Dan Dare

The issue then is, of course, that they may be reluctant to have you in their band. We all need to find our level.

Agreed. The volume/gain control on a power amp is only an input attenuator (it cuts the signal entering the power amp). It is useful in cases where you don't have a way to reduce the signal strength of what you're feeding the power amp, but if you have a master volume on your preamp, use that.

Tricky. If they're decent blokes and I had nothing else on the go, I'd probably agree to give it a try on a provisional bases ("Let's see how we get on", etc), However, I'd insist on rehearsals and subtly suggest improvements/get people to tune up, etc. Which might mean I wouldn't last long... On the other hand, the singer might be grateful for an ally, who wants to do his songs justice, so you and he could work on knocking the others into shape.

Shift working is not unique to the police. I've played in bands with doctors, retail and maintenance workers, all of who worked shifts. It can occasionally limit the band's ability to take last minute bookings, but it's not an insurmountable problem.

I carry a set of part used strings so I can replace one that breaks and not have the replacement twanging and stretching and causing issues if I have to change one on a gig. I would happily offer then to someone who broke a string, but wouldn't lend them my instrument. I once had a similar experience to Cat Burrito, where someone I offered to lend a bass to moaned about it being strung with flats. I put it back in the case and told them to make other arrangements.

If you want a nicer, slightly more solid replacement for a BBOT, the Gotoh 203 is the one. Not high mass, but slightly heftier, smoothly finished and no sharp edges, brass saddles, all for around £25. Has 7 screw holes - the rear 5 are the same as the BBOT and you don't need to drill for the other 2 at the front of the bridge if you don't want to. I have them on several basses.

If you do make up your own, use real Speakons. Most imitations are rubbish (some won't even fit actual Speakon terminals without persuasion). It really isn't worth saving £1 per connector for the aggravation.

Are you sure? I have an old A&H PA12 that has 2 and built in fx. The A&H ZED-12FX has 4.

Tbf to Thomann, this sounds like a shipping issue rather than anything they are doing. It's the same with virtually any overseas online seller. People go for those low, low prices and wonder why back-up and assistance is not as instant as it would be from the shop down the road. You can't have your cake and eat it.

This sums it up. We, because we play bass, spend hours tweaking and fettling to get "my tone". It may sound great at home, but if it doesn't work in context - be that working in the room acoustic, suiting the song, blending with and complementing the other instruments - then it's no use. People don't listen to the bass in isolation. If we're running entirely through the PA, that can be left to the engineer, but where we use backline for the room sound, it's important to set it to suit. Since I started using a long lead or wireless to check how the bass works out front, I have thinned out the sound I use and added a little midrange bark/bite to it, so it sits right and has more clarity and less bloom. It may not be the most pleasing sound to me in isolation, but it works better as part of the whole.

Yamaha Stagepass systems are decent for the money, but are essentially plastic boxes plus powered mixer. Better than most generic Chinese plastic boxes, but not really an improvement on the Mackies you want to get rid of, save for the fact that they will be lighter/more compact.

In a nutshell. The following is a major red flag. You can wear specialised plugs that do mot completely isolate you from your surroundings if you want to protect your hearing. He is using headphones to hide in his own little world and avoid contact with the rest of the musicians.

Agreed. I borrowed one once from a pal and it was impressive for a lightweight combo with a single 10" driver, but it wouldn't have been nearly enough in a band with two loud guitar amps. Re. the OP's question, I'd be looking for a compact cab to use with the Streamliner, which is a compact, easy to carry head. Buying another amp in a combo seems a waste, especially as the budget is not large.

Depends on your budget. I ran large and heavy RCF cabs and, with advancing years, got fed up with lugging them, power amps, etc up and down the stairs to my flat. I did a lot of reading and was drawn to the idea of powered subs and compact line array tops. There are a number of companies that make such systems. I auditioned quite a few and settled on Fohhn. Not the cheapest, but made in Germany and good back-up for spares and repair. I run XS22 subs (12", but surprisingly large sounding and I'm not routing full kit and bass at very high volumes through them) and LX150 tops (twelve 4" drivers plus horn in each). Sounds like a giant hi-fi. Very good onboard DSP/eq, so matching to rooms is easy. The slight downside was the fact that they cost me £7k around 5 years ago, but you can't take it with you and they'll probably see me out. They haven't missed a beat and I'm very happy with them. Google Fohhn Linea LX150 (soundonsound.com) for a review. Of the conventional sub plus top box systems I auditioned, I was very tempted by Nexo. Sound quality of a single sub plus two 10"+ horn top boxes was excellent and it was ridiculously powerful for its size. It needed additional power amps and processor, which added to the weight/number of boxes I would have needed to carry and was on a par with the Fohhn system, cost wise.

I'm assuming you want analogue as the MG10XU is. Mackie, Soundcraft and Allen & Heath all offer compact mixers that should to the job.

Save your money and make them up yourself. Buy good quality cable - Van Damme or similar with 2.5 mm conductors - and the Speakons. If you can cut and strip cable and turn a screwdriver (no soldering required with Speakons), it's a piece of p1ss.

At the age of 67, I can confidently say I'll never be able to play like that, no matter what I do. It warms the cockles of my crusty old heart to see them do it, but I am a realist. Related to that, I see there have been a couple of comments along the lines of "those youngsters are technically brilliant, but robotic/have no soul", which seems a defensive reaction. It's as if some feel threatened by their ability. The obvious response is that, yes, they may be mainly about technique at the age of 15, but by the time they're 21 or so and have learned and listened more, they're going to be outstanding in every respect. Sometimes, we have to accept that life isn't fair and that ability is inherent as well as worked for. Some people are just better equipped for certain things than others. They have to put the effort in, of course, but their mix of physical and intellectual attributes gives them a head start and means they can take it further.

There's a big difference between market value (what a willing buyer would pay) and the price a retailer charges or attempts to charge. I only ever buy things privately or at auction. It's less convenient than just walking into a shop and saying "I'll take that one", but if you want to see a return, it's the best way to go. A retailer is in business and has to make a profit. Fair enough. He has a living to make, but if you are looking to purchase as an investment, you really need to eliminate his profit from the calculation. It's better, in my experience, to buy several nice, but not outrageous instruments than something like a '52 P bass. Everyone knows a '52 is highly desirable and your chances of picking it up at a price that enables you to see a profit are reduced as a result. True, you may not get the pride of ownership/bragging rights that come with the '52, but your bank balance will see the benefit. Often, the biggest gains - in poercentage terms - are to be had with more modest instruments.

It'll work (virtually any instrument will), but you will likely lose resale value.

A used small format mixer is good/cheap. You can run tracks through it to play along with, too.

That's the trouble with t'internet. I spend loads of time watching all these astonishing players and thinking "Why do I bother? I'll never be able to get remotely near to that". I suppose it's satisfying to be able to steal the odd (easy) lick from them, but it's not much in the grand scheme of things. Ah well.

True. The only things I have made respectable financial gains on have been musical instruments and my homes (property is a no-brainer, of course, but most of us ordinary mortals can only afford to own one at a time). Anytime I have spare cash, I look for an instrument. Obviously, you have to know what you're buying and new (unless it's something particularly desirable, limited edition/only 50 made, etc) is not the way to go. You have to be prepared to hold onto them for a while, too, so it's not the thing to do if you may need to access your cash quickly, but that applies to many assets. Much more fun than looking at figures on a bank statement, too.

It could also be argued that it's the more civilised way to behave. In a similar situation, I would be sympathetic to the drummer, even if I disagreed with him. They are respecting his decision and not attempting to persuade or force him to do something he doesn't want to do. It would not be reasonable for someone who is not happy to go out and play to expect everyone else to do likewise, whatever his reasons (understandable or not) are. No point in starting arguments in circumstances like that. Just move on. Life's too short.

Or something wrong with the cab

Looks as if he drew the cover artwork for his mighty tome. I wonder what Virginia got up to in Greece?