I feel like I'm stuck with one type of string that will work due to fingerboard damage fears, fortunately I get on with current strings (lucky I'm open minded to change - but still a bit frustrating). Would probably be less worried if it was not a fretless bass as the frets take the punishment. I'm now converted to bolt-on for fretless for future purchases... it worked for Jaco !! 2. Make sure the instrument can take un-tapered strings at the bridge... or get the instrument maker to make sure strings like this fit. This should just be standard practise 3. Consider not getting a 'super long' scale length (38" string taper) if you want a basic amount of string choice... 'long' scale length (36 1/4" string taper) may be enough to get a non-rattling low B string with good sustain. Janek Gwizdala's bass only has 33" scale & I believe he has a hipshot to drop his low E string to a B (Fodera can make anything possible ) [url="http://www.notreble.com/buzz/2012/04/25/fodera-announces-janek-gwizdala-signature-imperial-model-bass/"]http://www.notreble....ial-model-bass/[/url] . Have to admit I do like the super long scale of my OverWater though as it forces you to use 'double bass fingering' systems in the lower range, especially when it's got a 6 string surfboard neck - which is good if you play double bass as well / have intention to learn one day. When I get this bass back after action tweak - it's going to be my main bass as it feels great... it's just a shame it's been such a hassle & a dusty piece of wall furniture in the meantime I'm not much of a instrument tech guy / gear geek - I just pick up & play, but have had some positive education from this saga... PS : One thing I did while getting the bridge filed was fit a hipshot de-tuner on the high C string, so I can change between a high C (so bass is tuned in 4ths) or drop it a semi-tone to a B (so it matches guitar tuning system)... thought it would be good mental exercise to avoid 'pattern playing' & also for playing guitar lines... now I just need to figure out how to play fretless chords in tune like Steve Bailey & resist the urge to smash my instrument up like a rock-star

Hardcore earplugs for rhythm guitarist ? As well as the above drumming suggestions...

Interesting concept... here's a possible workable way to utilise both tunings ? : [url="http://store.hipshotproducts.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=373"]http://store.hipshot...ct_detail&p=373[/url] The video on the link at time 0:55 shows using this device to change from 4th's tuning to 5th's tuning. I've just bought one of these & www.LaurenceDixon.com is currently fitting one for me on the low E string so I don't have to get a C-Extension - I'm a jazz player & have been playing with a saxophone ensemble recently (27 piece band)... lot's of flat keys, so I need to play low Db's & Eb's. Have been sight reading these low notes with my 5 string electric bass as transposing them up an octave doesn't always work. Thought one of these devices would do the job in regards getting me to the low notes quickly when changing songs. After reading : [url="http://www.playthe5bass.com/strings/"]http://www.playthe5bass.com/strings/[/url] am thinking there could be an issue getting a nice string set-up that will work for changing between 4th's & 5th's tuning, especially if using a HipShot Xtender like in my first link ?

Alternative suggestion : I'm in the process of getting de-tuner : [url="http://store.hipshotproducts.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=373"]http://store.hipshot...ct_detail&p=373[/url] installed by www.LaurenceDixon.com (have commented about him on the sticky D B Luthiers thread). I'm the first ever customer he is installing one for & he's a busy 'Double Bass only' luthier... I have de-tuners on my electric basses & they work great. NOTE : The double bass string you are installing this on MUST have a ballend or it won't work properly... 'bullet style' end on Innovation strings is not compatible, but they can make you a custom ball end string upon request. I chose the de-tuner option because : I wasn't aware you could build a C-Extension until I read this thread tonight !! Ha Thinking positively though with the option I have chosen : * Sounds like there could be ongoing issues with a C-Extension according to BassAce... ? * The option I have chose will probably work out cheaper ? * Less risk of damaging the C-Extension when transporting / trying to fit it in a case. * It opens up a different way to looking at the low E string - adds a slight change to the bad habit of 'moveable pattern playing'. This additional thought process is compatible with playing electric bass as well & might even reinforce it more ? Downside is extra brain power is needed * It's portable to other instruments... unlike a C-Extension which will be shaped to a specific instrument only. & in terms of 'why am I bothering with this - is it really worth it for the low notes ?'... I am doing this out of necessity !! I play in a 27 piece jazz band there are 18 or 19 saxophones (it's a sax orchestra) - this means lot's of songs have been transposed to Sax friendly keys... that means lot's of flats. I've been given music to sightread with low Eb, Db & Cb's where playing up an octave doesn't sound right & have even been told off by the conductor for transposing up an octave the entire part or that one note (which does make it sound different). Current workaround for this is to use my 5 string electric bass with a low B - but conductor want's me on upright to get more of a jazz sound & I have to admit double bass does sound better for this group. Sight reading low Cb's is a scary moment where I remind myself it's just a B natural !! So yes dudi8 I think having access to the additional low notes below the open E string is a very useable thing in jazz - I am being 'forced' to play those notes by a jazz band conductor !! Not to mention you might be given a bass part to read which was originally written for piano / by a pianist, so there will be notes below the open E string... very good 'musical' reasons why a solution to the few extra low notes is important for a serious musician.

Update for the 1st post on this thread by Clarky... website details for Laurence Dixon in Clapham, London are as follows : www.LaurenceDixon.com * Cheers for the recommendation Clarky - I've taken my bass to Laurence & although he's not done yet, am very confident in his skills... his workshop is amazing One thing I would say about Laurence is : he's does Double Basses ONLY & plays bass... he's not a violin guy, taking on Double Bass work - I think it's important to mention he is a bass only expert... so he will probably have more knowledge than a violin technician who has double bass skills. Helped me think about a few things which a 'general orchestral stringed instrument' luthier might not have thought about or have as detailed knowledge of : it's like the playground fight of guitarists claiming they can play bass !! There are huge similarities - but also certain things that are very different... One thing I learnt after visiting Laurence is : it's certainly worth considering 'are they double bass exclusive?' when choosing a luthier UPDATE AFTER WORKS : Laurence did a cracking job & at a good rate considering he's based in central London - price was less painful than I expected. Highly recommended & he's a nice, straight forward guy to deal with.

Impressed at your knowledge BetaFunk I think your right about the bassist being 'ThunderCat'... when the track was playing the DJ said "Yeah... ThunderCat... Greg James on da bass" - so I was googling 'Greg James Bassist' - then I realised the DJ was called Greg James and it was his show the track was played on... he was doing the typical DJ thing of name dropping himself and trying to take credit for the track, lol Whether you like the track / solo or not, I think one important thing to note is : a commercial track with a solo / interlude like this was not only allowed and played on Radio 1, but has been released and approved by both the artist and the money driven record company. They could have easily said "Cut this bit - it sounds sh*t and doesn't feed consumer demand" or "Are you ok Mr. Artist - don't you realise bass solo's are completely forbidden and considered satanic by bass purists - you should have considered a guitar solo by Brian May from Queen which will help gain more publicity and earn us more dosh. Save us the cost of studio and sound engineer time required to do the w**ky bass solo section & scrap it"... but they didn't !! Given the 'style' of music - it's meant to be a bitch slap in yo face and not for the timid Like DanR said "[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif] [/font][/color][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][color=#282828]Pushes the boundaries a bit for chart stuff"... which I think is great - it's nice to see a small change in the world of money driven consumer / commercially driven music. Technology has replaced a lot of the requirement for skilled instrumentalists in chart music, found it refreshing to hear a skilled musician busting a few chops on a radio track [/color][/font]

Bass-a-holics, I was sitting in a car with one of my builders the other night about 7pm & suddenly heard a wicked bass solo on the radio - complete WTF moment, was desperate to listen to it again, my builder said it was Radio 1 we were listening to... So when I got home I jumped on the Radio 1 website, found the show listened to it & Shazam'ed the track ... listen to 3:15 onwards... : [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jltN3fLFmTQ"]https://www.youtube....h?v=jltN3fLFmTQ[/url] - [font=arial, sans-serif]Kendrick Lamar's new single called ' i '[/font] [b] * A radio play chart track with a bad boy bass solo - OMFG !!! [/b] Enjoy

Hope your good Daf I'm looking at buying one of these bad-boys for my upright : [url="http://www.gollihurmusic.com/product/2503-HIPSHOT_FREERANGE_XTENDER_UPRIGHT_BASS_STRING_DROP_TUNER.html"]http://www.gollihurm...DROP_TUNER.html[/url] - I've been doing a gig recently where there are lots of jazz charts with low D and low Eb, am using my 5 string electric at moment, but conductor wants me to use upright bass as that's the sound required. * While reading the link above (who will be my supplier), I noticed the '[b]Strings NOT RECOMMENDED for use with Detuner' [/b]section (just under 1st YouTube video 1/2 way down the page)... do you think [b]Innovation Polychromes[/b] will be compatible with the drop-tuner I'm looking at once you've got them 'commercially released' ? Or can you make them compatible, lol Cheers UPDATE : I phoned the company in the link above, the guy asked me what strings I was wanting to use and I said [b]Innovation[/b] , he said they would be good as they have a steel core so are more resilient to tension changes. Turns out this company worked with HipShot to develop the drop-tuner in the link above. Just bought the product : [b]Subtotal:[/b] $127.50 [b]Shipping:[/b] $27.25 [b]Total:[/b] $154.75 = £95.27 PS : The [b]Polychromes[/b] are sounding nice on SoundCloud

It is down to taste & choice : my problem is - I like tea, coffee, fruit juice, booze, elderflower cordial, sparkling water, tap water, milk, almond milk etc... some only work well in certain situations at certain times, while others are more flexible. Then the choices are sub-divided even further, you have to decide if you want : fairtrade tea, Tetley teabags, tea leaves, green tea, herbal tea, ASDA smartprice tea dust etc... Ideal solution is - multiple basses with multiple types of strings depending on (1) what mood your in (2) what your trying to achieve (3) what the music requires... i.e. being flexible as possible, while still being aware of your own preferences I love playing jazz walking & motown lines on flats (doesn't matter what brand), but then slap myself stupid playing funk on some steels, play some fretless on nickel half-wounds, do silly tapping & practise soloing on my piccolo strings, then do strength building exercises on double bass with the most beastly strings