Dan Dare

Ed's pretty handy, so I doubt it's him. mentalextra, you're right. "Unboxing" another source of hilarity.

Good luck reading charts in the average dark gloomy boozer where the typical jam takes place...

If you like your Briefcase, a Suitcase will give you the same tones but with quite a bit more power and weight. There's a decent looking used Suitcase on eBay at the moment, currently at a reasonable price. It's the older model with the larger cabinet, which I think is better for upright and will certainly give you what to my ears is a more natural low end than the newer, smaller version, which is based on the C4 cabinet with built in amplification (I use both C4 and 4B cabs, but with a separate head). The older Suitcase is a bit of an awkward carry, although nothing too terrible - it's the shape rather than the weight that makes it so.

Sophisticated stuff from our friends in Hong Kong. They look like the sympathetic strings you find on Hardanger fiddles, which run in a cavity beneath the fingerboard and vibrate freely to give a sort of doubled effect. Didn't realise the idea had spread to electric basses 😊

Apart from its limited appeal, it's an accident waiting to happen should someone brush against or walk into it.

The other YT vid's I enjoy are those where A N Other "reviews" an amp or an instrument. Typically, the "review" will be conducted in A N's living room, which is strewn with old socks and empty pizza boxes. A N usually begins with the words "What's up, guys" and delivers the entire thing in a hyper, over-excited manner, whilst attempting to slap the bass to within an inch of its life. All you can hear, because A N has dropped the action to nothing, is fret rattle and tuneless twanging. Hilarious. I won't be mean to anyone by posting links here, but you can find plenty of examples on YT if you fancy a few minutes amusement.

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.

If the main problem is the cab (not surprising - no 4x12 could truly be described as "lightweight"), why not keep the head and investigate smaller/lighter alternatives? I switched from two large cabs to several smaller ones. The beauty is that they are scalable - I take as few/many as needed for a job. I guess as you use a 4x12 that you need to make some noise on occasion. A couple of lightweight modern 1x12s (see the usual suspects/brands recommended on here) should see you right and you can take just one if it's a smaller job. I wouldn't recommend a combo. Separate head + cabs is more flexible.

Almost correct. Substitute the "r" and "o" in pro with a couple of other letters (the second repeated) and it would be spot on. How can a "custom" instrument have a RRP, I wonder?

Gawd, I've seen pick wear before, but nothing like that. It may be worth the start price...

If you're in the MU, you can get cover through them without paying a fortune. £10m in public liability insurance is included in the cost of your sub's, too.