Dan Dare

Probably used it as an oar

It's a practice amp. Perfectly good for that purpose, but you won't gig with it.

How was my gig last night? A struggle. Won't disclose location, but it was in a south western city where they like to chuck statues in the harbour. The venue was smallish, with a hollow wooden stage. The backline (provided, which was nice) was a couple of modestly sized and decent quality combos, so we thought it would be simple to play at reasonable onstage levels and let the PA take care of out front. Afraid not. The PA cabs stood directly on the stage. No stands or isolation. The top boxes were 15s+horns and the subs were 15s. The subs made the stage resonate like a giant double bass and the result was one note bass flub. The walls were bare, the ceiling was low and it was an echo chamber. The sound was horrible. The soundman's solution was to push the levels - out front and monitors - even harder when we explained we were having difficulty hearing what was going on during the soundcheck. Eventually, I asked politely if he could lose a lot of the low end and dial the subs right back. Everything cleaned up noticeably and we were reasonably happy. Problem solved? If only. The minute we began our set, the sub levels went back up and all the low end we had asked to be removed re-appeared. I had to play entirely by sight. Couldn't distinguish individual notes at all. Our singer did a great job. The way she managed without being able to hear anything she was doing was impressive. What is it about subs that causes people to crank them so hard that every bass note and kick drum beat results in a giant BOOOOOF? We wondered whether it was just a quirk of the stage sound, but when we stayed to hear a couple of numbers from the second band, it was the same out in the room. I'm getting too old for this caper.

You can't really blame companies for being leery about fixing something bought used.

A decent (I'm referring to ability, rather than temperament, personality, etc, which you tend only to find out about over time) drummer will always be in demand, so it isn't that surprising. They get more offers than most musicians, so are more likely to be offski.

Don't forget the banjo

Never ever? This is turning into the Why-don't-you-yes-but game (Eric Berne - Games People Play). Ah well, we tried.

Fair enough, but look. You posted on here about how you were unhappy about the way you played at a session. Being a decent bunch, people on here weighed in with sympathetic comments, sensible advice, etc. The next minute, you are disparaging people with no "drive", etc. Wasting time being "hard on yourself" (and/or others) is completely unproductive. You don't improve by making yourself or others suffer. You improve by working at it. You can't have it both ways. Most of us have or had (some of us are retired now) kids, houses, jobs, bills to pay, etc. It can be difficult to balance all the demands on ones time, but your situation is far from unique. How do you suppose others in your position manage? It's always possible to find half an hour to practice (use headphones so you don't disturb the family). How many hours telly do you watch a week? Knock a couple of hours off that and bingo, there's your practice time. I ditched my telly many years ago, when my daughter went to uni'. Obviously, you cannot do that if you have a family who like to watch it, but you don't have to sit in front of it because they are. I get a hell of a lot more done without that thief of my time sitting in the lounge. You don't have to go to that extreme, but you do have options.

So has all the beating yourself up led to your prospering? All the "drive" in the world is no substitute for ability. If you are making basic errors at jam sessions, the answer is practice, practice and more practice, not giving yourself a hard time. In my experience, people who say "I'm hard on myself" often use it as justification to be unpleasant to others.

Blimey. If anyone knows a brand new combo for £300 that'll do all that, order one for me, will you? Sandy's recommendation above is about as close as you'll get, but even that is closer to £350 new. Used will open the options a little more. If you don't live anywhere near a music shop, it's worth taking a day off work to visit a few and try things. Buying blind (or should that be deaf?) is a great way to end up disappointed.

All the time. I reckon aliens are changing numbers I've previously learned...

Or even Minty = damaged a bit more I enjoy some of the AI descriptions that are appearing on eBay recently, For example, "whether you're a beginner or a seasoned professional, this bass is sure to tick all the boxes" (a genuine word-for-word quote from one particularly desperate listing).

Trying gear for yourself is key. If you like what it does, that's all that matters. It's worth travelling somewhere where there is a good range of things to try. The last time I brought new gear, I took a day's leave from work and spent it at Bass Direct (other shops are available) trying things. It meant a bit of a journey, but I'm still using and happy with what I bought that day. It's worth thinking about buying something that has the potential to be added to should you need to make more noise in the future. If you ensure the head or combo you buy has a preamp/line out, you can augment it with extra amps and/or cabs without having to sell and starting from scratch.

Johnny's a monster player. Love it.

To sum up, it's OK not to like something.

Completely agree, Bill. I wouldn't recommend the Ampeg either in this case, but didn't want to repeat my point. It does grate a bit that, when someone seeks advice on here along the lines of "I'm a newbie/occasional player/don't have much to spend. Recommend me gear", the Greek chorus piles in with "Buy Barefaced, LFSYS, GR, Aguilar, etc. Nothing else is worth looking at". Yes, premium gear is great. I'm fortunate to own some myself. But some just cannot afford to push the boat out that far. Others are occasional players who don't want or need the best, just something that will do the job. You always offer sound (no pun intended) advice on here, which I appreciate.

No such thing as bad publicity, as P T Barnum observed.

It has. See the date stamp on the photo. Sad waste of a G&L MFD humbucker.

I'd say I was a fool for not putting the instrument away safely.

Once again, someone who is "not looking to spend much" is being recommended Barefaced, LFSYS and similar... I know. Buy once and cry once is the ideal, but some simply cannot afford to do so.

It's a possibility. I was discussing the experience with another pal who plays the fiddle and he told me the guy had been going round auditioning for people and behaving much as he had with me.

Check out Nervous Norvus - Transfusion (1956): Also Jimmy Cross - I Want My Baby Back (1965):

I told a couple of pals about it and they reckoned he'd done one of these self help/pop psychology courses, such as EST, that were all the rage in the 80s. They were all about being "assertive" (code for being an arrogant, self-regarding tw@t) and the like.

They're made from it. And plastic of course...

Contact Custom Cans (Google will find them). They do Beyer spares. Just got some stuff from them. Reasonable prices and 24 hour delivery.