gjones

I have heard tell of the Mythical Ken. I will give him a call. Thanks.

Last week, having never played double bass before, I took the plunge and bought myself a secondhand bass. It's a Gewa (a German make) and It plays really nicely and has a low action but above the D on the G string it buzzes like crazy. It obviously needs setting up by someone who knows what they're doing (i.e. not me) and I wondered if anyone knew of a decent luthier in Edinburgh who could do this for me?

I went browsing a couple of moths ago and tried quite a few basses. Most were set up pretty badly but the best set up one was a US Jazz bass which almost played itself. I came to the conclusion that this was the bass the sales staff played when they picked up a bass for a bit of noodling and they'd set it up nicely themselves. I even suspected that they'd taken it out and gigged it a few times. Which I'm certain must happen to the tastier guitars and basses in your average music shop.

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1316585777' post='1379891']
From the list, I`ve only got experience with the TC Classic 450, which is a very good amp - powerful, and very versatile. I`d recommend it to anyone wanting an amp that can cover all bases.

Dependent on what sounds you`re going for, if rock/punk is your thing, the Ampeg PF-500 is worth checking out. Ampeg sound, in an amp that costs less than £400, and that can be carried in a lap-top bag.
[/quote]

+1 to the above.

I have a TC Classic 450 and a BC 2x12 cab and they're great. I also played through the venue's ampeg PF-500 at last night's gig through an Ashdown 4x10 and that sounded really good too (very rocktastic and loud as well).

If you like clean & loud (although you do have tubetone as well if you want a bit of grind) go for the TC Classic 450 but the Ampeg also does the business for £200 less.

I bought a 2x12 off a basschatter for £200 and it sounds pretty good. I use a TC Classic 450 and although the cabs are rated at only 250 watts they sound pretty loud to me. I played the other weekend with a LOUD drummer and a louder guitarist and the sound was well defined and there was no breakup at volume. They also can pump out some pretty LOW bass too.

They're also very light.

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' post='1373299' date='Sep 14 2011, 02:55 PM']From the pics i get the feeling he plays with reverse strings so the neck is also upside down because of it. In some string sets your E string isn't long enough to wrap around the farest machinehead! I don't know how old this gentleman is but i suspect there weren't any left-handed basses when he started out therefore he's used to play with a "normal" bass strung in the "normal" way but rotated due to him being lefty.
Try not to think of his bass as a left-handed model with a weird neck but more of a right-handed bass with a left-handed body!

Just out of curiosity, having a bass set up like his you'll get the E and A strings pickup closer to the bridge than the D and G strings pickup, [i]a la[/i] Sandberg! I'm very curious as to the sound of this particular bass...

edit: in this pick you can see what i'm saying:
[url="http://www.myspace.com/geraldjohnson101/photos/11059381/tagged#%7B%22ImageId%22%3A11059381%7D"]http://www.myspace.com/geraldjohnson101/ph...2%3A11059381%7D[/url][/quote]

Yes, you're right I think. I have a friend who plays slide guitar with the strings upside down as he's let handed and started to play on other (right handed) peoples guitars. Plays great lead slide but couldn't play a bar chord if his life depended on it.

Give this guy a call. He's the guitar tech at Reddog, and from what I've heard, he's pretty good. He'll be able to give you professional advice [url="http://www.rvguitars.co.uk/"]http://www.rvguitars.co.uk/[/url]

Get a dep in. The same thing has happened to a band I'm in where the drummer couldn't show commitment. We got other drummers in to do the gigs he couldn't do. Eventually you may find one that is as good as your original drummer (we found one that was even better) and you can offer him the job. Luckily there's no hard feelings and the first drummer still does the odd gig with us.

You can't be held back by just one member.

If your 'new' good gear is easier to play well on and sounds better to your ear, it can also be inspiring to you and bring back the joy and fun of playing that may have been lost. I've noticed this happening with other players and I've certainly found this to be the case with me. It also allows you to try a variety of basses and amps and eventually figure out which are the best ones for your needs. I've come to the conclusion that I could easily get away with playing my precision and my old Ashdown for the rest of my days and be quite content doing it. But I had to buy and sell an awful lot of amps and basses to figure that out.
As far as people buying themselves, for instance, a £3000 Wal when they'll very rarely play it beyond thier own living room are concerned. It may seem excessive to pro players who perform regularly with more standard instruments but if you can afford it and it gives you pleasure.......why not? I have a friend who is an authority on electric guitars and has a collection of about 20 (including some vintage 60's Fenders worth thousands). Although he can play he chooses not to. He's by no means rich but it gives him pleasure so good luck to him.

Myself and the guitarist in my band played a regular bar gig where, usually, the audience was pretty meagre. This particular night we played to one person. It was very depressing (even more so than usual). It was even more depressing when he started howling like a dog along to the song we were playing. I got so pissed off I put down my bass went over to where he was howling away put him over my shoulder and threw him out into the street. He brushed himself off and came right back in, sat himself back on his barstool and started howling again.

I decided that was probably my cue to pack up my bass and go home.

Bass high and you could end up with wrist injuries like RPI or Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Bass too low and it could give you back trouble. Somewhere inbetween is best.

Did you get the Precision in the end?

I don't have a problem with people using my gear after all it is a bass amp and should be able to take anythig that's put through it. Just tell them that you don't want to have it above a certain level on the gain and master because of what happened to you amp last time. If it's a double bass the odds are that feedback will occur beyond a certain volume anyway.

Never say never eh? Hope this time you'll think twice about putting that bass down. Welcome back

Whatever this is, it's not a bass. It should be in the harp section.

Very good track but the bass should be much higher in the mix. Was it mixed at a loud volume in a studio through lovely powerful shiny monitor speakers like most mixes are? Once played at a volume the neighbours won't complain about, all the bass disappears (and all the bollocks too - a technical term).
To confirm my opinion I actually played along with your bassline while the mp3 was playing and bringing the bass more upfront really does make a different to the track. It also provides a solid core to the song which connects the drums and guitar and makes the whole thing sound much punchier.

Your initial impression was right....... you're not being a prima donna.

p.s. your music sounds quite Chilli Pepper-ish - you have to ask yourself would Flea be happy with that mix?

CD mixed for cars eh? I always listen to music with the high frequencies rolled off slightly because most modern mixes are too toppy for me - now I know why (I thought I had batlike ears or the studio sound engineers were all deaf) . I always knew a good engineer mixed for the average hi-fi not for full range studio monitors. Which is why there should always be a set of average hi-fi speakers set up and available in the studio to allow you to listen to the mix through. Now they must have car speakers set up in the studio too.

I have a basic sound in my head that I aim for. Once I have that sound onstage I check to make sure it sounds good out front at band soundcheck (which is where long lead comes in handy). Then I adjust my EQ so that the bass fits in nicely with the band (and also chat with sound engineer if going through PA). Many times I've had to eq my sound so drastically to make it sound good out front, that to me, onstage, it sounds horrible but I know that out front (where it counts) it sounds good.

If you want a bassy sound form a Jazz I recommend you buy yourself an old Squier 'Silver Series' Japanese Jazz Bass. They were made between 1992 and 1994 as a superior version of the Squier basses that were being made in Japan and Korea around that period. I bought mine a couple of years ago for about £250 off Ebay after playing a friends and being amazed how much more bass heavy it was compared to any other jazz I'd ever played. They are very well made and are going ridiculously cheap on Ebay at the moment (well under £200). Grab yourself a bargain and and get a really deep bassy sound from a Jazz.

I hate to be a killjoy but an average classical guitarist could do that on a guitar easy peasy. The guy's just making it more difficult for himself by playing it on a 4 string bass. What next? Is he going to try playing it on a unicycle while tightrope walking over the Niagra Falls. Impressive but ultimately pointless.

I'm such a heartless bastard!

[quote name='kedo' post='1359785' date='Sep 2 2011, 12:59 PM']Sounds like great advice from a man who knows. The only thing about my '64 style Jazz is that it's ridiculously heavy. Would that be the same for a 57 MIJ as I like the description of the neck. How's the cab going by the way.

Thanks Gareth.[/quote]

My MIJ 57 reissue is a lot lighter than my Jazz basses and has a lovely shallow neck which is easy to play. I do like the USA P basses as well - they're very punchy. Try the shop 'Imported Instruments' in Ocean terminal down in Leith. He imports Japanese Fenders which means you can try them before you buy them [url="http://mijfenders.com/frmBass.htm"]http://mijfenders.com/frmBass.htm[/url]

I'm playing the Monaghan Blues Festival (Harvest Time Festival) in Monaghan on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Sept with 'The Dana Dixon Band'. If any members of the Basschat forum are heading there also come and say hello.

Hi Jack,

You can never go wrong with Japanese Fenders. All my Fenders have been Japanese and they're all great. Keep your eyes peeled on basschat or ebay and you're bound to find a nice one. My Precision is a1996 one but it doesn't matter what year it is they all seem to be great. Expect to pay around £400 for a bog standard one or around £500 for a reissue like a 1962 or a 1957 or whatever secondhand. The 70's reissues have narrower necks. The 57 ones the necks are wide but shallow and very comfortable.
If you want to get a new one for around £300 try the new classic vibe Squiers. They don't come in sunburst unfortunately just light blue and red but are very good guitars.

I'm constantly losing the things so would never fork out for one of these. Athough I found out cables do make a difference to your sound when I bought one of those curly leads from Fender and my bass sounded bluegh! The first one didn't work at all and when I got a replacement and plugged it in all the top end disappeared from my sound as if I had turned the tone right down. It wasn't cheap either. So WARNING don't buy Fender leads they are seriously naff.

I recommend a compressor. Before I got my present amp, which has a compressor on it, I bought an Ashdown pedal. It's not bad but is quite subtle. The one on my amp can also be quite extreme if turned more than halfway up, which can be good on funky or rocky numbers, as it gives you a real nice punchy sound. They can also smooth out the dynamics of your playing and make you sound like a more competent player than you actually are (which is always handy).

The EBS compressor tends to be the one that gets most peoples votes.