Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric Swanson
Thanks, Ken,
I used to always use an Underwood through an MXR 10-band equalizer and a Polytone; I loved that sound. I never liked what the Underwood did to the acoustic sound of the bass (dampened tone and volume), I used to prefer having the option of a little more "edge" on the sound, if I wanted it.
Interesting that you prefer the Underwood style pickup, too. You clearly prefer the Shadow pickup; how is it A/B with the Underwood? I've never tried one.
I'm currently using the Full Circle, which is nice, doesn't affect the acoustic sound, but doesn't quite seem to have the range of possibility that the Underwood had.
Whatever you did, your bass sounds round, full, and clear all at the same time. The "time" and mix are nice.
For my laptop, I use some old Bose speakers that a friend gave me. sounds as good as most stereos I've had (but I've never had super-fancy stereos  ). If I don't have that setup handy I have some inexpensive Panasonic headphones that do the trick for a low budget:
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-RP-H...nic+headphones
It is funny, but clearly true, what you say about "your favorite" basses being the ones that people want. You have some great instruments pass through your stewardship!
I still think about your Hart/Maggini... http://www.kensmithbasses.com/doublebasses/hart/ |
I have never used the underwood on the same basses as the shadow but with one exception. It was the late great Charles Famborough that got me to come out and sit in on a concert he was doing including a Duet or two with his jazz group in Philly. He lent me an Underwood because I didn't own a pickup at that time having been retired for 15 years. That was on my Batchelder bass that I had just got then. He came up to see the bass, we were doodling and he saw me play a few licks and said, "hey, why don't you come to my concert later this week and do a duet with me?" .. Since then I have done shows in a few theaters, played in a few clubs, some jazz concerts at affairs and a western Swing band on the Pizz side, but I actually started this up playing for a bit over a year in a Concert band doing some bow work as well with some classical and band pieces keeping up with the Tubas, I sat in one night in a Symphony worked in a Concert band. To feel complete as a player, I sat in one night with an orchestra as a rehearsal. Since that night over 12 years ago, I have played in at least (loosing count, lol) 7 (seven) different Symphony Orchestras bit was called by one more, 2x but was busy each time. All but two of them I did early on to get back into it Pay me to play. The first were Community Orchestras I volunteered to play in to get warmed up from my 15 year hiatus. Two of the 7 are regional Orchestras with all paid players and the rest are Community Orchestras that hire extra players when needed. Currently, I am working with 4 of them for the last two years. Two of them are my steady Classical gigs where I play first chair and the other two I am the added player doing most of there concerts each year. Quite the change from would 20 years in NY with mostly my fingers.. lol
Oh, and the Hart. Well I sold it last year to a Player/Dealer and when that person moved on to a classic Italian (not his first), he sent the Hart to London and Tom Martin brokered it. Before making the sale, Tom recognized the bass from his days with the Montreal Symphony and the bass was in there with another player. It was known as a Bernard Fendt Snr., the maker I first thought it was by. WOW... Full circle on who made this for Hart if not Hart himself which was another Dealer/Appraiser here in Philly. Also, I know now who played it before Zimmerman got it in Rochester. I would have been about 20% or more happier had I known all this for the years that I had the Hart but, it's gone now, EVERYONE is happy and I have the Marcucci to play which is a bit easier for me to get around and by some opinions, a better bass, Italian and all.
