Dan Dare

Google "Jazz bass wiring" and you'll find diagrams. Any of the online guitar parts suppliers can provide the pots (you need 250k), cap, etc. The standard J bass cap is a Sprague orange drop, in 0.047uF. You can experiment with values (try 0.022uf or 0.1uf - they're cheap) to see which you prefer. A larger value will lower the roll-off frequency. Shop around as prices vary quite a bit and don't be tempted by the exotic paper in oil capacitors some will try to tell you are vital. They're no better (and considerably bulkier) than the orange drop for guitar use (imho, obviously).

It means that a good half of the population of the US believes the world to be about 6,000 years old and to have been made in 6 days, so one is advised to treat their pronouncements on anything scientific/technical with caution (Bill F is an exception, obviously).

If you have a classic instrument that is getting scruffy, I suggest resisting the temptation. I regret stripping my old J bass (it was a very battered sunburst). Reduces the value and now "roadworn" is in vogue, anyway.

You are making my point for me. I am suggesting adding to the harmonic content - via adding keys, brass, etc - in order to make the sound fuller and more interesting. I certainly didn't say that one ought "to sound like Status Quo". They can hardly create a harmonically interesting sound, after all, with just 2 guitars, bass and drums. It's the same every time and swiftly becomes tedious.

Turn the tweeter down, too, if your cab has one.

Unless you have a complicated active bass, wiring is incredibly simple. You could do a J Bass for a great deal less than it costs to buy a kit. Three CTS pots, a capacitor, a Switchcraft socket and some decent cable is not going to cost you more than about £15. As long as you can solder, you're away.

As I said, it isn't about dynamics, volume, etc. It's about harmonic texture. Bas and drums with a solo instrument is still pretty harmonically uninteresting to the average listener, who is not interested in how accomplished the bassist is.

A classic example of solipsism, I'm afraid. To most listeners, who are not focussing solely on the bass but hearing the whole piece, a bass player, no matter how accomplished, playing on their own with a drummer and one melody instrument is not very interesting. Sorry, but that's the way it is.

Thick picks will help, as others suggest. If you're playing with a very loose wrist and slapping the strings with the pick (especially if it's thin), that will increase the noise, too.

Steve Winwood. WHAT a singer.

I'm not talking about volume, but texture and I disagree with your assertion. A band can sound "thin" if there is little happening harmonically. The worst example is the classic guitar, bass and drums trio. When the guitar player stops playing chordally and takes a break, you have drums and one, yes one note (unless the bassist uses a lot of double stops and/or chords) playing at any one time. Not very interesting and it's going to sound sparse, however much you "add authority" to the sound of the bass.

If you just want something to drive your tops for vocals, these - http://www.allen-heath.com/ahproducts/pa12-cp/ - or the Soundcraft equivalent are nice. Decent eq and onboard effects and you can often pick them up used for not a lot (which is what I did).

Probably made by one of the major string companies, as are most strings marketed by instrument companies under their own name. If the price and gauges are right for you, worth trying a set.

I like MB a lot, but Aguilar ain't bad either.

Bill's correct as usual. Many amps that run at 2 ohms have some kind of limiting circuit, anyway, to prevent excess current draw/overheating, so you're no better off than if you run them into 4 ohms as far as power output goes.

Why get a small low powered head for practices? Any modern, powerful class D head will be light (my Ag700 weights about 4 and a half pounds) and do you for full on gigs as well. Saves having to buy two.

That could cost you a lot of money one day. In practice, the premiums aren't that much greater. I get mine through the MU.

You forgot a very important point. You must use a cab that is capable of reproducing the full frequency range fed to it and at full volume. Such a beast does not exist in any transportable format.

That sounds like a recipe for cacophony. Unless it's an arranged, multi-instrument break, the rest of the band should be providing back-up when someone takes a solo and staying out of his/her way. You wouldn't all noodle away whilst the singer was singing (well, you shouldn't, anyway).

Get a keyboard player. With up to ten notes at once on tap, they fill out the harmonic palette nicely...

Very good point. Although bass players may not use compressors per se, a lot of bass rigs (especially smaller combos) do indeed compress naturally by virtue of the fact that they run out of headroom.

Anyone remember the old massive - around 2 metres tall - Orange cab? I think it was 8x12. Have tried to find a photo and failed. Ridiculous thing, but would terrify your local bar if you turned up with one.

I don't know the seller, but just spotted this in the marketplace. MB do warm vintage better than many of the lightweights and it looks to be in very nice shape. Worth a look? -

Yes. I think raising the whole neck slightly would be the way to go. As you like the way it plays, it sounds as if the neck angle is good and you just want to lower the action overall. Shimming one end of the neck will alter its angle by canting it back, so you'll lower the action at the top end, but you'll have to adjust the nut to take care of the low end. I'd experiment with varying thicknesses of card (don't glue them in place so you can change them) and then get a piece of veneer in the thickness that works best.