hey DB folks...(let's make a FAQ)

[john turner]

being the ignorant custodian of your neighborhood, i was thinking that perhaps you guys could help me accumulate a DB FAQ that we could then have for posterity, for newbies and toybassists that come wandering down here.

so let me have 'em!

[Chris Fitzgerald]

That's a good idea...for starters, reedo wrote a great one on "how to buy a DB" down in DB Misc a little while back. I'll go dig it out of the basement and leave it at the top of the stairs where you can find it.

What other topics did you have in mind?

[john turner]

how about some information on...

1.the difference between german and french bows

2.bow hair differences

3. instrument scale concerns (3/4, 7/8)

4. what's rosin for and what should be considered in purchasing it

5. string considerations, like how to care for one's strings.

6. what level of maintenance/setup can be easily performed or learned by the player, as opposed to necessitating a pro.

and any other questions that you guys get a lot from BG'ers that want to take the plunge.

[Deeter]

Originally posted by Chris Fitzgerald
That's a good idea...for starters, reedo wrote a great one on "how to buy a DB" down in DB Misc a little while back. I'll go dig it out of the basement and leave it at the top of the stairs where you can find it.

What other topics did you have in mind?

Chris,

If I might humbly interject here: the first step in creating a FAQ for any internet-based forum, is for the long-standing members of that forum to simply step back and ask themselves, "What questions do we get asked all the time?" or "What questions am I tired of always having to answer?" That very act will practically write your FAQ for you. And then if the participants want to be even more helpful, they might ask themselves what questions they think OUGHT to be asked all the time and answer those in kind as well.

I am a moderator and webmaster for a motorcycle forum that has been going strong for the last three years and shows no sign of letting up. And we are currently facing this same dilemma and have been spending the last several months compiling questios and answers for our FAQ. We do this in the hopes that, having a good bit of the amassed knowledge from the forum, centrally located in a FAQ, it will help our new and future members get up to speed more quickly, without having to wallow through the mire of everyday posts, and help keep the on-topic discussions more up-to-date and relevant for all involved. I expect it will prove invaluable!

As a potential DBer and generally a Dark Side lurker, I would love to see the kind of FAQ could be assembled by the collective intellect of this fine forum. At this stage of the game, I'm so green, I wouldn't even know the right questions to ask, so for myself and others in my current situation, a TalkBass DB-FAQ would be an incredibly useful tool.

Thanks!

Scott Deeter

[Bob Gollihur]

I just responded to that other MISC post; it came out while I was out of town for a week and missed it. If there is no appropriate or available place here on TalkBass, I'll be glad to host such info and attribute it, and link it to here as well.

I've been working on a "parts of the bass" for a while but still haven't finished it, trying to make it more complete than I've seen elsewhere with a little talk with the descriptions.

[gruffpuppy]

good list JT, these are all questions i have asked in the last month as a newbie.


here is one, were do i get a double neck, double bass.

[yawnsie]

Great idea, JT. As I'm sure you know, I've recently started a thread investigating purchasing a DB, and touched upon some of the things that would hopefully be in the FAQ. (The thread also includes Reedo's excellent "How To Buy A Bass" post that DURRL mentioned.) Now, instead of bothering the good people down here, I can sit back and let you do it for me!

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Originally posted by john turner
how about some information on...

1.the difference between german and french bows

2.bow hair differences

3. instrument scale concerns (3/4, 7/8)

4. what's rosin for and what should be considered in purchasing it

5. string considerations, like how to care for one's strings.

6. what level of maintenance/setup can be easily performed or learned by the player, as opposed to necessitating a pro.

and any other questions that you guys get a lot from BG'ers that want to take the plunge.

I think this is a great idea. Unfortunately, these are questions that are best addressed by folks who spend a great deal of time with arco playing like reedo, Don, and Dave K, so I won't be much help there (no, I'm not being lazy, just honest). But I have been thinking about doing a theory FAQ at some point. Perhaps I could collaberate with CHI CHI RODRIGUEZ on something of that nature. The college semester ends next week, so I'll give old JAZZPRO a buzz about that. Good call, JT.

[Don Higdon]

The trick here will be how to inform without coming to judgement, as in french v. german bow holds, for example. Each has its outspoken advocates.

Answers will have to be somewhat general and allow for further discussion.

I'm for it, I just don't want to be the referee.

Maybe the answers should be developed publicly; post an answer, take comments, and develop consensus.

And if you're noticing that it's Friday night and I have no gig, 1) I'm sick; 2) I worked last night; 3) we can't all be Chris Fitzgerald; 4) nobody called me.

[oldsaw]

Originally posted by Deeter




I am a moderator and webmaster for a motorcycle forum that has been going strong for the last three years and shows no sign of letting up.


Scott Deeter

Scott, I'm looking for parts for my 1974 Norton. Any suggestions?

Mark

PS. I think this thread has merit. Having reemerged into the URB world recently, I have found more answers than I have had questions. I believe resources such as ("all hail", as I bow to the east) Bob's site have been as great of an information source as one could have asked for. It has been my greatest resource next to my teacher, in whom I have very little regard for anything he says, until I realize that he is correct in everything concerning the URB. His politics stink. Keep up the good work JT & Bob G.

[reedo35]

how about some information on...

1.the difference between german and french bows

2.bow hair differences

3. instrument scale concerns (3/4, 7/8)

4. what's rosin for and what should be considered in purchasing it

5. string considerations, like how to care for one's strings.

6. what level of maintenance/setup can be easily performed or learned by the player, as opposed to necessitating a pro.

Originally posted by Don Higdon
The trick here will be how to inform without coming to judgement, as in french v. german bow holds, for example. Each has its outspoken advocates.

Answers will have to be somewhat general and allow for further discussion.

I agree with Don. JT, those are all very good questions that could certainly have a place in a FAQ forum, but it would have to be very basic,Just to explain some fundamental things, and then leave it open to discussion as to what DB method, grip, strings, rosin, etc. is better and why,as individual preferences and opinions are as varied as snowflakes.
(sorry, it's late and I couldn't come up with a better metaphor.)

[fretless5]

Originally posted by oldsaw


Scott, I'm looking for parts for my 1974 Norton. Any suggestions?

There is a place in Chicago called (something like) English Parts, British Parts.... I forget exactly. I found them a couple of years back in a copy of Hemming's Motor News. I have a '73 Bonnie, and have bought a couple of parts from them. They were fast and friendly.

I wish I could think of the name- try Hemming's though...

Oh, but back to the topic.... that would be a great idea. Us neophytes could use a few bits of good info every now and then.

[john turner]

hey, even simple answers would be more than most people have when they start on DB. let's face it, there isn't much in the common musical press related to the ole' double bass. any info at all would be a gold mine to a beginner.

[Deeter]

Originally posted by oldsaw
Scott, I'm looking for parts for my 1974 Norton. Any suggestions?

Oldsaw,

Wow, a '74 Norton! That's definitely a labor of love. Last summer, I had the opportunity to attend a bike rally/meet in a middle-of-nowhere town called Marne , Iowa, at a shop called, Baxter Cycles. I got the impression that this shop was basically the vintage Brit-bike Field of Dreams, and if they couldn't get parts for your restoration needs, then they most likely couldn't be got. At least that was the word on the street.

I'm no authority on the subject of vintage restorations, but it certainly seemed that these guys live for exactly that kind of thing.

Here's their info:

Baxter Cycles
400 Lincoln St
Marne, IA 51552
(712) 781-2351

Hope that helps and good luck on the restoration. You'll have to share pictures once it's all done.

-Deeter

[oldsaw]

Hehehe....chuckle

[gruffpuppy]

Oh Yea if anyone needs help fitting a DB into a Hyundai Accent, I am the man for the job.

Anyone know were I can get one to those things that hangs from the window that says "Double Bass on Board" Maybe it will help get all those people off my tail when I am driving slow down a bumpy road.

[mchildree]

JT, as a DB newcomer, I can say that a FAQ be an EXCELLENT thing to have. The folks here have been very helpful to me, but I can see where BG posters and newbies would be intimidated if they read the past threads. I even still feel reluctant to post simple questions for fear of wasting somebody's time.

One thread I might suggest is something related to DB-related recordings. I'll bet there are others like myself who get into something new and like to immerse themselves in the new stuff by listening to lots of music, be it classical, jazz, bluegrass, country, rockabilly, etc. Kind of like an "essential listening" thread for DB.

[mchildree]

Gotta get it into your head before you can transfer it to your hands...knowhatimean?

[john turner]

yeah, that "essential recordings" list is a great idea. in fact...