therealting

[quote name='funkygreega' post='546938' date='Jul 21 2009, 07:50 PM']Hie there all, I am looking for a DB tutor in the South East area of London. I have NEVER played the instrument before and I consider myself to be an electric bass player though I want to play the DB as well. Anyone know of any great tutors in and around the aforementioned area? Thanks in advance[/quote] Call Trinity College of Music and ask for recommendations. I have taken lessons from Ingela Weeks but she is mostly a classical teacher.

Fly with an inexpensive, easily replaced instrument that you wouldn't panic about losing / getting damaged.

I should add that I am definitely an advocate of teaching yourself to play an instrument - I taught myself to play guitar, bass, flute, clarinet (and then saxophone), ukulele (similar to guitar I know, but the altered tuning messes with your head), harp etc. I love working new instruments out... but the physical challenge of double bass was beyond me, and despite only planning to take a few starter lessons, I have now had weekly lessons for nine months and am still only playing at about grade 5 standard with a bow. Oh, and if you are planning to play a two hour set a couple of weeks after first starting on DB... I wish you good luck. When I first started, I lasted about ten minutes!

Congrats on picking up double bass! I started in October having played guitar and electric bass for the best part of 20 years, and playing and teaching professionally for the last 5. I will say that it is STILL worth having a few lessons from a good teacher, particularly with left hand technique. It really is a completely different animal to electric bass and guitar, and although you may well have your technique down, you could very well have it very wrong and you could end up injuring yourself very badly and jeopardising your guitar playing too. If I hadn't started taking lessons, and simply decided to knuckle down and work through the pain the way I did with guitar and electric bass when I was starting out, I would probably have had to give up playing stringed instruments due to injury... it really is no joke. At least take a few lessons, and if your teacher says your fine, then go ahead. But our hands are our livelihood, and this is one instrument that you don't want to take ANY risks on.

[quote name='subaudio' post='516171' date='Jun 17 2009, 10:03 AM']Nice one, there are good basses out there that dont require a morgage, okay a bass for around a grand will never compare to those instruments tonaly but you can still have a nice sounding and playable bass.[/quote] I think I will wait until I am a decent player before I splash out on anything over a grand... as it stands, this is much nicer than most student instruments.

[quote name='subaudio' post='516017' date='Jun 17 2009, 07:04 AM']Hiya Nice one ! how are you getting on with it ?[/quote] Only had it a week, but I'm liking it. I started lessons on DB in October, and have been using the school's hybrid bass (I am a schoolteacher) in the school orchestra. Okay bass, but the strings aren't great, action is very high and the spike is broken meaning I had to play seated, and the height of the seat was critical. Had the first opportunity to play my "new" Zeller (I think it's about 7 years old) in the school orchestra, and it is worlds apart. The violinists on the other side of the room were the first to comment on the improved projection. I am also enjoying being able to play standing up. I will eventually need to get it set up (and possibly get the bridge replaced), but even as is, it's great.

Funnily enough, I just bought a carved all-solid Zeller for under a grand.

I just got some from Hot Covers (http://www.hotcovers.co.uk) for my Flite and EBS cabs which are very nice. Nice outer material, very nicely padded, and not too expensive.

[quote name='WalMan' post='48113' date='Aug 21 2007, 12:59 AM']Since my shoulder was fixed I have been able to go back to a normal strap.[/quote] That X-ray looks like you've had a piece of very large fretwire embedded in your arm.

What I do with my students is get them to work out chord formulae (e.g. m7b5 would be Root, b3, b5, b7), then pick a root (e.g. B in your case) and figure the notes out (e.g. BDFA). I have a printout of the bass fretboard which I give them, and they put all the notes on the fingerboard for that given chord, and when they have done that they can work out the different voicings and inversions for the chord, and pick the ones they like best. I recommend this over any chord book really, it doesn't take long for each chord, and it helps you see the chords more clearly, both for playing chords and for arpeggios etc.

[quote name='paul h' post='43248' date='Aug 9 2007, 01:30 PM']are these any good? [url="http://www.yamaha-europe.com/yamaha_europe/uk/10_musical_instruments/30_guitars_basses_amps/70_bass_guitars/10_bass_guitars/20_rbx_basses/10_RBX_A2/index.html"]http://www.yamaha-europe.com/yamaha_europe...X_A2/index.html[/url][/quote] The black version of that looks very cool.

[quote name='crez5150' post='42173' date='Aug 6 2007, 09:02 PM']blow pubs and clubs...... corporate is where the money is.... My 5 piece outfit gets a minimum of £2k per gig....[/quote] I hear you there. I was just comparing the hourly rate of a world class luthier to what I see as a typical gigging musician rate.

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='41931' date='Aug 6 2007, 01:05 PM']Don't forget that this income is supplemented by sales of instruments in the shop and also from repair work.[/quote] Ah yes, that's more his income as a business owner (partner? I'm not sure what the business arrangements are). Pretty savvy in my opinion. If you consider them separately, I think what he earns from his craft itself is still pretty modest considering his very considerable expertise. If he's doing well, it's very much deserved. [quote name='chris_b' post='41946' date='Aug 6 2007, 01:28 PM']My Rock/Pop covers bands are mostly 4 and 5 piece, the Blues/Rock bands are all trios, but, £300-£400 for a bar/pub? I also play in a duo, but in my experience promoters won't pay the same for a duo as a band.[/quote] If you play as a trio, then £250-300 for the band will get you £80-100 each.

Another readily available option - Fender AeroDyne.

[quote name='chris_b' post='41914' date='Aug 6 2007, 12:40 PM']So a typical 4 piece rock covers band makes £300-£400 for a gig in a random bar? Where is this random bar? I want to play there, cos I don't see any bar bands earning that money anywhere in the south east!![/quote] The secret is to play as a 3-piece. The money can be even better as a duo.

Another suggestion of a hollowbody bass, such as a Godin A4 / A5 or similar. Quite similar to a Rob Allen... very lightweight and sound great, although quite different to conventional electric instruments. Adler basses are pretty lightweight, around 6lb for a four string if I remember. Or, if you have the money... [url="http://www.bassurgery.co.uk"]http://www.bassurgery.co.uk[/url]. 4lb for a four string!