Dan Dare

Agreed. You cannot expect to turn up out of the blue and be instantly one of the gang. Go for a few weeks, get to know people and show some support for the evening. Most jams are run by people who receive little reward for all the legwork and organising they do. They welcome those who are prepared to put in a bit of effort, but if you are the type who turns up, does your 3 or 4 numbers and then buggers off, you cannot expect them to be overly thrilled with you.

Some useful info here - https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/bass-place.

For analogue, the smaller Mackie Onyx models are worth a look. Decent mic pre's and eq.

The Chromes do settle down after a while. I find the medium light set compares well with the TI flats when broken in (I switched from TI Flats because I found the A string too low in tension. I had to move the bridge saddle to the point where it was falling off the threaded rod to get the intonation true). The Chromes have some kind of coating on them when new - I presume to prevent them deteriorating in the pack - which you should wipe off with alcohol. Makes them feel much better.

Love the fact that the seller says "never moved from the house" since he got it. Not surprising, really.

Good choice on the Rumble. I was a little alarmed to see people recommending expensive, powerful stuff to you. Whilst the advice was sound, I felt it might be overkill for the requirements you set out in your original request. If you do need to make more noise and like the sound your Rumble makes, you can always add an extra power amp and cab at a later date, or even buy another Rumble and link them. Have fun.

I'd say practice the songs you already know to start. Playing a fretless takes a little getting used to at first. You have to finger the notes slightly sharp - on the fret-line rather than behind it - so it's handy to start with something you are familiar with. You need to concentrate on getting good, solid accurately intonated notes before moving to things like slides and vibrato. Have fun.

I've got one you can have. Not quite the same - North London rather than Cornwall - but it's yours for £8k. Used twenties in a carrier bag, please.

Me too. A pal of mine edited Fiesta for Raymond a while back. His claim to fame is that he is the man who introduced Readers' Wives to the world.

Oh all right.

MU cover (as mentioned above by Jakester) provides £10m of cover. It's included in the price of your sub's, so a bit of a bargain.

There's a chap in the market place selling two Vanderkley 1x12s for what looks a reasonable price. Worth a look, imho (no, it isn't anyone I know).

I found the same on my old J bass. The pickups had become microphonic, so I had them wax potted. Improved things no end. I didn't notice any loss of highs when I got them back. I wonder if the lost airy quality you refer to was in fact caused by the pickups being microphonic.

This is key. It isn't the parts, but the attitude of the manufacturer that counts. Any electrical part can fail, so you need a manufacturer that is prepared to help if things do go wrong, which Ashdown certainly is.