Dan Dare

Great advice. ICEPower, Hypex and similar quality modules aren't cheap, either, so you're unlikely to save a lot by going the DIY route. Selling it on could be tricky, too. GSS power amps are essentially class D modules in a box. I'd be inclined to look at one of theirs.

What are you listening on? Sounds plenty fat on my PMC Result6s or DT770s.

Rumbles are the standard recommendation for beginners or those who don't want to spend a lot. I would suggest you look at 100w, rather than 40. Most 40 or 50w combos have 8" (10" if you're lucky) speakers and won't set the world alight, especially if you want to use drive or dirty sounds (when they sound like an angry wasp). They won't gig, despite what anyone claims (barring maybe with an acoustic duo in a wine bar). They're also not that easy to sell on, as will inevitably happen should you a) improve and want something more capable or b) lose interest.

I'd suggest Mr Jones is barking his wares when he says it's "useless to use his cabs with other heads". It ain't. I have both Aquilar and Carvin heads and my PJB cabs work very well with either. I actually don't like PJB heads that much. I find them a little sterile. My Aquilar (AG700), being possessed of a touch of warmth, provides a good foil to the ultra clean cabs. Don't be taken in by the marketingspeak. Don't buy on recommendation, either. Try gear out before you buy.

Hilarious. Taking a pop at Ms Dey, methinks (who, before everyone jumps on me, is an astonishing player).

I take two basses to gigs, because one is tuned a semitone flat. Our singer has a penchant for Eb and Chic's Good Times doesn't sound good without the pedal note (the fingering is also a pig on an instrument tuned EADG). So I suppose I carry a spare as it could be retuned to conventional if needed. Having said that, I've never needed a spare bass in 50 years of playing. I carry a couple of old sets of strings, so I can replace one that breaks without the replacement sounding too twangy. Never broken a string on a gig, either.

Agreed and a bargain at the price.

Reminiscent of the old joke. Bloke goes into a motor accessory shop and asks "Have you got a set of wiper blades for my Skoda?" Shop assistant thinks for a moment and replies "Sounds like a fair exchange".

Buying a used hI fi amp and small speakers is a good shout. If you already have a hi-fi, you can just use that. ART make a cheap stereo transformer/isolator box with XLR, jack and RCA ins and outs that does the job. The little Presonus speakers mentioned above are good for the money and there are plenty of other compact powered budget monitors from options from M Audio, Mackie, Yamaha et al. Active speakers are less bother because you don't have to worry about a lot of connections/wires - PC to amp, amp to speakers, etc - or finding a home for the amp.

This used to be a common occurrence. Many of the venues often didn't own the PA, lights, etc. They'd get someone in to provide it and engineer and his/her pay was what he/she charged the bands on the night. A pal of mine used to provide PA in several of the London music pubs. I never minded paying someone 20 or 30 quid to do sound/provide the gear because it worked out cheaper and was less hassle than taking our own PA (which would have meant taking an extra vehicle, plus all the setting up/tearing down and carrying it).

As a long time PJB owner/user, I think it better to add more cabs for more volume if you want clean sound. Having said that, if you're running a C8, that's pretty capable on its own in a lot of situations. It should deal with most pub/club gigs, unless the band is stupidly loud. It is, however, quite heavy and the OP wants lightness, so I'd suggest two PJB 4x5 cabs will be a lot easier to transport. I have two C4s and three 4Bs and use two or more depending on how loud I need to be. Being quite inefficient, they do take a bit of driving, although the manufacturers rating of 400w per cab is a bit optimistic, imho. I'd say 300 is nearer the mark. I have a couple of 2 ohm capable heads, so can use up to three without adding additional amplification. Technically, I suppose I could use four, but I like to err on the safe side. I've not needed to use all five together so far. The thing I like most about them, apart from the clean sound, is that they are very immediate. When I play through more conventional cabs, they feel a bit slow/plodding by comparison. As the OP also wants to use them for 7 string jazz guitar, I reckon they will do that job very well. I play a bit of jazz guitar at home through one of mine and it sounds good.

Do drugs make you a better player? No. They just make you think you are.

Rock and roll is literally an old man's game. Those who were in their teens and 20s in the 50s and 60s, when rock and roll was in its pomp, are in their 70s and 80s now. A pal of mine plays a lot of care homes. The residents want classic soul, rock and roll and similar because that's what they listened to in the halogen days of their yoof.

If you're referring to surface area, the figures are - 2x10 = 157.1 sq in, 1x12 = 113.12 sq in. You square the radius and multiply by pi to get the area of a circle. As you say, there are many other variables - efficiency, etc.

Good suggestion. And make sure you are using genuine Speakons. I've had trouble with copies in the past.

Living in Hants as I do, I'm in if I don't have a gig in the evening.

Barbie flesh, I believe he called it.

Exactly. Even a line saying "reasonable offers considered" would let potential buyers know there's room for flexibility and wouldn't make it an auction.

August is a slow month for sales of virtually everything, bar ice cream, of course. Anytime is a slow month for sales of things that are priced too high. If you don't get bites, try lowering the price. Some of the prices on Marketplace items are a little optimistic. It's all well and good saying "but I saw an identical one for sale at the same price", but that has probably been up for months with no takers as well.

As the saying goes, one door closes and another slams shut in your face...

They're all much of a muchness. The design goal for all will be in identical - make a small, low powered, low cost practice amp. Try them and see which you prefer.

That's another bit of the equation. How we are feeling, expectations, atmospheric conditions, etc all play a part. I find humid conditions make it harder to get a decent sound, which is to be expected, I suppose, given that air is "thicker" when humid. It's easy to end up chasing your tail.

This and it applies to any player, not just Dave Richmond. It isn't just down to the instrument, either. The sound you hear on records is produced in a studio, where there is access to a pile of eq options, outboard/mastering gear, etc, etc and where the acoustic environment can be tailored to suit whatever you are trying to achieve. You can also run your rig at any volume you like in a studio and route the sound via cans to the other musicians if the band is playing together. If individual members are tracking their parts, you don't even need to do that. Just play in the control room and listen via the monitors. It's one thing to dial up the ideal sound at low volumes, when your rig only has to make enough noise for a microphone a few inches from the cone to pick it up and is working well within itself. It's a different matter when you are trying to recreate that sound live, in a less than ideal acoustic space at high volumes. Often, the bass will have been DI'd. People spend a fortune on old Ampeg B15s to try to get the "Jamerson sound" because "that's what he used in the studio". He did, but the amp wasn't mic'd. It was only used so the rest of the musicians could hear the bass. His recorded sound was DI'd via a custom preamp/direct box. As meterman says, it's futile.

Is all your gigging stuff massive? If you have a small head/cab, you could get a small head/cab to use with it. I use my AG700 (which is only the size of a couple of books stacked on top of each other) with a single 4x5 PJB cab at home. Works well at low volumes.