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Xvive A58 system, then "Bach on bass" book and "concept for bass soloing" réédition book. I will be able to jump all over the place on stage, but still work on my musical improvement in parallel.

What is Upsie? He's a very happy chap with his novelty pick holder. Coloured toast, yum!

Rasputin - Boney M

I was given a Digitech Trio which I'm planning to use with my synth workstation (Roland Fantom 08). I purposely asked Santa for the old model, as I didn't want his elves making additional features that I didn't need ( and the new one was approx 3 times the price) .

Yes I'm trying to avoid that. Here's the P-bass circuit. The pickup is connected to lugs 1 and 3 of the 250k pot so always sees that impedance (in parallel with whatever it's plugged into). Here's the VVT Jazz bass schematic. Each pickup is connected to lugs 2 and 3 of its corresponding volume pot, so it sees everything from 250k (volume up full) to zero (volume at minimum). At (say) 20% ot is seeing just 50k resistamce to ground. The OP circuit avoids this by adding resistance in series with the volume pot, forming a potential divider that can be used to reduce the output of either pickup. As I said in the OP, there are plenty of people who are happy with this, and it sounds like you get on with your blend setup. That's all good, I'm just looking for something that works for me

I got a years supply of bass strings. Yes, one singular set of Ernie Ball Flatwounds. Let's see if they go on before next Christmas, I only put the last set on a month or two ago.

Using a plectrum to play bass is a valid and useful technique that many people haven't mastered. Some of the greatest bassists are primarily pick players (McCartney, Carol Kaye, Duff, Foxton, the list is endless). I believe that a serious non-artist bass player at any level needs to be able to cover a range of attacks. I'd encourage you 100% to learn playing fingerstyle but I'd also say that there is no shame in using a plectrum and that there are many ways to use a plectrum and many different types of plectrum. I play around 50/50 pick/fingers. There are some songs that are just unimaginable to play without a pick; Would?, London's Calling, Welcome to the Jungle, Silly Love Songs and then there are are songs that just seem to be better played fingerstyle; Faith, Mardy Bum, Silver Springs, Go Your Own Way. There's a lot of BS/snobbery in the bass world about plectrum use, I've no idea where it started or on what ridiculous foundation it lies but what I do know is that it's absolute nonsense. When asked, "Do you play with a pick or fingers?", I always answer, "Yes, of course." Embrace the plectrum, master it and no more silly talk round here, please.

Whatever bass or amp I use I sound like “me”, with me being scooped mids and boosted highs. I set up like this as in general I play rock/punk in bands with humbucking guitars so lower the mids to not congest that area, and add highs to sharpen/tighten the sound and not be flubby on the lows.

That one’s a keeper, I’d propose pronto!

Indeed. Hopefully you won’t need to do too much disassembly to get to the underside of the PCB. Old solder joints and connectors can be rather fragile and crack when disturbed, causing more issues. Desoldering large caps can also be a bit of a PITA, due to needing a fair amount of energy from the soldering iron to melt the solder sufficiently to remove without lifting the PCB track/pad. You are very lucky to have a friend with the knowledge to help fix your amp.

Optional toast rack?

Passive-mode sire v7 with my zoom b2’s ampeg patch and quite loud. The active patch doesn’t sound as good - lady who runs the OM pulled a face at active mode, confirming what I myself thought

None taken! Nice work! I did look on ebay earlier for new capacitors, but immediately realised that I don't know what sort of pins they have soldered to the PCB - some of the new ones have wires, while some of the larger values have flat blades - so I can't progress until we open the amp again and this time look at the underside of the PCB.

That's good information; no disrespect intended towards your friend. I recently replaced some swollen but still working capacitors in a 1980s NAD amplifier because I could see they were damaged. The good news is that new capacitor technology has moved on and you should be able to find replacements in smaller packages.

Back in the USSR - them lovable mop tops again

Btw, the dog is The Jackal. The whisky is around 63%abv, and the telly wot you can't see was showing French crime thriller, "Spiral"...

Was ist Upsie?

Evaluating my sonic arsenal, I have hereby decided my signature sound for my current blues band is created by combining: Sandberg VM4 Gallien Krueger MB200 Barefaced Two10 Theres a warmth and authority that really appeals to me. Do you have a sound that makes you smile with contentment?