Happy Jack

Depends. 50 watts of solid state (digital) power is a practice amp. A 50 watt all-valve amp or combo is a serious gigging rig ... the old Selmer Treble'n'Bass heads spring to mind. @nbaptista you really need to tell us why you are buying an amp. Is this going to be used to gig with? If so, what sort of gigs (jazz, rock, heavy metal) and what size of gigs (wine bar, club, arena)?

I'd pay good money to see someone play cajon and bass. Is some sort of complex mechanism involved?

Or pebble-dash it and call it Bung-Glo. 🙈

Cuts both ways, dunnit? I once turned up at a jam with an Alleva Coppolo KBP5 and someone asked if I couldn't afford a real Fender ...

After my recent less-than-satisfactory encounter with a swarm of bees (see Off Topic for details), combined with on-going back and joint issues, I have decided to adopt a new approach to dual-purpose stagewear.

In truth, Andy, I was actually thinking of swopping back the original Lull fretted neck so that the new body would carry the fretless neck you built for me. My thinking was to end up with the very first prototype lightweight Rogers Fretless P5, guaranteed to be worth a mint in 30 years when people have long forgotten Wal and Alembic ...

The whole iPad thing is interesting because people seem to focus on what it is, rather than why it's there ("I have an iPad - what's yer problem?"). To me it's a red flag until I know the muso concerned has learned their part. Someone reading the words/chords from a cribsheet is a complete PITA, whereas someone referring to a setlist between songs is another matter entirely.

Enjoy!

Erm ... what? Seriously Paul, these are two completely different instruments and the last thing you should be doing is trying to play the same lines in the same way on both - not gonna happen. I'm a thoroughly average electric bass player (no ... stop it ... really ... oh you are kind ...) with no great technique and no party tricks. I'm good enough to make decent pocket money from playing in covers bands in pubs and that's about it. [That information supplied for context.] On DB I either play fewer than half the number of notes that I'd play on electric bass, or when I'm playing in my rock'n'roll band I play fast walking basslines. Plucking straight eights will get you about as far as playing with a pick when you're talking DB and give you dreadful cramp eventually, while stuff like hammer-ons just doesn't work a lot of the time. Twiddly bits are not only harder to pull off but also don't sound anything like the same on DB. When I was starting out on DB, my mantra was play fewer notes, but make them more important and perhaps more imaginative.

One of those strings is really badly bent ... you'd think he could afford to buy a new set?

I'd worry that I'd left my bass ajar ...

I'm just delighted to find that @Flanker is still with us. I still remember buying your Alleva Coppolo LPB5 in a lovely complicated part-swap deal involving the Powersoft Digam that I'd bought from @Dood. That AC then got swopped back and forth with @Clarky for a while before being sold to a Basschatter on the Isle of Wight. I also remember how shocked I was when I heard about your stroke. Great to hear from you again.

I was so sure that I had spinal issues that I paid to have an MRI scan done. The results that came back said that there was nothing at all wrong with my spine, my back, or any other part of my anatomy. The specialist told me, "You have a lovely back, you're just not using it properly". I started doing Pilates to improve my posture and to strengthen my core, and as I gained in Pilates knowledge and experience my supposed back troubles just faded away.

It's horses for courses, Lee. What sort of music do you play? What sort of venues do you gig in? How loud is your band? I can offer advice on very lightweight kit for use in wine bars, and I can offer advice on very lightweight kit for use in the O2. It won't be the same advice. 😉

I hardly ever buy either bricks or mortar.

Absolutely this ^. I can't be doing with any nonsense about 'real players' who 'just know' where to place their fingers. Just because such people may exist doesn't mean that I must copy them. If I thought like that then (God help us all, will no one think of the children?) I'd have to learn to slap, tap and sweep and my bass would become just another novelty act. Incidentally, I suspect there are far fewer of these people than most believe. Visiting one of the country's top DB luthiers to get some work done on a bass, I noticed the orchestral DBs arrayed in a row waiting for set-ups and other maintenance. Most had delicate pencil marks where I use Tippex, but the idea was the same ... if your initial note is close enough to what you wanted then you can get away with it. Most of the time.

Retraining as a tenor instead of a baritone? I've been a baritone for the last 50 years and I had no idea that was an option. 🦄

Book-matching to two different books is ... erm ... a feature, Sir.

And you have to hear feedback (and deal with it) before the audience does. 😂

The blisters do go away. Trust me. Back & neck ache can be dealt with (while playing) by some simple relaxation techniques, including things as easy as taking occasional very deep breaths. Hand cramps? Now that's a whole nother thang.

I hope you were warned about English humour ...

What so few people realise is that the Bass Of Doom only worked properly when connected to the Amp Of Doom using the appropriate Cable Of Doom. Not sure what the position is regarding the Electricity Of Doom.

As far as I'm concerned, Midi was a fashionable dress length when I was a young man.

Shallow.

If you want this to be a backup for an OTB 500 (which I've had, twice) then the MB200 (which I've had) won't cut it - far too 'clean'. The Trace Elf 200 (which is my current backup) is a very good fit with an OTB 500. I haven't owned any of the other choices in your poll, so can't comment on their suitability.