Dan Dare

Change the atmospheric conditions? Stone me. I'll have a couple. Fed up with it being cold and damp. Gets in me bones, wot wiv me being 65 and a pensioner, like.

Style over content

Mate, you need to stop obsessing about yourself and get out more. You seem (from this and other posts) to expect everyone to follow your lead and do things your way. It doesn't work that way. People have free will and can choose what they do, when and how. Switch off the computer and join the human race.

Ubit's post above reminds me of a similar situation. It doesn't qualify as a worst gig ever, because it actually went well for us.. I was playing fiddle with an Irish trad band and we turned up to play a wedding at a smart venue In Wimbledon to find not another ceilidh band but a disco taking up the entire stage. There were piles of speakers, lights, smoke machines and junk all over the place. The DJ was an arrogant fat git - when we asked if he could make some room for us, he sniffed contemptuously and refused. So we set up at the side of the stage and played and everyone enjoyed us. The clincher was that we had a high quality EV PA, so we sounded great. By comparison, our hero's massive pile of gear was the cheapest, nastiest disco equipment possible. It sounded like a portable radio, but staggeringly loud and distorted. As soon as he started playing his stuff, the place emptied. Hardly anyone got up to dance and the organisers could be seen complaining to him. Very satisfying. We just stood at the bar smiling contentedly and watching him suffer.

Phil Jones stuff is great, but not cheap. I run a couple of C4s and a 4B with an AG700. For practice, I just use one C4. Do you already have a compact amp head? If so, why not just look for a small cab? The problem with small 'practice' amps is they cannot be used for anything else (unless you get something like a PJ Double 4, to which you can add power amps and cabs and use it as a preamp).

The word "more" suggests you do some already.

Playing too hard/over-straining is a sure-fire way to get cramp. When you can't hear yourself properly, you tend to play harder to compensate and that's when the problems start.

Aguilar AG700? Simple eq and 350w into 8 ohms. Looks an ideal match for your cab. Like mine a lot.

You may well not like "neutral" gear (if such a thing even exists). To get an idea of what it might sound like, run your bass through your hi-fi (via a suitable interface/preamp). Flat/sterile? Check. Dull/lifeless? Check. No "heft"? Check. No amplification is "neutral". The trick is to find the one with the colouration/distortion that appeals to you.

Recording bass "to pro level" is usually done direct in. You don't need large numbers of large cabs (even if studios mic' up an 8x10, the mic will only be pointed at one driver). All you need is a preamp/front end. Always tickles me that people spend a fortune on Ampeg B15s "because Jamerson used one in the studio", despite that fact that the bass was recorded direct at Motown and the rig was only for monitoring/so the band could hear the bass.

Same as

Anyone else notice the snag? Flip it over and it's a leftie.

Is the drummer one of those who is trying to lose her?

Makes a lot of sense and explains a those ludicrously priced items on Amazon, eBay and the rest..

I often wonder about these ad's. They're clearly not going to attract any buyers. Are they some kind of coded message? Dark forces at work, etc?

If it will make me play exactly like him, I'll pass, thanks 😜

Nice looking rig. Assuming you can't keep it just because it looks good, trust your instincts and keep the cabs you like, which appear to be your 12s. 2x10 plus 1x15 used to be the standard set up, but things have moved on.

Got asked for Duelling Banjos once. I explained it was tricky to do without a banjo player. Punter said "Just play it anyway".

Don't remember the model name. It had a single 15 and, within its limits, sounded great.

Wise move. We have the physical attributes we have and, whilst we may be able to develop on them a little, we can't change them substantially. You will never make your fingers grow. If you have smaller hands, a short scale instrument is the logical way to go. No point in aggravating things.

Same here. I've had and got some nice (and expensive) toys, but a little Ohm 60w combo I had once sounded as good as any of them. I've always wondered whether I should find a small amp I like and just buy multiples of it. In a way, I've done that, in that I use small PJB cabs and just take out more of them and extra amplification if I need to be louder. It's a bit of a faff, though.

If you are a "beginner", I'm afraid you have to learn your craft, serve your apprenticeship if you will, before you can expect to play with "PROs". They are not being "entitled", they simply want to work/play with others who are at their level. It simply isn't reasonable for you to expect or demand that you can jump straight from nothing to playing at a high level. Could you go to your local hospital, tell them you are a "beginner" and expect to be made a member of their surgery team? Would the doctors (who have worked and studied for many years to gain their skills and knowledge) be behaving in an "entitled" way if they refused to work with you? I'm sorry to be blunt, but that's the way it is.

This may be helpful - it has been for me. Never invest all of yourself into one thing - playing music, job, even family. If you do, it becomes your sole reason for living and if anything to do with it goes amiss, the effect on you is profound.