Happy Jack

Given how often the bass player ends up being the PA guy / sound engineer for the band, and how many topics on Basschat stray into or through PA territory, how about a section just for PA-related topics? For example, I'm interested in finding out more about mixing desks controlled remotely by tablets. I'm sure there are plenty of Basschatters who know about this stuff and have practical experience of using it, but do I post in General Discussion or Off Topic or Amps & Cabs or Other Equipment?

Oh Good Grief! Apostrophe (and Spelling) Police here. Callous means hard-hearted and unsympathetic, and that may well be the case, but the word you are groping for is CALLUS.

Yup. The last band I quit, I just emailed them to say, "I do this for fun, and this band isn't fun." They got the message, I still play with the guitarist in another band, the drummer fell off the radar, and the BL hates me. I'll take that as a result.

Unless you screw that one up too ...

Why do you want to erase the signature of Sid Vicious?

The Dogs banner was always a kludge job right from the start. Rick the Slide found an old tripod in his local Oxfam shop and ordered a heavy vinyl banner to match the dimensions - at every gig he needs at least five minutes just to erect the damned thing, and at tight gigs on small stages he has to gaffa the banner to whatever is available. Just carrying the thing is a bloody nuisance, since it comprises a rolled-up banner inside a cardboard tube and a wonky tripod that catches on everything. The Damo banner is light and compact, dead easy to use, and looks much better.

Both times I've been sacked it was done by phone, and I had no problem with that. Both times I've walked I did it by email, and I had no problem with that either. Most people are really very poor in potentially confrontational situations, and things can get out of hand really fast. My feeling is that it's best to put people in the picture from a distance, but then tip up quite happily to the next gig/rehearsal/whatever knowing that they already know. YMMV obviously.

No gigs within 200 yards of school gates etc.

From where I sit, that's Game Over, Insert New Coin.

In all fairness, he always runs 100% Feedback. I see that it has just dropped to 99% due to someone cancelling a purchase but then leaving -/ve feedback anyway, which is - frankly - a bit off. I wouldn't buy anything that's been through his hands, and I wouldn't recommend his products to a friend, but he does seem to have many genuinely satisfied customers. Just saying ...

Also, don't allow yourself to be confused by recommendations for appropriate wattage ... there is SO much more to it than that. At your price point you won't need to worry about valve combos -v- solid state / digital combos (valves are WAY louder, but also WAY more expensive) but even amongst apparently similar combos with similar ratings there will be some very striking differences in output. The only thing you really need to remember is that all these combos have volume controls that go down as well as up. Right now on eBay you have a charity shop barrel-scraper: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PEAVEY-Basic-112-1x12-75W-Bass-Combo-Amp-W51/392232252519?hash=item5b52dd3467:g:XgIAAOSwAdFcWuTm A slightly more modern piece of kit: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LaneY-Linebacker-KB30-Reverb-Combo-Keyboard-Bass-Guitar-Amplifier-Amp/113577370881?epid=835737403&hash=item1a71bd2501:g:N~sAAOSwsDZcQ6u5 And a ridiculous amount of bangs for your buck: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hartke-Hydrive-210c-Bass-combo/323566788118?hash=item4b56155e16:g:ffsAAOSwtc9buJ8D Those three are each very different from the others, but all will do what your son needs at this stage. The last of them (the Hartke in Huddersfield) will see him through until he's left home!

You're wasting your time ... the vendor won't even know about the auto-rejection of your pathetic bids. Get with the program, guys. Everyone send him a private message through eBay offering him three million moonbeams in payment, or a pair of zircon-encrusted tweezers, or a baby's arm holding an apple, or something.

OK, but I bet he didn't offer you a new Merc!

Entirely unconvinced that reverb will "improve" the sound of any bass.

I'm sorry, what? WTF? I mean, WT actual F?

Flash Clap Pensioner? Never heard of them.

You'd think that someone trying to sell half a million quid's worth of ludicrous botched-up rubbish exotic basses could afford to have an actual English-speaking person cast an eye over his immortal prose.

For a 4-string bass (or any bass, for that matter) to have five control knobs AND five flick switches is just obscene. And that bridge pickup is surely too narrow ... that's a neck pickup mounted in the wrong position, I reckon.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Unique-Spanner-And-Wrench-Chair/163519674126?hash=item261288370e:g:XPQAAOSw-rxcHNRl:rk:1:pf:0

Vocalists. Bloody vocalists. That is all.

Quickest solution would just be to do some identity theft and become Rich ... that way everything's already done for you.

He's continuing to buy and sell like a one-man economy, as far as I can see! If his Supply ever finally matches his Demand, entire sectors of the music business will go into recession.