Dan Dare

Why? There is no escaping from the fact that housing supply/availability is very much a political issue. Why tiptoe around the proverbial elephant in the room? If you do, there is no prospect of meaningful discussion. Much truth in this. The last London house I lived in was worth serious money, but it certainly wasn't the first property I owned. I and my partner started out in a modest place in a run-down area, did some work on it, sold and moved up slightly, rinse and repeat. I moved out of London after retirement for the reason stated - I didn't want to be rattling around in a large place after my partner passed and had always fancied living in the country. Good luck with that. Apart from the fact that any government that confiscated peoples' lawfully owned assets would be committing political suicide, establishing a precedent (even if it were possible) that enabled the state to do so would be the start of a slippery and dangerous slope. How long before a government used the power for political reasons, say be sequestering assets of those it didn't like? You need to think through the consequences before merrily proposing such draconian actions.

Agreed. The biggest problem (imho, of course) is that we don't have a healthy public/affordable housing sector any more, since many publicly owned properties were sold off. A healthy public/affordable housing stock acts as a counterbalance to the cost of private rented and owned housing, because people have a choice and aren't compelled to pay ridiculous prices to rent or buy privately. The crazy increases in the cost of private housing has coincided with the decimation of the publicly owned housing stock. If you suggest doing anything about it, people start frothing at the mouth about "socialism", etc. I don't think anything can be done about treating homes as assets. Put simply, they are assets. That would be true even if they cost a fraction of what they do. Property prices are a simple consequence of demand massively out-stripping supply (in areas where people want or are able to live). People have no choice other than to pay the prices demanded if they want to live a realistic distance from where they work. The only thing that will change that is a massive increase in the supply of housing, but land is in short supply in populous areas, so where do you put the new homes? Population growth isn't helping, too. Afraid I don't think anything will change, either.

Given that they are not SVT sized lumps and you aren't bothered about the money, I'd keep both. Always handy to have a spare tucked away.

Are you really motoring for £2.5k a year all in? As Tim points out, motoring is one of those drip-drip expenses that builds up to a tidy sum over the months without you realising it. £5k works out at only £100 per week. As an all-up cost, that's not a lot. If you're covering some miles in a 2 litre estate, how much are you spending on fuel? My car is 2.4 petrol and I live in the country, so I use it quite a bit. I'm spending at least £50 a week on fuel, often more. Like you, I buy old cars for cash (so no loan repayments), do my own servicing and keep them on the road as long as I can, but even then it works out at around £100 a week all in by the time I've factored in insurance, VED, repairs I can't do myself, etc, which is the figure Tim stated.

I agree that £5k a year is about right for the total running cost of a vehicle. It's about what I spend. The original point that I disagreed with was that one can't buy a decent vehicle for less than £5k. My present car cost me £2300 four years ago. It's 20 years old now, not a wreck by any means and is large enough to carry me, my bass rig and PA easily. It's a bit thirsty, but I service it myself and carry out minor repairs that don't require specialist equipment or a hoist, which saves money. I've always done so. When I started driving, the only way to motor on a tight budget was to buy a banger and do your own maintenance. Many these days are unwilling to pick up a spanner. Agreed again. My current PA is 2x750W and I have a 700W bass amp. I certainly didn't start out with that. I had the obligatory HH 100W PA amp and a 100W bass amp. By the standards of today, it was crap, but it did the job and got me going. Since then, I've gradually upgraded to what I have now. Fair enough, really. There has to be some reward for working for 50 odd years. A lot won't, which is one of the reasons many music venues are half empty. Why would people stick around to hear terrible stuff at ear-bleeding volumes?

Anything worth having is hard graft. The world owes us nothing. Everyone has to find money for fuel, food and accommodation. They all have to tax and insure their vehicles. What makes musicians exempt from this? "Forced into a job"? What makes a musician so special that he/she shouldn't have to work for a living? If you want to do or become something, it's perfectly normal and reasonable that you work for a living and treat that something as a side-line, hopefully building it up to become a profession over time. Work on it in your free time in the evenings and at weekends and don't expect a free ride from the rest of us whilst you "make it". You can buy a vehicle that will get you about for a lot less than 5k. Of course, you may have to lift the bonnet and get your hands dirty occasionally (horror of horrors - don't you know I'm an artiste and have to protect my delicate hands?) to keep it going, but tough.

Blimey. 775W a side into 8 ohms would be well over a kilowatt bridged. You could vaporise your PB300 with that... QSC power amps are very good. I used them for my PA until I went down the active cab route.

Ah, you're running it with a Flightcase combo. That must be a nice rig. I got into PJB stuff via picking up a used Flightcase. I liked the sound, but wanted more of it, so got a couple of C4s and drove them with a power amp fed by the Flightcase. Eventually sold the Flightcase and got three 4Bs, which I like a bit better than the C4s, plus a couple of 2 ohm capable amps. I mix and match according to the requirements of the job. I'm not so keen on PJB heads. I find them a bit too hi-fi when used with PJB cabs. I realise super clean is the PJB design intention, but I prefer my Aguilar or Carvin with them. YMMV, horses for courses, etc. You could pick up a used power amp for not much money if it's only temporary. Wouldn't stack neatly with the Flightcase and PB300 (you'd probably have to put it on the floor behind the rig), but would do as a temporary fix whilst the PB300 amp is being repaired and used power amps are pretty cheap.

Absolutely. I also hate the way they over-enunciate every word.

Roadwork? As in dragged behind a car, I assume.

"I do this as a hobby to keep dimentia, arthritis and God knows what else at bay"... Quite. One suspects he will be keeping buyers at bay, too.

The built in amp on the PB300 is rated at 250W, so you won't need a powerhouse to drive it. Do make sure you connect the drivers correctly. They are probably wired series/parallel to give 6 ohms (or so) impedance. Individual PJB drivers are normally rated at 8 ohms. My four driver PJB cabs are all wired series/parallel to give 8 ohms total impedance. They claim 400W power handling each, but I Find they are happy with a little over half that. Removing the plate amp from the back of it it will leave a sizeable hole, which you will need to fashion a cover for. A piece of ply with a Speakon connector let into it should do the trick as a temporary fix.

To an extent, this is a useful suggestion. However, I don't think anyone deliberately does a poor job. They try their best. All the self-criticism/evaluation in the world won't help if someone is simply not capable of doing any better. Everybody's abilities are finite. It may well be that they are not suited to the style of music (which appears to be the case here), but that doesn't alter the fact that they cannot cut it. If someone's best is not up to snuff, you have two choices. Accept that things will never get any better or replace them. By all means do the deed tactfully and not unkindly, but there's no mileage in shying away from it if they are holding everyone else back.

I highly recommend sarcasm - "Thank you so much for pointing out my error. I would never have known I had made a mistake had you not drawn everyone's attention to it. I'll go home and practice for ten hours a day. Please, please forgive me. I am not worthy", etc, etc.

On a more serious note, this.

Imho, it depends on the instrument. The better Mexican instruments use (or used to use) the same components as US built. I have a Mexican active deluxe P (P/J) which is much better put together than my '72 Jazz. Mind you, A Harley Benton would probably be better built than a '70s US Fender...

Get the band to stand in a line and say "all band members take one step forward. Hey (name of member you want to fire), where do you think you're going?"

I carry two, but only because our singer has a penchant for Eb, so one is tuned down a semitone to give me the low fundamental and make the fingering easier. Obvs, I could tune it up if needed.

Fret sprout is not uncommon on instruments that are built in one climate and shipped to another. Or maybe the wood used for that instrument hadn't been sufficiently dried/seasoned. Usually the result of the wood shrinking as it dries, leaving the fret ends poking out. Not by a lot, but enough to make the neck feel horrible. If a shop hadn't picked up on it and addressed the issue (they usually just need a swift file and smoothing), it suggests that they don't check instruments before putting them out on the racks.

Perhaps not the best response to someone posting who is blind. Ah well, it was a couple of years ago...

Add neglecting to tune your instrument and cranking it in a tiny venue you could take over some of the guitard's duties, too.

I think the discussion might be getting a little ahead of itself. It's difficult for us to make practical suggestions for someone who has hearing loss, especially if they have a limited budget and are looking to buy used. We simply can't put ourselves in a person's position if they are hearing impaired and know what to recommend. You often can't try used gear in a playing environment. I would advise the OP to take the time to try a variety of options at some decent shops. If he finds something that works for him, even if it is out of budget, better to borrow or save to get it, buy once and cry once and at least have something that does the job.

I fear you're correct. Like you, I avoid couples in bands like the plague. Suggest that one might change or improve something and the other is in your face, etc.

She's been working down to it. Tried all the other instruments and couldn't hack it and finally thinks "everyone can play bass, even me". Edit to add: Just realised you were probably wondering about why Linda M never tried , rather than the woman in the OP's band (which is who my comment was aimed at).

Not to mention a rig. She appears to have a bass.