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If the problem is that you can't hear the external effects at all then it's probably going to be something silly. Check that you are correctly connecting inputs and outputs for starters. Maybe take a photo of everything connected together so we can see what you're doing.

The P6 series is looking tempting, but the Z series are far too heavy.

Exactly. They CAN both work in the same area. Dont get me wrong, im not arguing that keys dont cause issues in some bands, but a blanket 'don’t let him/her/them/they touch the bottom octave etc is nonsense. Are we to limit how high a bass player goes on the fretboard because it's now in guitar range? Everyone needs to work together to get it to gel. Do bands with two guitarists insist one doesn't play anything because its in the same register as the other 😄 As a keys player in one band (admittedly im not very active with my left hand because im not really a piano player) I manage to stay out of the way of the bass. In fact on some songs I play a fill or run that the bass should play but doesn't. I must admit ive been in a band who had a piano player and yes, he was all over the low end, quite annoying until I sat him down and we worked it out. I made him listen to the bass line and re work his left hand. Never once telling him he shouldn't use it. it sounded great after that. It doesn't take a pro player to figure this out, just common sense. Not something everyone has though (no matter what instrument they play).

Amongst the jazz pianists some I know take pains to practice rootless chord voicings, given that the roots are the bassist's job, as well as playing more sparsely. Playing with these pianists is great. Others play as if they are playing for themselves and/or a singer, and leave all the roots in, which is less fun and muddies things up. I recall one at a jam telling me that he hadn't got any charts, but I could just watch his left hand to find out what all the roots of the chords were...

I’m going to cross post from my busking thread on the Everse 8. it’s very relevant here as I got to try out Stevie’s new 8” prototype cab. ‘So, I got the chance to try out a new prototype cab. It’s wonderful, very capable for an 8” cab. The driver for me for trying it out was having the Everse 8 distort a lot when I pushed it a lot harder on one recent busking gig. I was asking too much of it - outdoors, no walls nearby, playing with a drummer on a portable kit - but I realised that I want to step up my power/speaker size. When I compare directly to the LFSys 8” prototype. I now appreciate more cabinet resonances when I turn the Everse up loud. I think this is because it is a composite cab, and also not as well braced as the LFSys cab. There’s no contest for me. Having the prototype LFSys 8” cab to compare to the Everse shows how much better having a dedicated, properly braced, rigid bass cab sounds at high volume. I’ve sold the Everse 8 and accepted that what I need for busking is more speaker size and power. I did a lot of testing out of portable camping batteries and the Jackery Explorer 300+ is where I landed. I’ve solved a significant EMI noise problem with that, and will simply use my well used B-Amp with an LFSys cab and the Jackery. I accept better/louder sound will now need a bigger carry - so got my luggage trolley back out. I now await an LFSys Goodwood 10” with great anticipation.’ I’ll update the thread here once I get my new Goodwood.

Thats been covered years ago by burns http://burnsguitars.com/apachedoublesix.php - thats the guitar, there is a bass (or was years ago), we talked about it somewhere on bc a few weeks ago ah here

As pete.young says look at a uke bass either acoustic or solid body.

Went to see a local band play their third gig of the day(!) Their schtick is playing requests and when in places frequented by local musicians they also have a lot of guests up in the second half. Got asked up to join in for several rock songs, mostly ones I know for a change, but ended up doing American Idiot and Money for Nothing entirely by ear which was fun. This is the band without me!

You can take the tubular wings out of these Aria basses and they pack down pretty small but you are always going to be limited to the 34" scale length of a bass. An alternative is a Kala U bass but they are an acquired taste.

Played a local pub (to the drummer and myself)on Friday night, The Yew Tree in Norton Canes (South Staffs). We are, as they described, a light rock band doing 60's, 70's 80's and 90's covers. We got there around 6ish to set up but found that they were still serving meals and they use the stsge area for bigger groups, so hung back 'till 7pm. This gave time for the lead singer to grab something to eat. We started at 8.45pm and although the place was not packed but was busy and the audience were appreciative. Started the second set just before 10pm getting a similar response but having people from the 'sports bar' in the back of the pub popping in to listen as well. Finished just before 11pm. Now we had cleared the tables from the stage when we set up and we put them back afterwards as they seemed a little short staffed and this together with the punters telling the landlady that they had had a good time and were pleased to have been able to hear the music and still be able to hold a conversation with friends. The landlady had also enjoyed what she heard and was over the moon with the resonse and comments from customers to the point that she recommended us, via an internal WhatsApp group, to the other 200+ pubs in the chain and said she will book us again. Sorry for the long post and sounding a bit euphoric but this is only our 4th gig as a band, The Context, and we acquired it via a 30min set at the Yew Tree open mike night in April. They booked us there and then.

The Axstar is a great bass, really well built and fantastic sound - lots of 80s slap character or plectrum attack with round wounds on, or huge fat dub sound with massive sustain with flats. I had one for a while but sold it to buy an ACG medium scale headless (Border Reiver) which is kind of the ultimate for small basses in my mind but costs a fair bit more...

Following intensive research, the MM humbucker likes a preamp 😂