Dan Dare

Swamp ash will be a little lighter (and we all know wood makes no difference to the sound of a solid electric instrument, don't we? ). If you can afford the extra £60, I'd go for it.

Used one fairly recently at a jam session. Nice combo - small, neat and very clean sounding. Punchy for their size, but you really need the add on speaker to get enough out of them to compete with a drummer.

Brave, Minister, as Sir Humphrey would have said.

If the instrument's worth a bit, isn't a cheap gig bag a false economy? I went through a couple of cheapies before seeing the light and getting a Fusion. Wish I'd got one first off.

A guitar playing pal of mine had a harness made, that sits on both shoulders and spreads the weight. He swears by it. They are available commercially, for example, [url="http://www.slingerstraps.com/harness-strap-guitar-strap.html."]http://www.slingerst...tar-strap.html.[/url] There's a Planet Waves version that's available in this country. May be worth a try.

What Rhys said. No warranty might not be an issue with something like a simple passive electric bass (little to go wrong and not expensive to fix most things), but caution advised over anything electronic.

Spot on, Pete. Have to say, those stating on here that they expect the band/singer to own/provide the PA and that they should only have to provide their own instrument/backline are not living in the real world. A PA is used for the benefit of the entire band - unless instrumental only and even then, PA support will be needed for larger venues. Try getting gigs without a singer/singers. A PA (I'm talking about something more sophisticated than the small, powered mixer + 2 plastic cabs type of set-up) is a major investment and it is right that everyone should contribute, either via buying it or paying the person who owns it for its use.

Love the colour. Very regal.

Oxfam shop

Good drummers make you smile and make everything feel right with the world. It's no effort to play with them. Poor ones make everything a chore - you play harder to try to nail down and emphasise the timing and finish the gig with blisters...

Oh, all right. I'll be serious. I always think a Jazz Bass makes a great fretless. The pickup configuration just seems to make the right noise. I'm not saying that just because JP played one. My fretless is a J. However, you really need to go shopping and try some out. What suits me may not be your cup of tea. Have fun.

I think it depends on the size of the PA. A simple, small scale vocal only PA is traditionally owned by vocalist(s). However, when you add things like monitors for the rest of the band and increase the size of the PA, it can get tricky (and expensive). I'm fortunate to own a high quality PA (have been playing a long time and have built up to it). So when I take it out for the bands I play in, I expect a fee - not necessarily a large one, but it's reasonable that, if they benefit from my kit, they should pay me. Having been in bands where PAs are jointly owned, I suggest that the component parts should be owned individually by band members. It's much easier, should someone leave, for their replacement just to provide whatever they took with them -- mixer, power amp or whatever - and saves all those arguments about buying people out, or worse, selling stuff at a loss and splitting the money, only to start again.

Here you go - [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Westfield-bass-guitar-/162201173277?hash=item25c3f17d1d:g:y-8AAOSwknJX19k0."]http://www.ebay.co.u...8AAOSwknJX19k0.[/url] Pull the frets, fill the slots with Plastic Wood and spend the money on a nice holiday. Many happy returns.

I use a Gator, too for my lightweight head. Works well - added a bit of extra padding.

Bass related injuries? Do they include being hit with a P bass round the head? Happened to someone I know once. I'll get me coat...

In my experience, forces bases hire bands through agents, so you need to find out who your local bases use and try to get on their books. My experience has been similar to BottomE's. Very much a drinking culture, but they treat and pay you well.

Those GK MBs really are Swiss Army Knife amps. They seem to work well with most things. I use one with PJB cabs and it sounds great.

I had an interesting experience when looking for a 1x12 combo. Tried a few in the shop and the MB 121P was the best sounding by quite a margin. Was about to buy one when I spotted a Phil Jones C4 (4x5) in a corner. Asked what I was like and they plugged a baby GK head into it. Tried it and was amazed. It was louder than the Mark and the tone was much nicer. Ended up buying one and using it with my regular head for small gigs. Have since bought another and am picking up a third next week (my head will run into 2 ohms). Should give me a flexible set up that will handle most things.

Ah, memories. I put a couple of Black Widows in mine when the original drivers died. Not light, but what a sound. Couldn't carry it now at my advanced age.

He's pretty astonishing, isn't he? I don't like the band (not old git's music), but he's dynamite. I remember Ed Friedland did a piece on him on his YouTube channel and said he reckoned he'd (Ed) have tendinitis within a couple of weeks if he tried to play like Steve every night.

Nice. Glad he enjoyed the gig.

I have no problem with someone singing through my PA. I'd prefer it if they brought their own mic, but many do anyway. If not, they get my well used old SM58 that I keep for such eventualities (I don't loan them one of my condensers). As long as they're not head-bangers, it's not a problem. I'd just say fine if I was you.