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[quote name='Budgetneil' timestamp='1335483597' post='1632174'] Lemme know your thoughts :-) [/quote] I think you'd be far better off hooking up with a guitarist or two (or three!). On the few occasions I've seen solo bass acts at Plug & Play nights they've really not gone down very well with the audience...

[quote name='bobbass4k' timestamp='1335477841' post='1632086'] Maybe I just have lazy technique but I hate not been able to use open strings, if you can't use open strings you're physically limited I find. Take the F# example, just half a step down and all the open strings are available to you. [/quote] Sometimes open strings 'work' and at other times they sound truly piggin' awful, as do fretted notes on occasion. I guess I've not worried about it for so long now that I just don't think about it any more and automatically choose whichever is the most appropriate under the circumstances.

[quote name='bobbass4k' timestamp='1335476215' post='1632026'] Don't you find only playing in one tuning limits they keys you play in? [/quote] Nope. I'm in my 32nd year as a bass player now and I've never got into a situation where I need to detune to play in a particular key. I've got all the notes - if it's a problem getting to/from them then I just have to work a little harder.

[quote name='bluejay' timestamp='1335475265' post='1631996'] I sooo agree! (Even if I've only played for a few years.) [/quote] Crikey! You must have got that post from Time Team...

[quote name='Horizontalste' timestamp='1335473531' post='1631933'] If any gets on the circuit will the world end or will it evaporate? [/quote] It'll not do any harm. I usually stuff a bit of kitchen roll in the body cavity before I start just to soak up the excess quickly.

Depends who you talk to. Squier owners rabidly pronounce that their Squier is better than any Fender they've ever played. Fender owners defend their instruments equally vehemently. I stick to my Ibanez and keep my head down...

Switch cleaner comes with a little straw to direct the jet accurately (it bends!).

I just don't entertain the idea.

[quote name='gapiro' timestamp='1335422925' post='1630695'] Could a loose jack really blow an amp? [/quote] Yep. I forget who it was now, but there was a thread on here last week where someone had done exactly that to a Hartke head. Fortunately, the repair wasn't too expensive (a few power transistors IIRC).

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1335397622' post='1630611'] I'd like to sound like Bernard Cribbins. [/quote] I thought you already did...

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1335397379' post='1630605'] No, that was Edward Bresslaw. [/quote] It's near enough...

[quote name='gapiro' timestamp='1335392525' post='1630546'] Any ideas? I assume it must be a surge to be all at once, but RCd didn't go out ... [/quote] Nope. A surge isn't going to make speaker sockets come loose. Sounds to me as though you've blown your amp mate.

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1335396318' post='1630595'] ...and I will no longer sound like me but Bernard Edwards instead. I can't wait! [/quote] I used to like him in the Carry On films with Sid James...

[quote name='pete.young' timestamp='1335344361' post='1629444'] I don't understand why using a stand will reduce the amount of vibration transmitted to the floor. It seems to me that any stand capable of holding up a 2x12 or 4x10 is going to be very rigid and will transmit the same amount of vibration to the floor as the cab would. Anyone? [/quote] Only a guess, but could it be something to do with reducing the surface area?

You reckon the street lights dim when he turns that lot on?

[quote name='Dom in Somerset' timestamp='1335107821' post='1625814'] It's only a problem if the petrol is in a bottle with a burning rag in the top. [/quote] Coming soon: The use of semtex paste to enhance bottom end boom... [quote name='Dom in Somerset' timestamp='1335107821' post='1625814'] But seriously ...I suspect that I've always used lighter fluid because you can get it from most news agents and petrol stations. I have also done the same job with meths, a bit more of a faff to apply it worked. [/quote] I think that's why WD40 gets used so often - I've even seen it in my local Tesco.

Well I'd start off on basics. Turn the cab on it's back and remove the grille. Are the speaker screws tight? Gently push down on each cone, listen for any grating noises or sensation as you do this. This will indicate whether the laquer on the speaker coil has melted. If that's OK then it's time to start disconnecting some cables. Start with just one speaker connected and keep adding them until you get the noise back - the last one you added should be treated as the prime suspect. Be carefull when you do this - keep the amp volume low and make sure that the bare wire ends can't touch either themselves or anything metallic (a roll of insulating tape would be good if you have one). If you get a prime suspect then look at the rear of the speaker - there will be two copper wires running from the speaker connector block to the cone - make sure that they go into the cone at such an angle that the length of the wire isn't flopping against the cone. If it has flopped then gently reposition it so it can't vibrate against the cone and try again. If all that fails then it's probably time for a recone - usually a far cheaper option than replacing drivers.

Love the idea of that. I could sit in the audience and turn off all the effects so that it sounds like a bass again...

Copydex is a rubber based adhesive - more flexible than PVA. You cut (or tear) a piece of tissue paper to fit over the split and use Copydex to glue it into place. Put a couple of layers of Copydex and tissue on both sides of the cone and you get a flexible rubber 'patch' which'll seal off the split and stop the farting.

You could replace the driver, but it's probably repairable using Copydex and tissue paper...

[quote name='Mog' timestamp='1335065196' post='1625347'] Lesson learned? I gotta stop being so anal and just go make some easy money. Principles are for losers (and the poor). [/quote] Yep. And if you can stay in tune while you're doing it then you've already got a head start.

[quote name='Dom in Somerset' timestamp='1335076792' post='1625369'] Actually it's £4.39 for six of those! (I haven't bought any for a while and quickly looked up the price but didn't look at the results that carefuly) [url="http://www.shortersclub.co.uk/products/29557-swan-lighter-fluid-extra-refined-100ml-pack-of-6.aspx"]http://www.shortersc...-pack-of-6.aspx[/url] I've always had it in the workshop for cleaning and de-greasing. So..one of those is £2.30 cheaper than propper switch clearner... bargain! [/quote] Ah I'm just a bit adverse to squirting petrol about since my ASBO...

[quote name='oggiesnr' timestamp='1335043113' post='1625222'] Great fun and I get to do it again and again this summer. Next date is 5.00 am on May Day at the Black Mill on Beverley Westwood. Rackaback, the Maes and whoever else turns up! [/quote] So when do you get to dress up then? I used to play a lot of morris stuff and absolutely loved it, such good fun.

[quote name='Dom in Somerset' timestamp='1335023152' post='1624901'] I've always used this stuff:Works a treat,nice directional nozzle, leaves no residue and costs about £5. Squirt it into the pot through the slot and turn the knob back and forth a few times as it evaporates. [/quote] So only about £2 dearer than using proper switch cleaner... bargain!

[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1335019915' post='1624816'] Don't use WD40, its a bad switch cleaner because whilst it will loosen dirt and lubricate, it leaves a conductive and sticky coating behind, its like spray grease! [/quote] It's not significantly conductive until you start messing about in the kV/kA arena which is kinda outside the confines of instrument repairs (regardless of how 'hot' people reckon their pickups are! ), but I totally agree that it's not ideal. By far the best product I've found is Servisol - comes in a red and white aerosol.