Dan Dare

I use one of my C4s similarly. I thought about a C2 (because I'm a PJB fanboi), but couldn't justify it. My C4s are gig suitable and one is small enough to be fine for use at home.

Amen to this. I've encountered a number of musicians who appear to believe that "stuff just happens" - PA, lights, bookings, etc just materalise out of the ether. They don't seem to consider that the money to pay for the kit had to be earned. Perhaps their mums and dads bought them everything and they never had to worry where it came from. That was certainly true of one keyboard player I used to know. Great player, but expected everything on a silver platter. And they don't earn if nobody can hear or see them because there's no PA and no lights. You can turn out for any band because you've made the effort to kit yourself out. What are they going to do without your gear? They will have to buy their own or hire. Either way, it's going to cost them, so they may as well give you a few bob to use yours. Don't under-sell yourself. You've invested time, effort and money into acquiring your gear. Unless you're a hopeless player (which I'm sure you're not), you don't need to buy your way into a band.

In a band where everyone is an equal contributor (so excluding those which are essentially backing bands for someone, pickup bands, those with a leader who gets all the work, provides the PA and so on, for example), the best way I've found is for the following to be deducted and paid from the gig fee before it's shared out: Reasonable travel and out of pocket expenses. Anyone contributing jointly-used equipment is paid an agreed sum for its use. In bands I play in, for example, I supply a PA and monitors that cost me around £10k in total, so I charge a small amount for them to use it. If people aren't happy about that, I'm OK with their finding an alternative. It means less work for me and less to carry, set up, etc. Agents' fee, etc. Once that's deducted, divide the remainder equally. It's important for it to be agreed and clear from the start how fees are to be divided.

The problem is that you will short the + and - speaker terminals even if you follow your plan to wire the different configurations to different sockets. Try drawing both wiring types and see. You could break the shorts using switches, but forget to set them correctly just once and it's probably bye bye amp. I wouldn't risk it.

Is the difference between a 1x10 and a 1x8 really worth spending money on or taking the trouble to build something? A 1x10 is pretty compact, after all.

Neat looking rig. The mini line array plus powered sub option does give the best bang for your buck, imho, if you can afford them. Good ones are not cheap, as you point out. They're light and their modular nature means they pack up very compact and are easy to transport. As I say above, I often use just one of my subs and a couple of 10" HK top boxes (which are normally my monitors) for smaller gigs and it does a great job. I did pretty exhaustive testing/listening when buying my current PA a few years back. I went for Fohhn (XS22 subs plus LX150 tops), because I didn't want plastic boxes and because their back-up/repair is reputed to be very good (haven't had to test that out yet). They are also made in Germany, not China - a plus for me as I try to avoid Chinese stuff (try getting it repaired). There are plenty of other good choices - I also liked HK Elements, LD Maui, RCF Evox and some JBLs and EVs I can't remember the model numbers of. As is usual, you get what you pay for. There are more budget models available nowadays, which are OK, but a bit limited when you want to push them harder.

Fohhn XS22. A smaller good quality sub will beat a cheaper big one all day long. As you've found, big budget subs tend to be flub/flab boxes.

Blimey. That's awful. Great player. Solid, tasty and never overcooked it.

Presumably, your replacement drummer will have transport, so that's three vehicles (unless he carries his kit in a Smart car). A PA cab in each and sub in the other should be doable. You won't necessarily need two subs if you do decide to replace the Alto. It's surprising what a good quality single 12" sub can do. I often use just one of mine with 10" top boxes and it's ample for surprisingly large rooms. Your existing top boxes are 12s, so they can perform some low end duty. It doesn't seem you'll gain much by replacing them with larger 15s. Three smaller boxes - one in each vehicle - will probably be a more practical proposition.

The AG700 uses the same ICEpower module and can be found used relatively regularly if that helps. A pal has a D800. I compared it to an AG700 and preferred the AG700 preamp, so got one.

Over 40 odd years: Ohm 60w combo Fender Bassman 135 + matching 2x15 Bassman head sold and replaced with Trace AH250 (cab kept and drivers replaced with Peavey Black Widows) AH250 sold and replaced with BBE pre + RSE 500w power amp + SVT 2x10 and 1x15 cabs (would have kept Bassman cab but it was stolen) Pre sold and power amp relegated to driving PA monitors. Replaced with EBS HD350 SVT cabs sold and replaced with three PJB 4Bs PJB Flightcase bought for small jobs EBS replaced with Carvin B1000 Bugera Veyron bought as backup amp Flightcase and Veyron sold and AG700 bought as main amp, plus two PJB C4s (still have 4Bs and Carvin) Berg 1x12 bought to add a bit more weight to C4s Bit of a ragbag assortment, but has done the job for me. Much of it has been bought used, so have not spent massive sums.

Yes. I wouldn't call it an upgrade, exactly. More a sideways change. The Waverleys on my F5 were getting a bit slack and reluctant to hold tune, so I replaced them with Schallers. They've been very good so far (replaced at least 10 years ago).

Agreed. Given that JP pulled the frets on his J bass, filled the slots and coated the board with epoxy and sanded the lot smooth, a resin board was more authentic to the original. And who doesn't love to save 3 grand?

GSS Sumo? GSS make several power amps, up to 1200W, which are very compact. Not too expensive, either. Someone was selling one on here recently.

I make my own.

Ah yes. The old "halve the value of your neck by slapping on a tin of Ronseal" trick.

Is there any excuse for it? How about insanity?

Yep. If you're the sort of person who carries spare leads, etc, yours are likely to be in good nick and not fail unexpectedly.

The best help we can give is to suggest you go to a few decent shops and try stuff. Everyone is different and what we like may not please you. If you like MB, it would be sensible to stick with them. There may be nothing wrong with your existing amp. Many amps have a thermal cut out (my AG700 does, for example. Not sure about yours) and it could simply have been doing what it was supposed to do. The fact that it was fine the following day would support that.

I use PJB cabs and can confirm that an additional one will give you more of everything and a much fuller sound. I have two C4s and three 4Bs. Two C4s is my go to compact rig for most occasions. 4Bs are more old school sounding - a little softer and fuller, but without some of the midrange punch of the C4s. I like them when playing with my soul band, for example. As you know, PJB cabs are quite inefficient and take some driving, but your PJB head should have plenty enough grunt to power an extra cab. I occasionally use a C4 with a Berg' single 12 (no tweeter - don't like them for bass). I like the combination. It goes surprisingly loud and the clarity of the C4 complements the 12 nicely. You would really need to experiment if you wish to add a different type of cab to your C4 to find one that works well with it. An additional C4 is a safe choice that you can be certain will work.

That is a particularly nice looking sunburst. If it was mine, I wouldn't change it.

The headstock is genius. Or should that be genitalia?

If you're bothered about it, you can get removable castors that push into a plate mounted on the cab base. My old Bassman 2x15 had them.

Bill, should you allow for the wadding when working out cab volume, or does it not affect it? Thanks.