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Hi yes it’s a Sire V7 active bass. I tried a new battery but it’s still as quiet.

I don't think that it applies to the entire BTB range. Which particularly model are you considering? I played one of the current multi scale models and there was no sharp edge that I remember. If it was there I certainly didn't notice it.

We've had 2 rehearsauditions for guitar players recently... 1st one said he knew nothing about theory but had put quite a lot of practice into working out our songs. He was, however, a bit plodding and standard-metal with very little invention, spark or syncopation though timing was generally good. 2nd guy was far more interesting musically, understood what modes were and could play around with our songs. He started off playing a little too blues-ily (as our original guitar player did on the album) but varied from that when told he had free reign. His only negative was that he's very slow to respond to messages on't phone... So I was keen on 2, the rest of the band wanted 1 as "he was heavier". I said "heavy is easy, interesting isn't, what sort of band do we want to be - same old same old or an interesting mix of all-sorts?"). As a result it looks like we may now have a 2 bass 2 guitar band! I'm very tempted to show 'em Chick Corea's advice to musos, though as they all hate anything to do with jazz, often including musicianship, it may well fall on deaf ears!

Just checking - is your bass active and have you swapped the battery? What else is in your signal chain?

For context - for the last two years I've been 'gigging' with an Orange Crush 25B practice amp (!) and I like its tone, it's very portable and it runs off a Jackery power pack without any issues. OK, I play double bass at church services, folk clubs and Morris dance outs, not hard rock, but it's done well and I was hoping the Elf combo would tick the same boxes just be a bit louder. You're so right about waiting to find exactly what I want - I was quite surprised yesterday when I noticed that the first internet link I'd saved was on 20th October, and I've really got quite frustrated that I can't find exactly what I want in a reasonable travelling distance for a reasonable price. e.g. The rig local to me was £500, elsewhere I found stuff for £150-250 but they would require a whole day driving - or an overnight trip for the combo I liked in Scotland. Fortunately if I buy a vintage rig, it will just be for the practice room, so I only have to load it out of the car once. I did look at smaller TE combos but I don't think there's anything which has that vintage look and is also giggable for me. NB: the Elf is a different thing - in parallel to looking at vintage Trace amps I've been thinking to build the Basschat 8" cabinet and use it with an Elf. So buying an Elf combo would be instead of doing woodwork.

Indeed. I work from home most days. My days in the office are my least productive as I can’t concentrate over the inane conversations. Ironically my last two jobs were focused around increasing productivity through technology investments and innovation. The teams delivering this on the tech side and consulting side worked really hard both times. Working long hours, going above and beyond. Trying to get people to test and utilise the technology to streamline their workflows and save time/increase productivity was a nightmare. Everyone is too busy. They seem fine arriving slightly late (due to traffic) but always seem to have time to take a full lunch, chat about nonsense and leave bang on time to beat the traffic home though. Edit: I rarely worked anywhere where people were rich enough to buy lunch out every day. Some bought in food, most got a meal deal. There were always those who would regularly spend £15+ a week on coffee so maybe Costa/Starbucks took a hit? If so good. When I work in an office I strictly do my mandatory hours as well. If I am wasting my time getting there and back, ironing clothes and all the other pointless stuff that has no bearing whatsoever on my job then I will be less likely to do anything beyond what I have to.

Last night we were working on some new material. Trying new stuff is always a reminder of just how good the jazz greats were; we listen to a piece and think "that sounds easy enough, we should have no problem doing a version of that" and then find that it takes quite a bit of work. Here's one we tried (I don't have a recording of our attempt).

No, I mean it was uncannily note for note perfect, I'd go as far as saying you were the fifth Strangler.

I have an OLP and use it quite a lot, they are really good for cheap things. Mine isn't any hotter than any other bass I have, but it has a stinger preamp on it so maybe the original wasn't good.

Nope, no textbook or music stands involved. Oh, you mean I should have had the textbook open in front of me.

Agreed - speaking as a full time working from home guy, when I was working from work I took my lunch with me, and work was about 15 minutes, so expenses wise, apart from burning more fossil fuel it wasnt adding anything. Maybe 'normal' depends on the area. and I get more done, isn't that the idea of productivity, rather than everyone going out and buying sandwhiches and making things dirty?

Textbook...

had to grab the latest offering from EQDs sounds great

Enjoy!

Who can forget Carol Black?

That would be brilliant. Thanks.

That ‘wobbly comedian’ says, and I agree, that “normal is the cycle on a washing machine”!

No idea if this should be here, or the Singing and Playing thread as an example of how not to do it.

I’m also going to bring my desk (so people can see how good a Zoom L is for small gigs) and that has 5 Auxes so bring IEMs if you like and you can try basses without adding to the sound level. I’ll also have some IEMs people can try (together with quite a few tips and a LOT of wet wipes!).

And really think about portability. Castors don't lift 100lb combos into the back of cars or up steps.

I thought the same. Elf through 2x8 was limp, I asked if I could try it through a decent cab. I swapped to a Ampeg portaflex 15 and it was night and day.

It was not the original Fender factory. That has long been torn down, there's a parking garage there now. It's the old CLF Design facility, where Leo built the original Music Man guitars and basses for Music Man after he sold Fender to CBS. So FMIC has zero history in that building, other than all the cool prototypes Leo took with him. I wrongfully thought this too, but was corrected when I posted it on Reddit.