Jono Bolton

I've recently picked up a new cab that has an ugly black metal grill on it. Ideally I'd like to replace it with a Fender/Ampeg-style cloth grill, however when measuring up my cab yesterday, the recess on the front is only 15mm deep, give or take. Given that I have to allow for fixings (Velcro or similar), and for the thickness of the material over the frame, both front and back, is this going to be too shallow to allow me to fit a cloth-and-frame grill?

I finally got round to picking up a new cab this week, about 7 months after I sold my old one. Definitely not lightweight but it sounds good and cost a hundred quid. Just tarted up the tolex on the cab with black boot polish, should really do the same with the head. Yes, that is a Milhouse sticker on the head.

I must admit, power and watts confuses me more now than it ever did. It seems that, to a layman, more power, means louder and therefore better, which is why companies inflate their ratings, but my old 80s Peavey puts out about 210W at 4 ohms, topping out at 300 into 2 ohms, and will confidently outstrip anything you can put up against it; it's deafeningly loud.

I really regret not buying that Ashdown; £125 for an ABM 500 1x15 combo in excellent nick

Interesting, but not my kind of thing.

Thanks. No Fender cloth at the minute but lots of other stuff at decent prices.

I'm buying a new cab in the next few days, but it's got a metal grill, which is functional but a bit ugly. I've checked it out and there's a recess on the front that would give me sufficient room to fit a frame that I can wrap in grill cloth. Where are the best places to buy the material from? I'd probably want silver Fender or Ampeg-style cloth. Allparts has the cloth but it's £30 a yard; are there another options worth looking at?

I hated these when I was younger, but they've definitely grown on me.

And that's $10 for one; I assumed it would be for a pack! Each to their own, but I'll stick to bits of card, thanks.

Yep, nothing in the pocket at the moment.

I've used stiff business cards in the past but I've got one in a drawer at work that's made of quite thin, recycled brown card, so that's going to be my primary candidate.

Thanks. I've shimmed before but I've never really fully understood when a shim is necessary; I think in my youth I did it because I'd heard of other people doing it. It's far from being unplayable at the moment but I'll maybe give it a go over the weekend.

I used a Hercules mini on a Jazzmaster with no bother, it just took an extra second or two to get it to sit securely.

I finally got round to adjusting the action on my P Bass on Friday, and have managed to get the action reasonably low (2-3mm at the 12th fret), however the G string could stand to be a little lower still but the saddle is currently sitting on the bridge plate. The neck is straight with a little relief. Is a shim the only way to get the action lower than it is at the moment?

Assuming I was going to get the cash equivalent of my rig's current value, I'd probably stick with what I have. My bass was £200, my head was £100, and the cab I'm considering is about £180, so for under £500 I doubt I could get better. I could maybe get equivalent, but not better. The issue would be finding the same head and bass (Peavey Mark IV and Squier Matt Freeman) for those prices again. Ignoring the price but remaining realistic as to what I could afford, I wouldn't mind getting something like an Acoustic 220 if I couldn't get another Peavey. If I could arrange transport, there's a very nice old Peavey 4x12 in the north of England on ebay just now that I'd like. I'd probably be satisfied with a Squier CV P Bass or James Johnston Jazz if there wasn't a Matt Freeman available.

I think I could definitely do this. Since leaving my band, I find myself looking at gear but with no real interest. I barely play the one bass I have. Maybe I'm content with it; maybe I'm bored. Maybe what I need is a shiny new bass to give me a kick up the derrière and start playing again...

What are people's experiences with delivery times for order from Thomann? I'm looking at something that's in stock, and the timeframe for delivering to the UK is 3-4 working days. I've got a day off on Friday 11th so I'm trying to work out when I should place the order so that it arrives when I'm in, although these things are a lottery and there's every chance that it'll turn up the day before, or the day after when I'm not in.