Andyalfa

Just ordered my Stagg stand. Got it from here

[url="http://www.mt247.co.uk/index.html"]http://www.mt247.co.uk/index.html[/url]

Just type SV-EDB in the Quick Search box and away you go.

It cost £42.27 incl VAT and delivery, which is the cheapest I managed to find online.

Thanks. Seems it's about right then.

I have to say though, it may be novelty value, but I think it sounds soooo much nicer than my bass guitar. I am a total convert. The only reason I'm not playing it now is because my right index finger is sore as hell. I believe that is normal though.

My left hand seems to be bearing up well though, just a little tired. Can't wait for the first band practise so I can take it along.

[quote name='OldGit' post='364704' date='Dec 28 2008, 11:22 AM']Tune with harmonics. 12th "fret" or 5th "fret"
Should be Ok[/quote]

Should it be an octave lower than my bass guitar though? Sorry to sound ignorant, but this is my first foray into the upright world.

I had a Stagg EDB in Violin Burst for Christmas. Gobsmacked doesn't come close. It is fantastic, though I do have a question regarding tuning. It arrrived pretty much in tune, with just a small tweak here and there, but I was surprised it didn't sound lower and deeper. It's the same notes as my bass guitar. I thought, with it being a much longer scale length and all that, it would be tuned an octave lower? If so, my guitar tuner can't handle it. Any thoughts?

I've seen the Stagg SV-EDB stand mentioned a few times in this thread, but can't find one online for less that £38 (+£7 p&p) from Piano Covers Online. Has anyone seen it cheaper?

We played a Christmas pub gig last night, at The Greyhound, Burton on the Wolds (North Leicestershire).

None of us could remember a time when we’d make so many errors, yet we went down a storm, did 3 encores and got a repeat booking. Helps when they're pished, of course.

I usually get pretty nervous driving to the gig. Once I’m there and setting up though, the nerves fade and the excitement takes over. Couple of numbers later and I’m into the routine.

Making cock-ups happens, but having an adrenalin buzz help you concentrate and minimize mistakes. I think the trick is if you do mess up, don’t dwell on it. Just remember you’ve played the song dozens of times in rehearsal, get back on tune and away you go.

Thing is, although you are mortified if you hit a bum note or miss a cue, the audience rarely notices. We played a Christmas pub gig last night, and none of us could remember a time when we’d make so many errors, yet we went down a storm, did 3 encores and got a repeat booking.

[quote name='Machines' post='358853' date='Dec 19 2008, 02:47 PM']I've had similar - when I got my ABM it was missing a screw cap, offered to buy one but they sent it out. When my valve stage failed they sent me a new pot for it without a further thought.

Now let's not have it be said that i'm some kind of Ashdown fan boy because it isn't true ![/quote]

I am an Ashdown fan, as it happens. I too had a light go in my VU meter, just after I had it a couple of years ago. A replacement was with me in a couple of days. More recently, I had a problem with noisy pots and sent an email asking if it needed a service and where it could be done. I had a reply within the hour saying that all I needed was a £3 can of Servisol to clean out the pots and that should fix it. It did.

All I can say is, if you have a problem, Chris or Russell at Ashdown will get back to you quickly with a likely solution, that won't necessarily cost you a fortune.

Add great service to the fact that I just luuurve the Ashdown sound, and you have a winner, IMO.

The bass is definitely a keeper. I've had it for 10+ years now, and it was secondhand then. As it was my first "proper" bass, it has a certain sentimental value, but not so much that I have any qualms about hacking it about a bit. It's got a lovely feel and the wood finish is delightful, it's just the hardware I feel needs an update. That way, I might play it more rather than have it gathering dust in the corner.

I'll have another close look tonight to see if it really does say "select". The lettering is very worn and faint, and my eyesight isn't briliant close up.

I was thinking of changing/updrading the hardware on my old Hohner Professional JJ bass, partly as an experiment and partly to use as a backup/alternative to my main Precision.

Currently, it has two active jazz style pickups which are powered by a 9v preamp. This has two volume controls and a stacked bass/treble knob. There’s also a handy toggle switch for active/passive and a little light to tell me if it’s on. I had a close look at the pickups the other night, and the faint writing on them seemed to say Select design (which I thought was by EMG, but maybe not). Anyway, I’d like to replace all of the electronics with something newer, which gives a nice warm, clean sound as opposed to the dirtier, rockier tone of my precision. Any thoughts would be welcome. At the moment, I have my eye on an EMG J set for around £160.

I’d also like to swap the tatty old bridge with something that looks better, has more adjustment and gives better sustain (without going the through body route, I don’t want to do too much drilling). One in matt black would be nice too, but isn’t essential. Once again, any hints or tips would be useful. I’ve seen a sexy looking Leo Quan badass bridge which looks like it might fit the bill and a similar one by Schaller. Any recommendations?

I recently had a problem with my 2 ½ year old ABM 500 EvoII in that the pots had become very noisy. When I started a thread about it, my fellow bass chatters suggested a squirt of contact cleaner would do the trick. I emailed Ashdown and got a very quick response saying just the same. So, for the cost of a can of Servisol (£2.49 + £1.50 p&p on eBay) I now have my amp sounding as good as new.

Would I be right in thinking that where you stand in relation to the speaker is an important factor in how you perceive the sound? I understood that a 15 projects more into a room and sounds excellent from an audience’s listening position, but slightly woolly close up where the player stands. A 4x10 combination sounds better close up but touch thin further away.

I have an ABM 500 EvoII C115 combo and it definitely sounds better, the further I stand from it. Given that the audience are the ones you want to sound good to, maybe a 15 is the way to go?

Is there any truth in this, or am I merely in denial after choosing a C115 in the first place?

[quote name='Waldo' post='351959' date='Dec 11 2008, 05:21 PM']Hah, well good luck with it! Let us know how you get on.[/quote]

The problem is fixed! Servisol did the trick. Thanks for the tip folks. The only noise coming out of the amp now are the rasping tones of my p-bass!

Just had the following reply from Russ Swindle at Ashdown

[i]"Hi Andy,

It sounds like your input and ouput pots need cleaning out - this is something you can do yourself if you're happy to open up the amp.
All you need is some contact treatment oil, you can get this at Maplin (order code JP17T).
Spray this into the pots and work them backwards and forwards a few times and you should find that all the scratchiness and noise has gone.


Regards

Russ."[/i]

Pretty much echoes the advice from you bass chatters. Thanks for that. Nice little job for Saturday morning coming up. Saves me putting the lights up on a wet tree, anyway.

[quote name='yorks5stringer' post='350491' date='Dec 10 2008, 11:02 AM']Sigh: Merry Christmas Everybody by Slade....[/quote]

Me too. Christmas gig on 21st...

Actually, I quite enjoyed it.

[quote name='BassJase' post='351390' date='Dec 11 2008, 12:29 AM']I used to go out with a girl in Leicester, is the shed still open and smelling like a public toilet?
And I used to go watch live jazz bands on a sunday afternoon in the theatre cafe, aaaahh happy days..... [/quote]

Oh yes, the Shed is still there. Great showcase for young talent. Not that I'll ever play there, being old and talentless.

[quote name='Waldo' post='350689' date='Dec 10 2008, 01:42 PM']WD-40 is a definate no, the residue from it will attract dust and is insulating so could end up making the problem worse later. You can buy cans of Servisol from Maplins which is made for this purpose, not sure about your tape head cleaner, best to be safe than sorry.

I'm sure Ashdown could tell you the best thing to use, if they think that will solve the problem.[/quote]

Good idea, I'll drop them an email. They've always responded quickly in the past to my occasional query.

[quote name='Waldo' post='350656' date='Dec 10 2008, 01:24 PM']Sounds like you might just need to clean the pots with some contact cleaner.

You shouldn't have to service your amp yearly like you might do with a bass. Well, it is an Ashdown you have afterall [/quote]

Thanks for the swift reply.

When you say contact cleaner, do mean something like a quick squirt of WD40 or the solvent I used to use to clean the heads of my old tape deck?

Hi there. I need a little advice. I currently have an Ashdown ABM Evo II 500 which is only 2 years old. Generally, I've been very pleased with the build and sound quality, but unfortunately, despite sounding great most of the time, it’s recently developed a problem.

When I turn the input gain or the output volume knobs, it makes a very loud grinding, crackling noise, and depending where I stop turning, I either have buzzing, a dead spot, or normal sound. I’m no sparky, but I don’t mind getting the amp out of the casing and blowing the dust off. However, do you think it’s a little more than dirt and should I get it looked at professionally? Do amps require regular servicing in the same way I send my bass for a set up every 12 months?

Hi there,
I’m Andy, a fat, grey, middle aged bass guitarist based in Leicestershire, UK. I first picked up the bass back in the mid 80’s, but had a long lay off while I “grew up”. Luckily, now I’m back in the fold and I currently play in a local covers band who play pubs and functions whenever we can. We do stuff ranging from Blondie, Duffy, KT Tunstall and the Undertones through to Rainbow, The Quo and Guns N Roses.

I play a 2006 Fender USA Precision bass through an Ashdown ABM Evo II 500 combo, which proves sufficient for most venues we play. I am currently looking into taking the upright route, and am saving up for a Stagg EDB. Hopefully we’ll manage to find enough numbers for me to get to play it at gigs!

Musically, I love blues, reggae and rock, with a strong bias towards good bass players. My heroes are Jah Wobble, Bill Laswell, Norman Watt-Roy, Flea, Mark King, Noel Redding, John Entwistle and many others. Recently, I’ve been making a few tentative forays into the world of Jazz, which has opened my ears to the likes of Ray Brown, Paul Chambers, Christian McBride and Charles Mingus. Boy those guys can play.

Went to see Simple Minds a couple of weeks ago, and they were supported by Deacon Blue. Can’t comment on Deacon Blue’s bass lines because the sound in the arena was the worst I’ve ever heard. All I could hear was an overblown bass drum and some quiet sounding vocals in the background. It was utterly, utterly horrible. For Simple Minds, they turned everything else up to match, which made it painfully loud, but at least I could get some pleasure from them playing New Gold Dream album in its entirety. That was the first album I really learned to play properly after I switched to Bass, so it was quite sentimental.

Saw Level 42 the month before and the sound for that was superb by contrast. That Mark King sure can play. Mr Pink blew my socks off.

I am shortly going to buy an electric upright bass (Stagg) after playing bass guitar for many years. However, given the vast difference in techniques involved in playing the two instruments, I feel I am going to need some tuition. So far, I’ve found 3 or 4 tutors in the Nottingham area, but as I live in Leicestershire, I would prefer to find someone nearer. Do any of you know of anybody who teaches double bass? I play blues and rock style rather than bowed.

[quote name='Rainbass' post='201159' date='May 17 2008, 05:34 PM']I paid £330 for mine from a shop, I think, so it's not so far out - and you get to take it straight home![/quote]

I tried one out yesterday in a music shop in Leicester, and yes you CAN play it seated. I thought it was spot on as a transition from a bass guitar to an upright. It was easier to play than I expected (I have big hands) but I will need lessons though, to make sure I don't get into any bad habits.

Anyway, the shop staff were very friendly and had ordered a trans red one in from Stagg especially for me to try out (no obligation). They offer a 0% finance scheme too. The downside is that the asking price was £405. Ouch! I'm thinking I'd be better off saving up and buying from an online store instead, though that way, could be weeks or months given the saving/ordering time.

I guess you pays your money and makes your choice. On the other hand, maybe some online retailers partake in this Government "Take It Away" 0% initiative and perhaps actually have one in stock...?