three

There’s a power amp ‘in’ on the back of a 750. Not sure about the 751 - I’ll take a look

No problem - both the DB750 and 751 are class A/B. As a result, they're pretty monstrously heavy. As far as I know, the power section is very similar in both and each weighs in the region of 42lbs (though frankly, the 750 feels a little heavier to me).

Bypassing the front-end of an integrated has worked very well for me - if you have an Agi TH500, I'd try that before spending on a dedicated power amp.

I’ve been using a Monique for around 18 months. The best pairing to my ears is undoubtedly with the power section of an Agi DB750 - all the width, depth and dynamics are there. However, there’s an obvious drawback in terms of physical weight. The least pleasant pairing was with a Wayne Jones powered 110, but I’m pretty sure that’s down to the cabinet design. I’m not massively keen on playing through studio monitors and that’s sort of what you get with the WJs. Another very nice pairing, though well short of the Agi with critical listening, is with a GSS Baby Sumo. Super light, fast, accurate and reasonably priced. I also use a Warwick Hellborg stereo power amp but haven’t had the pleasure yet with the Monique. Knowing the Hellborg quite well, I suspect the pairing would be excellent. Problem is, I can hardly lift the Hellborg (the weight is nuts). I’d honestly be thinking class A/B with the Monique if feasible. Good luck - some excellent suggestions above

I own an Alembic Stanley Clarke Deluxe. I had absolutely no concerns that my playing would start to emulate that of Stanley, and it genuinely hasn't.

It's a really frustrating problem and I sympathise. I have dead spots on many basses (I'm pretty sensitive to this) including on a short-scale fretless at around D and Eb on the G. One of few basses that I have that doesn't have any noticeable dead spots is an early, headless Status SII. Another is a fretless J type with a Status graphite neck. This sort of adds weight to some of the comments re: NS and resonances above. Changing strings can make a short, frequently temporary improvement, as can tweaking the set-up - mainly truss-rod - though I tend to play with a very low action and a flat board (minimal relief). I've found over the years that dead spots are just something that I have to tolerate. I've not been able to remove them completely on any bass, though it has been possible to reduce their prominence. I've not tried a fat-finger, that said, I rarely play Fender-type basses. I tend to obsess a little with dead spots, though when playing live and even recording, unless they're really severe, they become a bit of a non-issue. Perhaps better to listen to the bass overall rather than the dead-spot (I'm telling myself this)?

Love this - I’ve not tried one but have a Spector Shorty - similar but heavier (my go to bass along with the Mullarkey). The Bantam appears to have the more dramatic, and nicer to me, body contouring. Gorgeous - I need to take a closer look

Excellent spot! It's my old Gibson Ripper, though a massively modded one - it's what we did in the '80s. Completely re-finished by the inestimable Ted Lee, plus fitting of a SD precision pickup between the Ripper pickups, and an active circuit cloned from the Fender Precision Special of the time. It's a beautiful bass but sadly a bit big for me these days and I only really play shorties.

Suspect the guitarist had tripped over his cable. Tight tee shirt, baggy lemon trousers, permed mullet. Must be the ‘80s

I’d tend to concur with most of the above re: the OBP-3, though it’s certainly one of my favourite conventional on-board pres! A little goes a long way and I tend to just cut the mids slightly at 800. Not for everybody of course, but much depends on your goals. For me, the OBP-3 is glorious with EMG humbuckers (in a Spector). Lots of different configurations of the pre too so should be able to accommodate 3 pickups

I was a fan of these years ago when the workshop was in Partington. A mate of mine has a gorgeous hand-built black P that was gifted to him some decades back and I owned a lovely semi acoustic bass. Good to see use of the Gypsy design in a bass but these get very expensive very quickly if one adds in some of the options. I’d be interested to see/feel the quality of the new instruments given the price (the originals were very lovely)

I've tried my Newport in a Fusion Urban guitar bag and it fits fine. There's not a lot of clearance at the headstock but the length of the bass doesn't appear to be an issue.