Huge Hands

I have a pair of the early 210s in 4 ohm before the switchable impedance was a thing. For 90% of what I do, I only need one cab. I run it with a Carvin head which does about 600W at 4ohm IIRC. I rarely turn it above 12 o'clock and that to me is uncomfortably loud. I guess it is down to your perception of what uncomfortably loud is. I don't know how running one at 8 ohm would decrease this though. I have the Carvin because Alex recommended this as a good amp capable of handing high power at 2 ohms when I use both 4 ohm cabs together. I have a 2 channel Ashdown Little Giant as a backup that runs one cab per channel, but to me I think I can hear that running out of steam at higher volumes. I don't know if any of this helps you whatsoever!

I bought a 2001 Laguna estate in 2005. Had it about 9 months. It used to eat tyres and had so many problems. I ended up selling it for scrap money and lost a packet. I swore I would never have another Renault again, but this year I bought a Trafic van. After a year of expensive repairs, I am ruing not sticking to my own rules......

I just checked and mine is an 8 digit number, starting with a 1. No letters.

I have no idea how I would tell, but I have always assumed, due to its age, it was a first gen.

Around 2016 I bought a second hand 5-string V7 from a member of this parish. It has been my main gigging bass ever since and I love it. I almost cried when it once fell out of my van when unloading and the gigbag didn't stop it getting a big chip on the body, but it still plays absolutely fine. I guess it is now what everyone likes to call "relic'd" but I wish it hadn't happened! You will probably get a lot of comments on here about how bad the tuners are and how everyone changes them. I admit they look and feel a bit toy town, but I can put mine away in the gigbag for a week, get it back out and it is still perfectly in tune, so mine is still totally stock. I keep wanting to buy a Sire precision to match it, but can't justify the spend (or more basses!)

Here he is playing with the Roots on Jools Holland back in 1999. Lots of videos of Amir Questlove Thompson to choose from on YT.

Also check out "Mama's Gun" album by Erykah Badu. He's not on every track, but the majority. He and Questlove were part of the Soulquarians who played on a lot of early NuSoul stuff in the 00s. Love him. Thanks to @pineweasel for posting the podcast - listening now.

I agree - I'm pretty sure I saw an interview with Nile a few years ago where he said it was Bernard who taught him to use the unique chord patterns on the guitar, so assume Bernard had some guitar and harmony knowledge too?

RIP to the Family Man. Such an influence on so many, including myself. It wasn't just the notes he played, but where he placed them. Will be listening to as much of his stuff as I can over the next few days....

I would normally support statements like this but years ago I replaced a stock Squier pickup with a Wizard pickup in my P5 but kept the original pots and wiring. (I don't think Andy at Wizard is trading any more so can't suggest this to the OP). It made a world of difference to gain levels and therefore perceived sound with what I assume were more and better windings. I guess this meets your point about quality of construction, so probably agreeing and not disagreeing with you!

Woof! That overwound split coil pickup looks immense! did it fit under the strings, or did you have to rout the cavity deeper? I would be interested to know what difference it made - all ideas for my recent Harley Benton PB-50 purchase!

I had the sack barrow version for a good few years https://rocknrollercarts.co.uk/products/rocknroller®-multi-cart®-rmh1-mini-handtruck I bought this because I was sick of the collapsible wheel type trolleys on gravelly pub car parks. It was really good and lasted me well but I managed to smash the plastic wing nut covers off when dropping it a few times which made them impossible to release/tighten by hand. I have since bought the cheaper Thomann blatant copy - https://www.thomann.de/gb/millenium_go_kart_solo.htm In comparison - the Rocknroller had no locking mechanism to hold the folding load platform up when folded, so would randomly fall out when stored upright, causing untold damage to anything near it. The Thoman copy has a locking thing, but basically relies on you standing on a brake cable to bend the metal loop arms inwards to release it. On mine, this brake cable was either too long or stretched, so I end up having to lift it up and pull it like a chest expander. Once it releases, it then often slams out and tries to break my knuckles/fingers/arm/shin or whatever it can get. Luckily I don't need to use it that often as my gear is pretty light and when I do I have now have found a bit of a knack to it, so have stuck with it. In summary, neither are perfect, but once folded out into the trolley, they are really sturdy and the wheels can deal with most surfaces and kerbs easily.

I gave up on iTunes years ago after it kept randomly deleting my ripped albums (my own purchased CDs, not dodgy copying). After I rebuilt the library a few times I couldn't be bothered any more. I remember hearing a few others had the same issue too. I'm sure it is better now but it sowed a (probably out of proportion) dislike of Apple products in me ever since.

If you had have plugged in your tester, it may have shown a fault, or it may not. In large venues the sockets can often be wired to different distribution boards or even electrical phases, so you can end up with all sorts of ground loops or weird issues. You could have even been plugging into a lighting dimmer circuit if some in-house techy type had rewired it so! Sounds like you did the perfect work around to me, and glad your kit seems to have come out of it unscathed!

Rather than looking for band things, there may be courses out there for your instrument of choice? I know a drummer I play with recently did a couple of drum workshop type things organised by Steve White (ex Paul Weller/Style Council). I don't think they gig, but they get to sit and practice together over a few days, and learn from some guest pros. The drummer I know is in his 50s, and from what I saw of his photos, the age range was nice and varied.

I made 2 orders at the end of last year. The first one was for 2 Harley Benton guitars (a bass for me and acoustic 6 string for my son - all under £200). That was made at the end of November, and if memory serves, turned up in 5 days. About 4 days later, I stupidly remembered I wanted some other stuff, so made an order of strings, stands, cables etc. That came to about £60. I ordered that on 4th Dec, the day before the guitars arrived. That one did not come until the week in between Christmas and New Year. If you believe Thomanns tracking system, it appears it was despatched quickly, but got stuck in Customs, so I presume each time you order you are at the mercy of how busy Customs are. I assumed mine had been due to the Christmas rush. Thomann eventually sent me an update a few working days before it arrived saying it had just been cleared by Customs and they were frustrated because it was making them look bad.

I like to think that my hands, whilst huge, are in proportion, and not just swelled up like his highnessessessesses appeared to be in the recent photo I saw.. Whilst my first wife was certainly no Diana, my second is a much better option than Camilla (in my own humble opinion of course, before I get done for treason.....) I also have normal sized lugs (at least I think I do).

I am on my second marriage, so have had 2 rings over the years. I always assumed they would be an issue due to my massive sausage fingers and having to have oversized rings specially made, but neither was ever an issue. I put that down to pure luck rather than anything to do with technique......

I don't know if this has been mentioned before, but while recovering from severe covid in hospital in 2020 (or was it one of the later trips for related ailments? I can't remember - I digress) this Arena episode appeared on iPlayer. It seemed to start out as a music documentary about a convicted murderer who managed to make a funk album in prison in the 70s with the backing of a Jimi Hendrix associate (and later Stevie Wonder), then veered off into a study of a damaged con man! It might have been the drugs I was on at the time, but I was hooked on how bonkers his story was, and there was probably more not reported too. I just happened to look last night and it is still on there (saying it expires in 9 months time). I had another watch last night and enjoyed it again. I thought I would share as I think some of my fellow Basschatters would appreciate it too, if they haven't come across it before. I don't know if this link will work - https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000jb6v/arena-the-changin-times-of-ike-white Last time I also found the tracks from his album are on Spotify.

I recorded it and flicked through most of it yesterday on FFWD. I have often defended LWJH and Hootenanny as I worry that if it was stopped, we would lose another live music TV show. However, I did struggle with that episode and agree it is all feeling dated. . I struggle to listen to Jools' boogie woogie over everything for very long, and just feel myself cringing whenever he tries to interview anyone. From what I could tell Paul Whitehouse and Vic Reeves, sorry, Jim Moir were well aware and taking the mickey out of him for it. I thought the Sugababe's band was very good, but that didn't save the show on its own. I used to be a huge fan of Joss Stone but felt her voice had changed a bit too much and having the song (the one I saw) played on DB that you could barely hear meant it was missing some of the funkyness. I also thought the "legends" on the show were all struggling with the vocals. I have never got Rod since he went all swing, and if it wasn't for one of his backing singers that was drawing my attention, I would have switched it straight off. To me, Gilson Lavis always feels like he is dragging/slightly behind the tempo, but I am sure he is 1 million times the musician I will ever be and I suppose could be playing to click while the rest of the band pushes, I don't know. To me, it never grooves right, but obviously just IMHO. I just hope they can ressurect/update the two shows in some format so we continue with live music on TV. I think for me it would need a new presenter and a ban on boogie woogie jamming, but I think as it is Mr Holland's show and likely produced by his own company, that is doubtful! I guess if it was my show I would want to keep it going for as long as possible, and join in with bands as much as I could, so a massive hypocrite here!

I should also add that the thinner gauge thing may be psychological due to there being no fat B string sitting there. We'll see. Also to @machinehead's earlier post - I think this feels like one of the lightest basses I personally now own, or perhaps have ever owned. I have my old JV jazz packed in a hard case in the loft, maybe I will have to get that out an compare, but all my 5 strings are much heavier.

Ok - so I've had mine a few days now.....Love it! So far I have filed down some of the jaggy fret edges (not bad, just being picky) and the rather square and more jagged feeling corners on the nut which was bugging me the most. Have put some cheap Thomann flats on it which sound good but feel a thinner gauge to my LaBella flats I am used to. I also lowered the action a little. No fret buzz so far. Loving the sound I am getting out of it. I just keep looking at it and wish it had 5 strings. Maybe one day I will buy a 5 string neck and try widening the neck pocket. Maybe I will also wake up and remember I am s**t at DIY and will ruin it if I try something like that..... As a side note, I am also massively impressed with the quality of the HB acoustic g****r we bought our son. He seems to like it too!

Ideally, everything should be on the +1 and +1. so you don't have to worry about which way round you plug your cables, and you can effectively ignore +2 and -2. The Speakon (I believe) was originally designed to allow for cabs being supplied with separately amplified mids and lows, or highs and lows etc, so had 2 sets of connections (4 in total) . I would assume, looking at the board layout for +2 and -2, that the two sets of +1 and -1 are also connected internally on another layer of the PCB. If not, you could do this at the terminal connector point? If the 1- and 2- are connected, this is probably to give a common ground to both channels. EDITED - to improve my English on the first attempt!

We're giving our son a g****r for Christmas, does that count? If it helps, I just "had" to get a finish matching bass to go with it, so I am giving myself a present of a bass.......

Whoops - just realised I posted the elves comment in another thread - I have been told if I touch the new bass before Christmas Day, all of Santa's elves will die and it will be my fault....