Leaderboard

I had the body made/finished from a Italian ebayer. Cost £280 and the finish is outstanding! All parts meaty neck. Has a brass shim. hipshot tuners. Omega bridge. Seymour Duncan quarter pounders. Scratch plate is acrylic - finding a real chrome one is difficult! Plays great! Drilled through the headstock when mounting the tuners! Oops!

I'm thinking...

Dont care who he is or what his qualifications are, but he is wrong. I have used quality ear plugs for years and they have made a huge difference. Over ear defenders are good for industrial noise but hopeless for gigs where you need to hear the music, but quieter.

Have I finally found it? Time will tell but my goodness this will take some beating.

Bit of a weird one. Played a private garden party this afternoon. Duo gig. Vocals and me on acoustic. One lady guest had a bass in the car and sat in and the client's 5 year old grandson's drum tutor was there too and he sat in on the boy's kit. After we'd finished, we got another gig from one of the guests😆 For a band that doesn't exist. However, we're all up for it so it's in the diary😳

I had the very same GAS for a Sadowsky until March this year, when I pulled the trigger and bought a Satin Deluxe 5 from Bass Direct. I'm so glad I did and I just love it. It's prompted me to sell my beloved Fodera (check the basses for sale section) and I've barely played my Fenders since. Mines a NYC model so has a chambered body - love the weight reduction and, IMO, it adds to the tone. And it does cut through in a band situation, more so than any of my other basses. I play in a 'pop' orchestra (a la London Grammar), a rock/funk originals band, a function band and I dep for a few other acts locally and I've had comments on its' tone from each one - more so than I ever had on any other bass, even the Fodera. As always, it's just my opinion based on my own experience, but I say if you've got the money and the GAS then go for it - life's too short. Worst case, it's not for you and you move it on - at least you've scratched the itch! Pic below!

There probably is sound transferred through the bone (probably lower frequencies rather than higher frequencies) but take an ear plug out mid set and hear the difference. IMO they are definitely reducing the volume getting to the ear drum.

I own an NYC and a Metro. I have owned the Metro for ten years and the NYC for three. The Metro is still my 'go-to' gigging bass. Not everybody will enjoy the boost only, two band eq, but I think that they are tremendous basses (well, obviously, I bought two). In terms of general fit and finish the basses are pretty much identical. So if you play a Metro and don't particularly like it, then I wouldn't really recommend ordering an NYC and expecting anything radically different from the Metro. The preamp and pickups are generally the same (Sadowsky humcancelling pickups which I think are custom made for Sadowsky by Seymour Duncan). The humcancelling pickups are also stock on most NYCs, though some NYCs feature Sadowsky single coils or other pickups (Nordstrand I think) depending on the specific order that was made for that bass. The Metros tend to be heavier (chambered v non-chambered) and colours and options on the Metros are limited in comparison to NYC basses. Most Metros don't weigh more than 9lbs though so they are still pretty manageable. I have heard that the carve of the neck on the Metros is slightly different (slightly chunkier) but in hand I can't say that I notice any difference. The UV70 Metros are also the only Sadowsky basses which feature blocks and binding (NYCs don't). The Metros only feature chrome hardware, you can get gold or black hardware on the NYC. The Metros also feature very plain fingerboards, especially ones with maple fingerboards. The NYCs will generally feature fingerboards that either have a bit more figuring or have a vintage tint. The NYCs can also have fancy figured/flamed tops depending on the order. Some NYCs can look very plain as well though. Obviously, I would say try before you buy. I would also recommend that you try some other equivalent 'super jazzes' to compare to the Metro. A Fender American Elite, a Sandberg would be good comparisons to start with, but Mayones, Xotic and Lakland would be worth a look too.

Well, Thats upset the dog! - He still wont come back inside the house!! 🤬

My guitarist and I cabled my board today. Using practical patch leads (https://www.practicalpatch.co.uk/) Finally chuffed that I have a board that works! Fair amount of fuzz and no noise. Yassss!

Epic. Nice happy crowd too 🙂 Never has such a daunting display of wiggery graced a British stage since Poison won Crufts...

Debut gig with Blockbustarz last night at Ivory Blacks in Glasgow. Fantastic night of 70's Glam Rock music. Very warm night and a great crowd all having a great time dancing to some classic Glam music.

Err... Ace Of Spades ? soz....I'll get me wellies

Played at the Rebellion Festival in Blackpool. Our biggest audience to date, not sure how many but the room holds 2500ish and there wasn’t much free space. Played well, sold a load of our new album which we released today, got loads of good comments/feedback. Think the grins say it all.

Re: Sadowskys sounding better 'in the mix' than compared to bedroom levels. I am trying to get my head around this idea, as I do think that there is maybe something to it, but just barely, and even then I only think that it applies to a specific scenario. Apologies for the lengthy post to follow... I love my Fender Precision. It is old, passive and barely works. See the picture a few posts above and you will see that scratch plate is cut into two. This was done by the previous owner to provide for easy access to the jack input wiring (which was shocking when I got it circa 1999)...I managed to fix it when I was 15 by re-soldering it with the help of my brother... The neck lacquer is also coming loose and flakes off when I play it. The bridge is, at best, operational. The pickups are fairly low output and deliver a lovely mellow tone when I playing on headphones or through a practice amp. I love this sound. Playing live, I find it tricky to replicate the bedroom tone of the Fender at gigging levels, at least in a manner that can cut through on stage. I can, but it requires judicious use of amp or preamp pedal EQ and some compression to make up for some of the deadspots or unevenness of the output (which occurs no matter how I set up the bass, it just a characteristic of the bass). However, the EQ has to be set up for each rehearsal room and/or gig. It just takes time. Sometimes at a gig I don't really have time. If I am using the amp EQ, then if the sound engineer runs a DI box then I am back to relying on what the hell the sound engineer does with my basic signal. In comparison, with the Sadowsky, I can pretty much dial in a big hefty, aggressive tone by adding a touch of bass and treble EQ on the bass and running my Mesa Walkabout with pretty much everything at 12 o'clock. No dead spots or overly muddy notes. Just a really powerful, clear tone, even at moderate to high volume levels (subject to the lack of natural headroom on my chosen amp). My set up generally takes about two minutes. Does the Sadowsky have that lovely vintage thump of my Precision when I get the sounded sorted? No, but it is a great tone that I can pretty much use for every scenario. If the sound engineer wants to take use a DI box then that is fine as my basic tone signal is set up from the bass itself. It is also much lighter than the Precision. I think that the Sadowskys sounding great 'on the gig' statements might stem from Talkbass members in the early 2000s who were ditching their old passive Fenders that I assume suffered similar issues as mine. Accordingly, I don't take it too seriously. It is mostly a myth. Had I chosen to replace my Precision with a Spector Euro, then the Spector Euro would have provided me with the same benefits of the Sadowsky Metro but I can't say I have ever seen statements like 'Spectors are more for gigging not for bedroom players'. I tried out basses for 3-4 years before I settled on the Sadowsky. Sandberg, Lakland, Overwater, Spector, Musicman, Rickenbacker, vintage Fenders. All great basses (well, a couple of the vintage Fenders not so much) but the right bass for me was the Sadowsky. It is personal though, I would imagine that any number of basschatters would have chosen a completely different bass from the one I ended up choosing at the end of the process. In terms of the other Sadowsky bonus of 'how well it sits in the mix', from gigging and recording with the Metro for years I would just say that it really depends on who is mixing it!

I have used those Isolate ones, and I liked them. They attenuate a lot, and the response is not flat, but on stage I could hear what I needed to hear pretty well. I have gone back to custom moulded ACS -17db, which allow me to feel a bit more 'connected', but I still like the Isolate ones and use them sometimes.

Indeed. To say that earplugs don't work is a very unfortunate and misleading statement, and I hope nobody reads it and goes "ah, I'll do without then"

The ACS PRO17s have changed by life. A flat response, I can have conversations at a normal level with them in, and I can sing without it feeling strange. Custom moulded, and only £40 quid(!!!!) via the Musician's hearing scheme. Incredible. I don't know what the audiologist referred to in the OP is on about, but when I gig with these in there seems to be absolutely nothing that could damage my hearing. I'd need to know more.

Just pushed the button on it, comments here convinced me! cheers all

I've spoken to a few retailers who (at least three) who got out of Gibson/Epiphone because they couldn't afford to carry the stock levels (and mixture of guitar values) required to remain being dealers. Presumably those retailers who did respond to the pressure found themselves carrying large amounts of high-value stock. Gibson then faced with p***d off retailers - those faced with having to discount heavily to sustain their cashflow, and those horrified by the discounting undermining the value of the stock they were forced to take on. This might explain Gibson destroying large amounts of guitars - to keep up the scarcity value of high end instruments, if they are faced with the alternative scenario of the collapse of a dealer network who refuse to restock with expensive guitars they know they won't be able to sell in a timely fashion while making a profit.

If you are in Essex, you are really not too far away from the Bass Gallery (which usually stocks Metros and the odd NYC), as well as the Bass Gallery in Warwick and Guitar Guitar in Epsom (which should stock a mixture of Metros, NYC Satins and even a Metro Express). It might be a couple of hours travel, but if you are looking to spend £2500 plus on a bass it might be worth it. I appreciate it though that the personal circumstances of different people can make travel of even short distances difficult. Here is a two year old photo of the NYC, the Metro and my old S9 Fender Precision. Not great quality for detail but you can certainly see the extra flame on the NYC. I have also attached the 'as new' photo of my NYC from when it was originally sold by Sadowsky (not to me). I don't have an equivalent of the Metro, but frankly it is indistinguishable from every other Sadowsky Metro MV4 in 59 burst. The NYCs are generally more unique looking. The best place to see the differences between the Metro, NYC and Metro Express models is the 'recently sold' section of the Sadowsky website. Also, you might notice that the Metro is a four string and the NYC is a five string, yet my previous post stated that I didn't notice an 'in hand' difference in terms of the neck carve of an NYC and a Metro. Obviously I have played five string Metros and 4 string NYCs and my comment is in relation to that. Obviously I can tell that a five string neck feels different to a four string!

This is the thing with Sadowskys. They only come into their element when playing with a band and they cut through the mix unlike anything else. Not one for the bedroom bassist but are loved by working ones.

Crikey! Just looking at that natural colour bass hanging up one the wall in the background. The pickups are all over the place, looks like it was routed by Stevie Wonder, blindfolded in a dark room!

Bass is short as well.......🤦🏾‍♂️

A lot of bass players will be biased though when forced to choose between only having percussion or bass. Ask a drummer and they’ll choose the cajon! A decent acoustic guitarist can cope without either if they have the necessary rhythmic chops, and they can put out a surprising amount of low end when amplified. I went to see two friends play a festival gig recently with just female vocals and acoustic guitar, and imagined what it would sound like if I were to play bass alongside them. I’d definitely would have had to get the guitarist to turn down the bass EQ for one - the root notes of each chord were quite powerful. Ideally of course, you’d add both. But if I was being totally honest and looking at it from the perspective of a typical audience member, I think a cajon would have added more excitement to the live performance than bass alone. There’s also a novelty factor since many non-musos would have never seen one before, which will get them more interested in what’s going on. In a similar way, I pulled out a Ukelele bass for a song once and it grabbed the attention of the audience like you would not believe! Another option is play bass and play foot drums simultaneously. It’s surprisingly easy to manage at least a kick drum with one foot whilst playing, I have a couple of stomp devices like these: https://www.logjam.net

An entourage is something I have resolutely discouraged over the years. Too many good people have died as a result of getting too close to me - and not by my hand. Not having any friends is the curse of my former profession but that's all going to change now I've retired from The Life. I've even joined a book club.

Great in ear mix tonight, even the guitarist is starting to like them now! Cheap foam tips off ebay held my KZs in all night although they do alter the sound compared to the standard silicone ones.

That's exactly what we do. Except everything in the bucket goes to charity.

If this includes your sizeable entourage, then surely it's worth it for both the venue and the band? They're going to sell a lot of Bolly....

Until your singer quits the band midway through a song, that song being about halfway through your first ever headlining set, walks straight through the crowd and out of the venue without even stopping to pick up his jacket, to the sound of one scallywag singing "One of these kids is doing his own thing!", while the guitarist (who was so stoned he came up to you before the gig to say he couldn't feel his hands and was slumped over throughout his "performance" on a bar stool on stage, because it turned out he couldn't really feel his legs either) continues to fumble his way through something loosely resembling your music because he hasn't noticed the singer is not only not singing, but isn't even in the venue any more, you haven't really had a bad gig. There's a worse one out there waiting for you. These will make you appreciate the good ones more, so chin up. 😃

Ready for gig number 2. I love doing two in one day. Cuts down the driving.

Horses for courses really. I’ve never played one that I’ve thought was anything special.

I always take a decent sized bowl onstage as I find that sort of thing adds to the spectacle... Fills in those boring guitarist tuning up moments. It worked for GG Allin!

Careful now, look how it can end up! This isn't everything...

Basically we're getting back to the model which pertained before the 1960's. Pubs didn't have bands. If they had any music at all, it was a local amateur piano player who knocked out requests and singalong favourites and did it for beer. From the mid-19th century to the mid 1950's there was no commercial 'market' for amateur bands. Professional musicians played in the pit or onstage while amateurs formed choirs or colliery bands or scraped around the edge of the pro-scene. Read: Spike Milligan. Prior to this, we're back in the 19th century and looking at the lost tradition of village bands where a bunch of old boys turn out for weddings, harvest dances and other communal events. Gear? A fiddle, a squeeze-box and (insert cheap instrument here). They'd play for beer until they fell down drunk and everyone went home or ended up shagging someone in a haystack. Further reading: Thomas Hardy. Slightly different in the towns where it was more organised, the middle classes wanted light classics or something to gavotte to. The musicians were a bit more accomplished but still got paid a pittance. Read: Jane Austen. Going back even further, we're basically talking about peasants tootling away on flutes or bagpipes and banging a drum while their in-bred relatives clod-hop around. View: Breughel Local gig circa 1568 So: amateur or semi-pro bands making decent money out of playing loud music at people in pubs is a lost world. Time to re-embed ourselves in our local communities and chop out stuff that punters want to hear - and more importantly - in which they wish to participate, i.e., dancing, singing along. Upside? You might end up getting mullered for free and shagging someone in a haystack. That's got to be worth more than £30.00

Get in the sea.

Trace Elliot V-Type V4. All 3 fenv46 by VTypeV4, on Flickr Brief history: Introduced in around 1996, the original Trace Elliot V-Type range were very much something of a juxtaposition in comparision to the then current model ranges. The all solid-state 7-band ranges of SM/SMC and flagship hybrid 12-band SMX models were very much the pinnacle of tone shaping, control and sophistication at the time. The V-Types took an altogether different approach using a much more traditional setup with simple rotary controls using a Fender style EQ, a far less garish livery and an emphasis on a great core tone without complication. The original V-Type head was an all valve affair sporting the original pre-amp (as can be seen on the V6 in the picture) coupled to a 220w (4x KT88) power stage. This model later became the V4 when it's larger stable-mate the V6 was introduced around '97 / '98. The V6 had a larger power stage claiming 400w from 6x KT88 output valves. Trace Elliot also complimented the range with sealed (as opposed to the usual vented) speaker cabinets comprising a 2x15, 4x12 and an 8x10 with Celestion speakers all carrying the same livery as the amplifier heads. Allied to the all-valve types, hybrid heads known as the 300H and 600H (300w and 600w respectively) appeared as well as 300w 4x8 and single fifteen combos completing the range. By 2000 Trace had decided to update the range with an enameled all-black and green livery (more in-line with the then new 7 and and 12 band series) with bold chromed control knobs. They also chose to slim the range down with deletion of the hybrid heads and combos. The new series started with the monstrous V8 model which had a more advanced version of the V-Type pre-amp now complete with a dedicated overdrive / boost facility and a valve controlled compressor coupled to an 8x KT88, 400w output stage. I remember David Jacob demonstrating the V8 at the guitar show in Birmingham when I was 17 - both him and the amplifier were stunning. The new V4 model was later added and was essentially a V8 with a smaller 4-valve, 200w output stage and a couple of detail differences. This second generation of V4 was available as a head, a 1x15 or 2x10 combo. These models are extremely rare with (according to Paul Stevens - former Trace Elliot designer - now at Blackstar I believe) only 45 in existence - 15 of each variation. The head variant is the subject of this review.. Spec: All valve 200w 4x KT88 output stage (4 or 8 ohm) 7-valve pre-amp stage Fender style EQ with deep, bright and mid shift controls Overdrive with dedicated gain and level control (foot switchable) Valve controlled compressor (foot switchable) Active and passive inputs Master volume Series FX loop Unbalanced line out (jack) Balanced DI out (XLR) Option to mute power stage for recording (no speaker required) Half power switch User adjustable bias (Trace Elliot called it VOBIC - something like Visual Output Bias Indication Circuit) with blue, green and red LED to indicate idle status Front panel: From left to right we have the active and passive inputs (jack only), a gain pot, a bright switch then the overdrive controls which are a second gain then level control. This is activated by either pulling the 'gain 2' pot or via the foot switch. A red LED illuminates on the panel when this is active. Next is the EQ section with a deep switch, then a bass, middle and treble trio with the middle knob being a pull switch for a different character. The second to last control is the compressor which has a switch for in / out and a control which is simply a threshold - a blue LED lights when gain reduction is occurring. Lastly is the master volume knob and furthest right is the stand-by switch. A Fender style green jewel lamp shows the status of the power. Worthy of a mention here are the visible valves - the valve furthest to the right is an EM84 indicator valve (also known as a magic eye type) which has two luminous strips that fluctuate to indicate output power. Rear Panel: There's lots of options on the back too with the first being the main on / off switch complete with IEC (kettle style) electrical input. Next are the VOBIC LEDs, test points and recessed trim pot. Switches for the output stage for on / mute and full power / half power are to the left of the speaker connectors (jack / XLR) whilst to the right is the impedance switch with options for total loads of 4 and 8 ohms. Towards the right there is a jack socket for foot switching the drive and compressor options. Second to last is the DI output on an XLR socket with switching for pre / post EQ and ground / lift. Lastly there are 3 jack sockets one of which is an unbalanced line out and the last pair a series FX loop. Sound: It sounds incredible - simple as that! I use it in conjunction with a Yamaha NE-1 and a Boss LMB-3 in the FX loop and a pair of SWR Goliath Jr3 (2x10) - that combination gives me the sound I hear in my head and that I've always chased. The EQ section albeit Fender based is a somewhat different than the sound of my Bassman 135 - unsurprisingly, the Trace Elliot is a bit more Trace Elliot. I always considered that if you didn't know it was a Trace, I doubt that you'd mistake it for a Fender amplifier. It's a little more 'hollow' (but not particularly scooped) and a bit 'bigger' sounding with a natural warmth in the bottom end. As to be expected of an old-style passive EQ, the controls are interactive to a degree but not frustratingly so. The 'bright' switch works particularly well adding a degree of sizzle especially when the amp is used with cabs with HF components - it stays on for most situations with me. In contrast, the 'deep' switch doesn't appear to extend the bottom end so much as pull out some of the lower mids. It's good for a heavy dub type sound but for normal finger style, it loses just too much definition for my tastes so I tend to leave that switched out. Lastly, the mid shift gives a bit of a bump across most of the mid-range - it seems to emphasize everywhere from as low as 250Hz to around 2kHz - great on a noisy stage but I usually leave this switched out. Regarding the overdrive facility, well, it's a bit 'prickly' to say the least! Given the 'all valve' topology of the amplifier, interestingly the overdrive itself is derived from back-to-back diodes although the gain staging is valve based. Activated by the 'pull' on the second gain knob, it's range can take you anywhere from punk trash and clang to Muse type sounds - with the tone rolled off on the bass, quite a convincing 'Deeper Underground' type sound can be coaxed from it. It can be really difficult describing a particular tone or timbre with words but the closest I can find are along the lines of 'hairy', 'prickly' and outright 'gnarly'.. With the updated version of the V-Type pre-amp, Trace Elliot decided the addition of a valve style compressor would be a welcome and useful addition. I absolutely agree - it's very smooth and unobtrusive but adds a certain fatness and definition to each note. Judging by the blue LED accompanying the compressors' in / out switch and threshold control knob, the fixed envelope appears to have a very slow attack and release time - this probably is at least partially responsible for the 'fatness' of it's character. According to Trace, the input for the compressor is side chained against itself, the control being a high-passed version of the original presumably so excessive bottom end doesn't overwhelm the control too much. I'm unaware of the circuit topology but Trace Elliot suggested it was based on 'vintage studio type compressors' so I'd have though some sort sort of variable Mu type possibly? It's fair to say, the V4 has it's own sound which is shared with it's other V-Type siblings although by it's very design, has most in common with top-line V8 model. Personally, I haven't found much that is similar to a V-Type, strangely I think the closest thing in terms of a 'straight sound' comparison would be an EBS TD / Faffner rather than anything that would be seemingly closer - Fender Bassman, Marshall JMP or Hiwatt 200 for example. To my ears, the Trace Elliot is cleaner, less clangy and more modern than those vintage amplifiers although I'm sure parts of each could be seen in parts of it's design. Probably worth mentioning also is that it will play very loudly through most cabinets. Conservatively rated at 200w RMS, this relatively small figure - by today's standards of 1kW amps the size of credit cards - is more than capable of playing every gig situation I could imagine - I've never needed it flat out even through less than perfect speakers. The power stage with 4x KT88s says pretty much everything about the power on tap - I rather liken it to subtle air scoop and exposed drive pulley in the bonnet of a vintage supercharged American muscle car. I have pinned the master volume on more than a few occasions just to see what happens and it's an experience - especially through the Trace 1084 (8x10) I owned for a while! Totally wild and not very me if I'm terribly honest but definitely worth it for a laugh. I did read elsewhere on the internet that in common with some of the earlier line of Trace Elliot amplifiers with valve output stages such as the VA and Twin, Quattra and Hexa, the V-Types actually clip their driver / inverter stages before the power tubes clip. Whether this is true or not, I can't say - it was on Talkbass written by Psycho Bass Guy who did seem knowledgeable on such things. Build Quality and Reliability: The build quality is superb - the upholstery is spot on with no apparent joins or blemishes, the bright chromed corners, vents and knobs give a great contrast against the black and green panel. The enameling is spotless and still in great condition even 18 years after it was built. The V4 badge centered on the front grill is also finished to a superb standard and is usually the first part the eyes are drawn to on initial inspection. Electrically, big transformers, thick, isolated PCBs, ceramic valve sockets and gold plated jacks all point to these being a truly premium quality product. Trace Elliot seemed to put a great deal of effort into the build quality of these amplifiers even if other products in the range at the time weren't quite up to their mid-eighties hey-day. Moving on to reliability, it seemed to have a period of eating fuses randomly during it's initial settling down period - I owned it from new as it was purchased as NOS in 2003 from Gavin at GM-Audio who looked after all the warranty and parts after Trace Elliot closed. At the time, it was carted here, there and everywhere and did lots of gigs nationally. After about twelve months, I changed the output valves to the then new 're-issue' Tung Sol 6550 type valves which also worked really well but did little for the occasional fuse consumption. It appears that they're sensitive to different speaker cabinets and the slight impedance differences (even with the correct matching 8-8 or 4-4) can cause the bias to run too hot and eventually take a fuse. I always carry a little screwdriver to adjust it just in case I wind up using someone else's speaker cabinet - it's different with every cab but inspite the inconvenience, it hasn't done a fuse for years and the EHX KT88s installed 3 / 4 years ago are still doing very well. Final observations: It's reasonably heavy (24Kg) and is around the typical size for a large valve amplifier so bulk and weight with only a central strap handle may be an issue for some users but the visual impact and more importantly, the tonal characteristic are completely worth it. Having also previously owned a 4808 combo and currently having a V6 on loan, it's been very interesting to compare the V4 against both. It's been a good few years since I let the 4808 go so I'll compare on the V6. The V4 was a little smoother than the V6 but it terms of their core tones, there was next to nothing in it - tolerance in the components and different valves probably account for any subtleties in the character. I'd happily gig either (or both!) for any show. There's not a massive amount difference in terms of power between the two - the V6 does play a little louder before breaking up but there really isn't that much in it - 3dB assuming both are making their claimed horsepower seems about right. It's a little sad to say that less than 12 months after mine was built, Trace Elliot as we knew it no longer existed having been closed down by parent company, Gibson. It seems unlikely that anything like the V-Types will be made again - Peavey who now own the name seem to be using the Trace Elliot brand as an outlet for the latest in small, light and powerful amplifiers so whilst it's great to see that we can now once again buy a new Trace Elliot, my interests and affections will always lie with the older line of products. 135 and V4 by VTypeV4, on Flickr As a final note, if you come across the opportunity to try one, I'd recommend it as I found the sound I was always searching for. UnderwarwickV4 by VTypeV4, on Flickr

Ah so you live in Arsechafeton?

Thanks Phil. It is a big venue! However it has a very powerful airborne Bose PA system and a sound engineer was on site, so hares were set off needlessly by the (slightly clueless) person we were dealing with from the event organiser. In the end our PA stayed in the boot of my car! I used my bass rig as a stage monitor and took a post EQ DI out from my amp into the mixer and we obviously mic'd the drums and vocals, had a single stage monitor for vocals and the guitarist simply played through his VOX AC 30 (no DI or mic).

Didn't even spot his location. All the more annoying that this must've turned up just a few miles down the A1 from me.

And remember that, now, free jazz standard :

I'm not so sure that's true. Any circuit, whether valve or solid state, is capable of imparting some coloration to the audio signal passing through it.

Bass will add harmonic under-pinning as well as some weight (assuming you play the parts correctly) and rhythm. A single strummed acoustic guitar is just not sufficient on its own. Has to be bass.

I do all my own fret work. It's not difficult, but you have to have developed the touch through practice. There are loads of youtube videos showing the process so you can see what is involved. A single high fret is relatively simple with minimal tools, but I wouldn't start out on a valuable instrument.

I’ve seen the files on eBay but I’m not sure how good they are 🙂

I realize it's 55 pages. In summary: Yes, people do it and they think it's great. I'm not aware anyone who tried it was unhappy with it and switched back to amp/cab. As for which speaker - what is your situation (band style/line-up and how loud) and budget? Most have gone for 10" or 12" speaker. I recommend RCF. Others get on well with QSC which is similar quality/price. Some are happy with the Headrush 112 which is cheaper - I think the difference with the Alto is that the Alto has a mic preamp? Consider going straight to in-ears instead if that would work in your band