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Always annoys me how rock and pop stars can pull off wearing a vest and ripped Jean's and look cool, no matter what age they are. When I do it I look like Rab C Nesbitts fatter, less successful brother.

Agree on the CTM300 fantastic amp and a straight DI and a tube DI. Honourable mention to the Laney NX400 tube. Great amp, and a valve and mosfet option - kind of 2 amps in one and blendable. They come up quite rarely, but can be got cheap. Just be careful - there are 2 models, one in the full on valve and one the solid state one. I love the self biasing option on the ashdown. That should save a fortune in trips to the tech etc, and it's a fantastic sound. More of a classic valve sound than the laney which isnt quite as warm to my ears. Also, check out the impedance out of your amp - some will only do 4ohm or 2 ohm (no use if you have an 8ohm cab). The CTM300 and NEXUS have outputs for 2, 4 and 8ohm. The one major thing I'd take into account is protection. Both the valve amps above I've had in pristine condition and you really want to protect them. However, a hard case makes them pretty uncarriable - the 2 amps above are around 30-35kg - with a case pushing 40kg. So I had a padded cover made from hot covers. Fantastic quality. Will protect against scratches and minor dings. Also keeps handles free, so literally you only need to remove the cover when it's in position on top of your cab, and only put back on when ready to move off the cab. With a hard case it's the lifting in and out of the case and extra awkward carrying that really get to you.

Enjoyed that, I still think hes one of the most underrated players ever. His bassline are out there - I cant think of another player like him - kind of rock/punk then real funky and all over the fretboard, stitched together perfectly.

Flippin eck! It says that bright box is 14kg!! How times have changed! Theres full range 15" combos that weight less than that now!

Hi all, From as far back as I can remember until the start of the lockdown I've always liked tasteful basses. Strictly safe style. Sunburst, White, Black, Natural, Tobacco burst etc.... Hardware - strictly shiny silver or gold. Pickguard strictly white or black. But now.....I dont know if it's a consequence of the lockdown but I now absolutely love crazy coloured basses! Bright, loud, colourful - combined with colours that shouldnt really go together etc - what's going on?! I've recently got a sparkly placid blue jazz, and a pink/purple jazz too..... but now I'm loving the look of the new fender player in this colour! Anyone else lost all their sense of taste and style?!

I'm not sure you know.... I used to love going to the local music shop and aspiring to the basses and guitars on the wall. Really make a day of it. I think they're a vital part of wanting to be a musician, but this lockdown (if you can call it that) has been an eye opener. Theres been SO many online deliveries about just in our street it's been crazy. Even myself I've treated myself to a few things online music wise. Things I wouldnt have necessarily got up and travelled to get pre lockdown. I think it's the way it's all going to go unfortunayely - especially with companies offering 30 day returns - you cant really lose. It's just a shame that some people will go to the physical shop when things reopen, try things out, then buy them cheaper online. That's not in the spirit of things.

My reasons for suggest the version 2 Sires are: 1. You can easily get the colour style you would like - from traditional single colours to sunburst and even classic colours. Might not sound a big thing - but you really need to look at your bass and love it. It has to have something to make you want to pick it up. 2. The basses come set up from the factory. This is a big thing. It means the basses are playable to a high standard right away and wont need adjustment. This is especially helpful when you are starting off and dont really know what to compare an un set up bass to. 3. The value £300 - £400 new, means you arent terrified of dropping, scratching or damaging it as much as a £1500 immaculate custom fender. As also said above - you'll be happy to take this to a gig and not be terrified you or someone else wont scratch or damage it. I had a USA precision years ago - a work of art - I used to love just looking at it. Then one day I dropped it off its stand and it had a slight scratch on it. I could never look at it the same way again! No matter what I did, I could only see that scratch from then on (even though it was hardly noticeable). It was too expensive to get another one and I was gutted. 4. The active / passive options will allow you to see if you like that type of bass. 5. They are fairly easy to play, sound great, and will last you no matter what standard you play at. 6. Thay hold their value well should you wish to sell. 7. You can tell they have been helped in design by Marcus Miller. He hasn't just put his name to it, he has genuinely had a good input. The rolled frets make it smooth to play. The active pre amp is astounding (probably worth £200 on its own). The bass sits in the mix perfectly. It's very well built and finished. I genuinely think they will take over the market in the mid price range. 8. If it helps - and its horses for courses - I have a £1000 fender precision for sale. I love it. It looks unbelievably cool to me. Sounds fantastic. It was the bass of my dreams and my main gigging bass. I'm selling it. To replace with Sires. Oh...... and everyone is right. You'll never stop chopping and changing when on here! Your favourite bass in the world today, the bass you love and will never sell, will be sold and replaced by your new favourite bass tomorrow. And so on, forever.

Sire V7 rev2. Fantastic bass. Brilliant sounds, playability, options and colour schemes. Sires are now my number one basses.

In all honesty, I'd buy a Sire jazz and a Sire Precision. You could even get Sire M as well for that budget. That's 3 basses for your budget and everyone will be unbelievably good and give years of service.

The improvement of FOH PA for smaller bands?

Nah, the trace rigs always sounded great. That was the go to set up a decade or two ago.

Wow! That's a proper stack!

I'm going way back, but I remember these being referred to as 'bright boxes'.

I get what you are trying to do (OP), but theres more to it than that. Regardless of whether its head only, head and eq cab sim, or micd up from cab, you will still eq from there to suit the room etc. The amp head may be pre or post, so if its pre you'll not be getting the same as stage sound anyway. You would be better with some generic bass guitar typical eq settings and take from there. In my experience the sealed 8x10 does sound amazing with a band - somehow makes everything for together well - but also makes the bass duller if that helps. If your still determined for an 8x10 sim via eq - people in the helix groups will have done that, but it may be using more than one eq effect and even more than one type of effect, not just eq.

If an amp had a built in tuner, and maybe a one knob compressor, itd be a winner in my book.

I use ups and absolutely no probs. If it helps - and this helped me - it appears theres a bit of a glitch in ups website. When searching ups on google it can (but not always) open up the ups for small business page, where prices are a lot more expensive. It's the natural ups homepage you need. An insured bass is usually around £25.

Just my opinion, but I think it helps to be smart about how you set up and take down and what equipment you bring. Most pubs are terrible for load ins of big heavy equipment. So only take what you need for that venue - dont lug everything you have into and out of there. You wont need it and you'll have to carry it all in, find somewhere to put it, and carry it all out and back into storage again. Take a suitable PA, and a few spares. Spend time working out the most economical way of setting up and make sure everyone has a job to do. Also, think of your set up. What do you have - how can it be made easier to set up - how much faster can you do it? If you have pedals etc why not put them on a pedal board, all you need to do is connect 2 cables and you're done. Guitarists are usually the worst for this - individually unpacking every pedal individually, then separately powering up and connecting each one. I've seen guitarist take nearly 45 mins just setting up their own equipment! The amount of bands you see lugging huge PA in, then a million difficult to carry boxes including a million cables, then a whole host of amps, pedals, 4 ways, kettle leads, separate lights etc etc is frightening. It may seem like nothing, but honestly doing this makes doing pub gigs so much easier. You wont get as stressed getting in, you wont get as stressed setting up or taking down, and your escape out of their will be easier. The whole thing becomes quicker, tidier and more fun. I found it was never the gig itself, just badly planned set ups that ruined it. Oh, and get a couple of heavy duty hand trucks - worth their weight in gold.