Dan Dare

Class D amps are often more tolerant of low impedance. Both of mine will run into 2 ohms. The back panel of any amp will state the minimum speaker impedance it can be used with. Because the majority of standard speaker drive units are 8 ohm. That's why cabs containing two drivers will often be 4 ohm (two 8 ohm drivers, parallel wired). They could be wired in series to give 16 ohms, but that would limit the volume they can produce with a given size of amp, so manufacturers choose parallel. Once cabs use more than two drivers, they are usually wired in a combination of series and parallel to give 8 ohms total impedance. Things can get more complicated. Impedance can vary according to frequency and, as itu points out, speaker efficiency (how much volume a cab will give for a given amount of output power) will also affect how much volume your gear can produce. From a simple, practical point of view, as long as you stick within the impedance and power limits of your amp and cabs, you'll be fine.

Hello Mac. This is not completely technically accurate, but it helps, if you don't understand impedance, to view it as your amplifier needing to see a certain amount of resistance from your speakers. If it doesn't see at least that resistance, it may attempt to deliver more power than it is capable of providing. This can cause it to overheat or even be damaged if you are running at high volumes. Once again, for those who do understand this topic, I am trying to express it in a simple to understand manner. From your post above, your Yamaha can deliver a maximum of 500W and must see a minimum impedance of 2 ohms. It will happily work into higher impedances, such as 4, 8 or 16 ohms, but not into lower. If it sees higher impedance than 2 ohms, it will deliver less power, but will be quite safe to use in that way. Note that it will only be delivering 500W when it is running flat out, which rarely happens in the real world. As a rough rule, the power an amp can provide will halve when speaker impedance doubles. So 500W into 2 ohms becomes 250W into 4 ohms, 125W into 8 ohms and so on. Speaker impedance reduces as you add more of them. So using two 8 ohm speakers means the amp sees a combined impedance of 4 ohms. And so on. If you have one 8 ohm and one 4 ohm speaker, the total impedance they present to your amp will be about 2.7 ohms. You can run both together, but be aware that the 4 ohm speaker will get twice the amount of power as the other because it provides less resistance to the amp. So make sure it can handle it. Hope this helps.

Another tea-leaf who has nicked a bass from the back of someone's motor trying to shift it. No clue what it is, but someone in the local boozer has told him it's "werf fousands", so he's giving it a go. Note no previous sales or feedback. The funniest I ever saw on eBay was a crap copy advertised as a "Jazz Precision". Someone had hacked the top off the headstock and re-located the 4th tuner to the underside of it (a la Sting Ray), but the wrong way around.

Fixed that.

Obviously a wind-up.

I read somewhere that Rumbles use Eminence Basslites, so if it's true, the potential weight saving is unlikely to be significant.

This. I avoid signature stuff because you pay extra for the same old same old. It's much the same with those "ex-famous player" instruments. You get a standard mass-produced piece of kit at an inflated price. No thanks.

Leave any amp out in the garden at this time of year and it will go dirty 😀

The above. Shops are businesses. They need to pay the staff. keep the lights on, etc. They have to offer a guarantee on anything they sell. They are up against the online discounters. Everyone moans that shops are disappearing, but nobody wants to support them. Nobody is forcing you to accept their offer. A low offer is usually a sign they don't really want something and hope you'll dispose of it elsewhere. If you want the convenience of not having to advertise it, show it to potential buyers and so on, you're going to have to pay for the privilege. Think about it. It's about the worst time of year to sell musical instruments and luxury goods. Few people are spending in January. They're too busy trying to pay off the Christmas credit card bills. so the shop knows it's going to hang about and not do anything for their cash flow quickly. Throwing a tantrum is a bit pathetic.

This is good advice. Even if you can find someone to do it, you will probably devalue the instrument or make it harder to sell. Most players want fretteds. You could look into getting a replacement bolt on neck. You could switch over the tuners to keep cost down. That way you can keep the original and return it to the instrument should you ever wish to sell it.

"Not the greatest for gigging"? Ever heard the expression "beggars can't be choosers"? £230 doesn't buy light, loud and great for gigging. Not bragging, but many of us on here use rigs that cost around ten times your budget. See Downunderwonder's post above. Something has to give.

Appears to be he-who-cannot-be-named's German cousin.

If this is the case, beware of disappearing down the rabbit hole (not to mention spending lots of money) of trying to replicate what you already have and are happy with. Your ST with the volume down for smaller jobs will still sound great and it gives you the option, should you ever need it, to push it for bigger occasions without strain. A Super Compact is a nice cab, but it won't shift air the way a ST can. The laws of physics, Jim. A ST is pretty compact for a big sounding cab, anyway. Far better (and cheaper, by the time you've taken the hit on selling your old cab and bought a new replacement)) to take Chris's advice above and get a decent trolley.

Turn it down.

Absolutely. Given that B&O/IcePower, Hypex, Pascal and others all offer proven, reliable off the shelf modules, it makes no sense for amp manufacturers to try to re-invent the wheel.

It seems we're starting to strain at this. Those with years of expertise and experience, such as Bill, Aged Horse and Stevie, have given good advice above, which should be all we need. To summarise, don't abuse your gear, ensure it matches (within reason - a 1000w amp with a 100w cab is almost bound to end in tears, but smaller discrepancies are fine as long as you are sensible) and that you use it within its specified limits. Accept that drive units, as mechanical devices, are going to wear out/fail on occasion. Even electronics components don't last for ever. C'est la vie.

Stain won't usually seal. It will, however, soak into the wood, which you may not want. If the neck is a mixture of varnished/unvarnished, you will not get an even tint and it could look terrible. There will almost certainly be some of the varnish left on the neck, which will protect the wood. When using sandpaper on a curved surface, it helps to back it with a piece of sponge, so you don't sand a flat into the surface. Friction should keep the sponge in place on the sandpaper. If it doesn't a small piece of double sided tape will.

Sounds as if you may have hit the nail on the head. Amp builders buy in the modules they use. It wouldn't be cost effective to make their own, even if (and it's a big "if") they are capable of doing so.

If you want a very small/light combo with a bit of output, you're going to have to accept that it will be fan cooled. The components are crammed in tightly and there isn't room for heat-sinking.

Companies such as Tool Station, Screwfix and RS Components sell loadsa castors and wheels. You should be able to find one that matches. Even if you don't, a set of 4 is going to be cheaper than £103. A lot cheaper.

My '72 Jazz. Had it since 1982.

Good advice from uk_lefty. Replacement scratch plates are not expensive. I've had a couple made by Jack's Instrument Services in Manchester. They're very good. You send them the original and they copy it exactly and return it with the new one. Wide choice of materials/finishes and colours. Have a look on their website.

In similar vein, I had the 2x15 Bassman cab back in the day. Awful stock drivers - flimsy pressed steel chassis, tiny magnets and seamed cones made of what looked like recycled greetings cards painted grey. I replaced them with Peavey Black Widows (which were the best I could get in the UK at the time) and it sounded great. Didn't know anything about matching cab volume to drivers, etc, but I must have got lucky as it worked really well.