Dan Dare

I can see why those with more "modern" tastes might wonder why PM is so respected, but what he played was always musical, even if it wasn't technically impressive. That's what is really important (imho of course). There's a reason why so many prominent bass players rate his playing.

If you like warm/old school, an Aguilar has to be worth trying. The Tonehammers are the warmest/thickest sounding. The AG700 (which is what I have, so I'm obviously biased) still does warm, but has more clarity and can do modern, as well. Not really worth bothering about a tube front end, imho. They're largely put in for marketing purposes. A well designed modern solid state pre will give you all the warmth/roundness you want. Do try a few before you buy. If you like the baby GK MB head you have, one of the larger models (they do a 500 and an 800) should be a good bet. They will all be good for at home practice volumes.

I'd second what others say and do that. Your Ampeg head is likely not getting the best out of your Vanderkley cabs. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised how much better a new head will sound with them (and you can always take just one for smaller jobs, which will be an easier lift). To get a combo that matches what you use will be pretty expensive - more so than a high quality head. As others suggest, any of the good quality modern lightweight heads will be fine. I compared half a dozen of the popular ones at Bass Direct a couple of years ago and chose an Aguilar AG700, but that was just my preference. I like a sound that leans towards old school, but with plenty of clarity and the AG gave me that. It also does more modern sounds, so it's versatile. Definitely worth trying one with one of your cabs.

Made in Japan. Trashed in Germany.

"Quadro piezo" pickups, huh? No doubt one piezo for each string. You do need a decent preamp to make any piezo sound half reasonable, whatever our pal in Poland says.

£600 will get you a decent separate head and cab, enabling you to upgrade one or the other in future and/or making it easier/cheaper in the event of failure that you can be up and running again. Probably a lighter carry if they're separate, too. Worth a thought?

If a speaker is not capable of reproducing 31 hz, you simply won't hear the actual fundamental. You may well hear something that is pleasing and, as stated above, good cab designers can do a lot with porting, etc so harmonics and overtones can give a good impression of a note, but you won't necvessarily be hearing 31 hz. An instrument may produce frequencies that you can measure/record on a 'scope, but the amplification must be able to reproduce it for you to be hearing it (even if you believe you do - see other comments about harmonics/overtones). The fact that Lakland 5s have a better sounding B than Fenders (something I've noticed when trying them) is likely due to their 35", rather than 34" scale length. It enables the string to be at a higher tension. See the comments from Lfalex above about the upright and Stick, which tend to support this.

Can't see myself wearing that on my head.

Oh look. Listing's ended. Quelle surprise...

That Epi 112 is a particularly nice cab. A pal has one and it's excellent. They turn up relatively rarely in my experience. If you're in a hurry, Bill's advice is the way to go.

Another vote for the MIM Fender P bass special. P pickup plus J bridge pickup, jazz neck and P body. Very versatile and nice to play.

K&M do a stand bracket to take iPads. They also do one to take a pint glass. Sensible chaps, these Germans.

This. K&M sell all spares, so you can always fix them. I have 8. The oldest one - my Trigger's Broom K&M - has been going strong for 40 odd years. Studiospares are decent budget stands, but not in the same class as K&M. K&M make for the likes of Beyer (and are cheaper), too. Buy nice or buy twice.

Spot on, Jack. If I play bass in the house band at a jam, I take a cheap instrument to lend to those who turn up without one (one bloke recently turned his nose up at it and demanded to use my proper bass. I politely declined his request). I second your comments about gear, too. You especially need to watch out for 5 string players cranking the low end and sending your speaker cones flying across the room...

I hope you spent it wisely

So right, George. I have a friend who is a highly rated violin maker (people in some of the big London orchestras play his instruments). He has to "antique" them when he makes them, because nobody will be seen playing a new instrument.

At £200-£600, you're going to struggle to buy a decent complete system (especially new) that is any good. Personally, I'd steer clear of used PA speakers unless you know their provenance. They can be abused (usually by people trying to put kick drum, etc through them and often driving them into clipping with inadequate amplification). Used mixers and power amps are usually fine if you buy sensibly. At £200-£600, active speakers are probably out of the question. I note you refer to starting from scratch. Do you have some stuff already? If so, what is it? Might be that you can augment it.

Nice. My 72 was originally a very battered sunburst, but I stripped and oiled it in the 80s well before 'relic' was the thing to have. Wish I hadn't now, but there it is. Fortunately, the body has a reasonable grain, so it doesn't look too bad. Plays wonderfully, as I've no doubt yours does.

I like La Bella on my P bass and Chromes on my Jazz. Tomastik flats are lovely sounding with one caveat. The A string is too thin (.070). It was too slack and I ran out of adjustment on the bridge saddle to get the intonation right. I changed it to a Chrome .075 and it was much better.

Another vote for Babicz on a Fender style instrument. Have one on my Jazz. Gotoh are decent and well priced.

Behringer DIs are fine for the money, but there are better. At the budget end of things, I like the passive Palmers. If you want active, Orchid (made in sunny Devon) are excellent, well-priced and get good reviews. If you want to go mad/treat yourself, Radial are as good as any.

I bought one for that purpose, too and ended up getting two more and selling my old heavy cabs. Go for it. They sound wonderful in multiples. You'll need juicy amplification, though. They take a bit of driving.

If I had £3k to improve my bass life, I'd put it towards better amplification and some lessons from someone good.

Afraid it is pretty well all to do with the amp/speakers. As someone else points out, even Barefaced only claim a lower frequency extreme of 37 hz, whilst low B comes out at 31. It may sound good on headphones or at practice levels, but reproducing those kinds of frequencies at any kind of volume is a big ask.

I know you did. But quite a few started pitching in, suggesting buying this or that bass, strings, etc, so I thought it would do no harm to re-iterate it.