Dan Dare

It would be more accurate to say the mobile phone was developed from a kids toy (it didn't do so by itself). There is scant, if any, resemblance between the kid's toy and the modern mobile phone and you cannot turn a kid's toy into a mobile phone (which is the equivalent of what you are trying to do). Think of evolution. We and apes share a common ancestor, but an ape cannot become a human being (and we cannot become apes). We are both products of a process that has taken millions of years and neither of us resembles the common ancestor any longer. Many on here, from ordinary players like me to those who make a living from designing equipment (such as Bill) have tried to give you practical, helpful advice, but you brush it aside and tell us we are "faint of heart and mind". That's fine. Have fun wasting your time and money if you want.

The answer to "what's possible" is "not a lot". You can't "stretch boundaries" or "discover new lands" with a kid's toy. We'd all love to find something that costs £50 and fits in a pencil case that we could gig with. Not going to happen. Sorry, but that's the reality.

I saw a video of Victor W in which he said he uses a hairband. If it's good enough for him...

Have to say, this is the answer. Everyone has tried to be helpful (it is not "negative" to point out the truth), which is that you have a small, very low-powered practice combo which is discontinued and can be had for £50 odd second-hand. Spending money on a replacement driver for it would be a waste. I appreciate that money is tight at the moment, but there's no way around the fact that you would be far better advised to look for something more suited to the job. There is no alternative, I'm afraid, even if you go the DIY route. There's a useful mantra one can apply - "Small, cheap, high quality. Pick two". If you want something very compact that will do gigs, you need more than 15 watts. There are compact combos out there that will work (the smaller Rumbles that several have recommended, for example). You can spend more, much more, for higher quality - perhaps something like a PJ Bass Cub (there's one - not mine - in the Market Place at the moment). Not a lot more that can be said, really.

It's the other way around. The principle point of complex bracing in cabs is not to provide strength. It is to cancel and/or control panel resonance, break up standing waves by interrupting the internal space and manage/control airflow in the cab. A braced cab means that you can achieve strength with thinner, lighter timber. The lightness is a consequence (and a benefit) of that. Honeycomb structures are widely used in engineering to give strength without the need to resort to expensive, high-tech materials or to add bulk and weight.

As others suggest, make sure the cable you get uses a genuine actual Speakon connector and not a copy. I've had issues with copies being a tight/poor fit.

For small, good quality bass drivers, you really need to be looking at makes like Volt, which won't be cheap. They will also take a fair bit of driving and you have limited power at your disposal. Bill's and casapete's advice above is the better and more economical option. Something like the smaller Rumble will be light, compact/easy to carry and inexpensive.

Have a look at the construction of BF cabs. Then have a look at the internal structure of something like a B&W Nautilus cab'. You will notice similarities in design and construction. I'm not a BF user (I'm a PJB fanboi). However, there is some physics behind BF designs. They are not simple boxes. Companies such as Trickfish, Aguilar (I use an AG700, which I like, so I'm not singling them out) and others operate similarly - they offer well constructed and nicely finished kit built with established, good quality components (Eminence drivers, IcePower modules, etc). They are not pushing any design boundaries, however. It's a free country; people can use whatever they like and I don't care what they choose. The OP asked for opinions on TF vs BF cabs and I gave mine.

If you Google something like "Drum software", you'll find plenty of cheap or even free options. Once you put a pattern on the screen, you can see how it works - where in the bar various things happen (kick on 1 and 3, snare on 2 and 4 at its simplest, etc, etc) and take it from there. Won't take long to learn how basic patterns work.

Trickfish are essentially decently made plain boxes with good quality (usually Eminence) drivers. If prices are comparable, I'd go for BF, with their better designed cabinets.

Dunlop nylon? I've got dozens of those. I'm rich beyond my wildest dreams 😜

I find you can't beat a good set of headphones for tone at home volumes (unless you spend a lot of money). Keeps the neighbours onside, too.

Both. Usually a Dunlop 1mm nylon when I use a pick.

This is quite a useful guide - Understanding Guitar Pots and Caps | Potentiometers Capacitors Wiring (artisanluthiers.com)

I use 5" drivers with mine, but you need lots of them (I have up to 20 at my disposal).

I don't mind the fact that an instrument is dirty/not looked after as long as the price reflects the fact. No big deal to clean it and happy to do so if it means I get it for a bargain price.

Sadly, it was the whole cab.

I too had a Peavey BW 15 in an old Fender 1x15 cab. Great speaker until some little scrote pinched it.

That's surprising if it's hypercardioid. Given that a snare is loud and cuts through, you often don't need a particularly great mic' on it, especially for live use. That's why the good old SM57 often gets used for the job. It's pretty insensitive to anything that happens more than a couple of feet away and the response falls off sharply at both frequency extremes. They're not expensive second hand. Worth trying one?

I had an SVT210HE, which I really liked. Not too heavy, portable and small enough to fit in the car boot. I ran it with an SVT15E, which worked well, but I really wanted another 210HE (which were no longer made). I eventually sold both and got what I have now (which I'm very happy with, but they cost me quite a bit). And what do you know? I came across a mint used 210HE a short while later. Sod's law.

Probably not. You may find that if using a lot of gain, which means the tube requires more juice, the 200ma supply would not be beefy enough. Apart from that, it shouldn't make much difference.

They normally just drop into the covers. They're not fixed. So if you do have an issue, just put them back in the originals and keep schtum when returning them

Exactly that.

It's a free country and you're welcome to do it any way you like. You may or may not get it to work doing it that way. Bill was explaining the way to get the best result. Ideally, you need to be able to control the frequency ranges and relative amounts of power going to the subs and tops. If they are very different in terms of efficiency/sensitivity, you will struggle to balance them. Used power amps (especially old school - i.e. class AB/heavy) can be picked up very cheaply these days, so it's worth picking one up. An inexpensive basic crossover from someone like Behringer isn't going to break the bank, either.