Matt P

there are a couple of rather good options in the classifieds right now, firstly there is an Ibanez Promethean, 1x10 combo, under 13kg and probably all the amp you are likely to need, very highly rated and very portable, this one even has the case/cover and the footswitch - HERE the second option is to go amp+cab with one of the lightweight 200w micro heads and a lightweight cab, a more expensive option but plenty of choice on the head, for the cab I would suggest the same cab that i'm using, a Gen 2 Barefaced Midget, there is one for sale HERE these are about 9-10kg depending on the grille choice and whether it has the tweeter, they don't come up for sale very often but they are very light, small and go way louder than you could imagine, i've got a pair of them and have often not bothered plugging the second one in as one was enough (pub gigs) For th4e Amp just take your pick of one of the options from Trace elliot, Warwick, markbass, TC electronics etc. Matt

I don't have experience of this amp exactly (terror head owner) but from a quick look at images on google there are 4 screws on the top of the enclosure, i would loosen these off and see if the chassis seems to be loose, these seem to be the only points where there is a connection so removing them should allow you to slide the chassis out and get to the valves, this is what most amp makers go with for chassis fixing. if you can take clear photos of each side of the amp we can see if there are any other fasteners to remove, the handle screws might also fix to the chassis but i'd start with the 4 nearer the edges. Matt

I've never tried to use My interface as a live effects unit but I am one of those people using an Interface with Linux, I found that unless the Interface was class compliant I had issues, so my 18i8 required additional software to work properly, i think i could get 2 channels working (it was a long time ago) but any more was impossible. I ended up buying a 2i4 to use on my Linux machine and keep the big setup for use with a windows laptop. I've been told that if you configure the interface using a windows machine then swap to linux it should work but i've not tried that yet. I'm using Reaper as my DAW and luckily there is a Linux version (which works very well) Matt

I bought a Di box from Rosie C, excellent communication and arrived safely and quickly. thank you Matt

I've made it home,by my measurement they are 98mm tall, the base is slightly tapered so you could shave a few mm off if you didn't want the overhang.

I'm sure someone else will b long with some dimensions soon, but I'll measure the one in my study when i get home this evening they're the best hangers i've come across so far. matt

from the replies here i think i'm in the minority in that I use hard cases for all but a couple of my instruments (both bass and skinny stringers). all but a few of my hard cases are Hiscox as they are the best protection to weight ratio (IMO YMMV) Hiscox cases are usually available used at decent prices, the way i see it is that the case and the instrument are separate entities and the std bass cases are suitable for such a wide range of basses so if i sell a bass i keep the case for the next one, the oldest Hiscox case i own is over 20 years old (acoustic guitar case) and still in good condition and regular use. I think i'm in to double figures for Hisacox cases and even have a spare Bass one in the loft in case i "accidentally" acquire another bass (I sold one long scale base a couple of years ago to make space for a short scale custom which fitted in a Hiscox guitar case) I've had a few new misses with instruments in transit so the piece of mind that a good hard case gives is worth it to me. Matt

this week i'll have to resort to headphones and my tablet as i'll be away, but for future albums I'll make use of the living room and my full HiFi while my wife and son are out on a Saturday morning. Luckily my neighbour is fairly deaf and has never complained about the noise. Matt

Not sure what i'd be able to add to the discussion but i'm always up for new music so count me in. Matt

I don't know of any real reason that a stereo box would be better or worse than 2 mono boxes, the ones you are looking at aren't quite equivalent as the stagebug is a slightly stripped out version of the pro-di (the stereo box is 2 pro-di in one box, the pro-di being £133 each) I have both the Pro-di and a stagebug and i've not managed to hear a difference, my suggestion would be the stagebugs as they have a handy feature for keyboards where you can plug in both left and right into one box and it will sum to mono. handy if you need to use one of them for a bass (or other instrument) in an emergency. Matt

I bought Paul's Chromecast Audio and the whole deal was super smooth and easy. thanks again Matt

how big is your bag? K+M make a 3 section mic stand that folds down smaller than most, 565mm long when folded and about 1.5kg these are the most compact ones i've come cross whilst still being nice and strong. Mic Stand we have some of these at church and they're very good Matt

i'm using the Vong HPF's (ordered as kits and are very easy to put together if you're ok soldering), I don't need the ability to switch them so they're just set and forget. bought the first one for my church board then the second for my band board. can't fault them. I would have bought Thumpinators but couldn't afford the new price at the time and any that pop up secondhand sell so quickly that i miss them. i think the pair of Vong ones cost about what a used thumpinator sells for. Matt

ooh, i didn't know this, i'll have to set my 18i20 up with my windows machine then try it on the Linux machine. Thank you!

i'm using Linux on my desktop pc, I've tried a few of the Focusrite Scarlett interfaces, I don't think the 18i8 and 18i20 worked but i've had good luck with the 2i2 and 2i4 ( i think they are both gen 1) I've been using Reaper as my DAW but they also work perfectly with zoom as well as a general sound card. the 2i4 is my main interface for that machine. a far as I could find out most of the 2 channel interfaces on the market are class compliant and will work fine under Linux, but any more channels and they need specific software/drivers. (as pointed out by @Sibob) I did try and run the Scarlet mix control software using Wine but couldn't get it to work (I'm no computer expert though) Matt

I love a tiny guitar, just had this made by a guy in Cumbria, 19" scale and baritone uke host, tuned A-A with regular acoustic strings the guitar behind is a full scale acoustic that was made at the same time.

for the tweeter wiring the connections should be labelled as + and - but often the tags are different sizes as well so if there are no markings then just look for the wide and narrow tabs (from your photo it looks like the black/negative tag is the wider one) Matt

depending on the current finish type and condition it might be possible to refinish directly over the existing finish, but the cost is still going to be a fair amount, nitro metallic silver paint is about 19 quid a can, then it will need some primer or undercoat for a similar price and then a clearcoat on the top for the same price again, that's 60 quid in materials minimum, so anything more exotic (like metalflake or a deep sparkle finish) will cost more, then you need to factor in the time required and the hourly rate of a skilled individual to do the work. refinishing an instrument is rarely worth the outlay, the cost is usually prohibitive once you get a professional involved. Matt

I only use flats on bass and never change them, I think the last set I bought was Labella's at about 50 quid? (not many choices when it comes to short scale 5 string flats) My Letts had a set of chromes just after i got it and they're still going strong, the '77 P-bass had some old ernie ball group flats when i got it 12 years ago? they're fine too. my short scale 4 string has GHS Precision flats. when i started playing i had a Yamaha RBX765 and used to fit the DR fat beams, they were expensive but i used to get about a year from a set so that was fine. I've got a set of Newtone stainless rounds for the short scale 54 string that will go on at some point. i think they were 38 quid? my EUB has some used Innovation reds that i bought from the classifieds a a bundle of about 15 strings for 50 quid. It's a bit different for my skinny stringers though, the acoustics only get the best (Newtone Heritage 12's) and the electrics get whatever i can get the cheapest deal on (currently quite enjoying the premium Harley Bentons but have some pyramid' nickels that were under 4 quid a set to try as well.) the price of strings has really rocketed in the last few years. Matt

Is this the same head as the Unity 700H-Elite ? The website isn't that useful but i've clicked through to the manual and it isn't truly 2ohm capable, they list different combinations of cabs and it looks like it is ok to 2.67ohms for 3x8Ohm cabs, but not for 2x4ohm cabs! It's got way too many features and controls for me, I like my amps as simple as possible, but features like re-amping and the power amp voicing look interesting. Matt

all my speaker cables are 4mm sq, but only because that was what OBBM offered as standard for bass, I usually make my own instrument cables (still working my way through a reel of Klotz AC110) but when it came to speaker cables i went with OBBM as he had the speaker cable in stock and it wasn't as easy to get in the shorter lengths i needed, also when it comes to the jack plugs (required for my Trace GP11) I didn't fancy soldering those big Neutrik plugs on with my little 25w iron. Matt

oh well, no worries. Matt