I ordered a new acoustic bass

[mcquinn]

Well I ordered a Dean fretless acoustic bass the other day.I play for a bluegrass gospel band and they want me to get an upright "Billy bass" but I cannot see me plunking down that much cash for something that I have to stand up to play.I use a State Of The Art P bass copy now and I figured I won't be in any condition to pack an amp after my surgery,and my wife for some reason has an aversion to being my "roadie".So this seemed like a good time to try one.Any body have any experience with acoustic basses?I wonder if it will be loud enough.I can still put it through the PA system if not.

[PTJD]

Sounds great, sorry but cant play any instruments myself!

[Royal]

I can play a mean radio. And I did blow out an expensive sub woofer a few weeks ago.
I took guitar lessens as a kid, but hated it at the time as my teacher would only teach me folks songs, like "On Top of Old Smokey" when other kids brought their guitars to school and were playing Beetles and other cool tunes, they asked why don't you bring yours? yea right.

I do keep hinting around to Lil Queen and showing her guitars that I like.
Just the other day I showed her a Les Paul, but she has yet to take the hint.

Hope she reads this one.

If it's too loud, you're too old!

[mcquinn]

I don't drink or wench ,my motorcycle is a Kawasaki 500 Vulcan instead of a Road King and I drive a 98' mini van ,I guess my guitars and PA sytems is my hobby.

[smokum]

I use to play electric guitar in my early teens with an amature band.... then years (life I guess) pulled me long and far away from that hobby.

In my 30's I decided it had been too long and went out and blew a wad ( $7g's), on a beautiful custom American Strat, a huge mofo stereo guitar amp, all the pedals and synths I could muster.

Went out and picked up a bunch of sheet music (without really looking at it), along with some riff sheets. Got back home, the wife was out, and opened up the sheet music and went...... WTH ??!!?? it all looked chinese to me as I came to realise I "totally" forgot how to read sheet music. So I figured what the hell, I'll just jab at some old riffs I was able to play in my sleep wayyy back when.... but again... WTH !! I've heard better kindergardeners play, lol....

All I managed was a bunch of neat sounding VERY loud NOISE !!!..... so discouraged I packed it all up a month later and sold it off for half price to some lucky b* !!

Now I stick to listening to music..... don't even go there with how expensive THAT hobby has become !!

Sure wish I could have picked it up again, as I loved being able to play in the day.... but in the end, a Clapton I am not !!......

Good luck with your purchase....

-Greg

[Royal]

Hey Greg,
I too would like to pick it up again. But can't even remember a single chord. I would have to relearn and take lessons. Knowing me, I'll buy one of those computer programs that teaches you how to play guitar. Anyway I would expect this to take a long time, and never expect to play like Jimi Hendrix. But that doesn't mean that I couldn't have fun trying, and drive some of our closer neighbors batty.

[mcquinn]

For me it is an empty nester reason to socialise.We go out and jam and some times we play at a gospel sing or revival but mostly just a reason to hang out with like minded folks and have fun.I never could master electric guitar except the bass,it seems to amplify my mistakes .Too bad though cause I would like a reason to by a Gretsch f hole guitar .

[Royal]

Lil Queen is taking me to Guitar Center tomorrow. I have a B-Day coming up.

Hey Greg, you don't have to tell me about the cost of good stereo equipment. I'm with ya on that one bud. Last year I got the yerning to be able to play all our old vinyl again. Lil queen about flipped when she found out how much I spent on a new turntable. But man, there is nothing better than the sound of vinyl. CD's just don't cut it. When it comes to music, analog kicks butt over digital. I wish I could find a good tube type amp.

Now to get her to let me buy a pair of these babies.

B&W 800 series.

[mcquinn]

I don't know about the vinyl ,I tried hooking my turntable up to digitize some albums I have not been able to find on cd and I thought it sounded like crap and canceled the project.All the albums sounded scratchy and staticky to me.

[Royal]

Mike,
First make sure your vinyl is clean. LPs, require some rituals to be performed. It also greatly depends on your turntable, but most importantly a good high quality stylis/cartridge. Moving Coils (MC) are the best, but a high quality Moving Magnet (MM) is just as good. Be prepared to plop down some cash for a good cartidge. I paid $700.00 just for my cartridge alone, but you can get a decent one for a couple of hundred. Audiophiles have been known to spend tens of thousands on analog equipment. There is much that is lost in digital recordings. To the untrained ear, this may not be noticed. But to those who grew up with quality analog experience, know and can tell the difference. Many recording artists know this to be true as well, and are now once again releasing their recordings on high grade 180 and 200 gram vinyl. I just picked up some new LPs a few weeks ago.

If with a decent turntable and cartridge, and your vinyl has been properly cleaned and you still are getting pops and clicks, or skipping, your LP has been mishandled and mistreated.
All our albums, probably well over 1,000 of them are in mint condition, but that is because we have treated them with kid gloves all our lives, and never played them on an inferior turntable and stylis. If you stylis is worn out replace it before you damage your precious vinyl.

A good place to buy cartridges from is Needle Doctor
Here is the cartridge I am using.

The Ortofon 2M Black

Ortofon 2M Black Phono Cartridge: The 2M Black is the new moving magnet flagship from Ortofon.

Edit: One thing to always keep in mind, new cartrdiges have to be properyl aligned, so be sure to use an alignment protractor or gauge and take your time to get it right when mounting it. also make sure your tone arm is adjusted properly. A good quality turntable is well worth the investment for the true audiophile.