Dan Dare

Despite his claims that he is selling to fund a better instrument, I'd wager he isn't a player. The wording is the sort of thing a noddy would come up with by cribbing from and cobbling together other peoples' ads.

Yep. I've always thought it a peculiar choice of name (obviously Aguilar are not aware of our use of slang). Chocolate thunder is usually what I suffer from the morning after a particularly fine vindaloo 😬

There's a difference between "hand wired" and "hard wired". Hand wired can mean built by hand on a PCB. Hard wired would mean point to point/turret board construction. I doubt very much whether one would get true hard wired amp for £200, even if it was made in China by children who are paid a bag of gravel for their labours each week...

I've never understood the claimed great divide between 'covers' and 'originals' (many of which are heavily derivative, anyway - there's nothing, or little at any rate, new under the sun). It's simple enough to do both. Just play in a covers band and an originals band. I've done it for years. Make a bit of lolly in one and satisfy your craving to play stuff nobody likes in the other. Job done.

If it was me.... I wouldn't PX the Cornford. I'd sell it separately. You'll get more for it than if you PX and you will be able to buy the replacement outright, which may enable you to negotiate a reduction on the price. Skank's advice above is sound. You can address the tendency of Fender Juniors to dirty up too quickly by replacing the first preamp valve with a lower gain version (see Phil McKnight's YouTube vid on the topic). I think he's right that you will probably be happiest with the Cornell. You own a high quality combo in your Cornford and standard factory offerings may leave you a little underwhelmed. Does it have to be a combo? If you don't mind a separate cab', this - https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_g112_vintage.htm - is generally reckoned to be something of a bargain (essentially, you get a Celestion Vintage 30 in a free cab). Pair it with a small valve head and you'll be in business.

Exactly. He is attempting to charge people who know little good money for his hack work. Why should we not call him out? A lot of beginners are members on here and if we can prevent any of them from being conned by this man and his ilk, I say that's a good thing. I don't care whether he has mental health issues or not. That's no excuse for ripping people off.

Such as?

The prize isn't £10m. It's around £2k. As for being "a fool not to", do you buy £50 worth of lottery tickets when the rollover tops £10m? How many times have you won the big prize? You're incorrect about how odds work, but I can't be bothered to argue.

Not necessarily. PayPal can recover funds from your bank account. Whilst "everyone has to start somewhere", accepting a bid from someone in Brazil with zero feedback is not a good idea. They may be fine, but if they're not, you've lost your money. If it was me, I'd reject the bid.

Wonder if they do what a lot of "custom builders" do. Use Warmoth parts and assemble and finish them nicely.

Oh, well if my chances of winning are 2% better than I thought, I'll have a ticket now... The value of the prize doesn't come into it. It's the chance of winning that is important if you are considering a gamble. If that wasn't the case, everyone would be backing the 100/1 outsiders at the races (which they don't, or at least only the idiots do). Oh and btw, it is a 50/1 shot.

Ah yes. The ones that make your tits look like artillery shells. Class. Re. headset mics, be careful you don't buy one that is intended for gym teachers and similar if you're on a tight budget. They're fine for speech, but don't cut it for singing (a drummer pal of mine got one and it was not good - he ended up having to buy something better). Afraid you'll have to spend a bit to get something decent.

Hmmm. As a betting man, I don't fancy those odds. A stake of £50 and a 50/1 shot. Think I'll pass, thanks.

Interesting information. Thanks chaps. I enjoyed the short history film. My '72 has the bridge pickup in line with the tone pot as blisters points out above. I've always liked the edge it gives to the instrument, although I tend to use both, with the bridge at a slightly lower level, so I get a round tone with some cut/growl but not the full Jaco. As the film points out, it does blend wonderfully with a kick drum.

None.

That difference being an awful stabbing pain in your fingers as the poorly dressed frets tear the flesh from them...

I'm always surprised when I hear MB gear in a live situation. It has that punch you can feel in your chest. In the showroom, it sounds much like other good quality brands, but it just seems to work in the real world.

Try Tricky Audio. They are licensed to build Fearless designs and will do many others.

Do you play any other instruments? A change is as good as a rest.

Particularly impressed with the mix of domed and countersunk screws used to attach the neck. Obviously used what he had in the spare screw jar...

I've had this worry with PA power amps. If your rack case has the provision to mount things either way round - i.e. has drilled strips both front and back - you can get rack shelves, which you can attach at the rear. You can then rest the rear of the amp on the shelf (get a sturdy metal one, obviously), which will take part of its weight. I always do this, even if the amp is supposed to be able to be mounted front only. It may be OK just sitting in a rack, but if dropped or struck (which happens), it might be a different story.

I have to use my subs. The power amps are built into them. However, I practically always roll off the bass - sometimes markedly so - depending on the venue acoustics. A little goes a long way and too much can easily turn everything into a mudfest.

You need to watch the impedances in bridge mode. Normally, a power amp that will run into two 4 ohm speakers in stereo will need to see 8 ohms in bridge mode.

Bob Babbitt. Although I didn't know it was him (or even who he was), the bass part on Tears of a Clown (Smokey Robinson) really made me want to play bass. It drove the entire song.