Dan Dare

Anyone know what plectrums he used 😁?

Don't feed the troll, boys and girls. Btw, in answer to the original question, I had a similar problem some years back. It turned out that I was damping a little too aggressively with the right hand and causing the strings to tap on the pickup magnets. A few weeks of working on being a little less heavy handed cured the problem.

A pleasure. As Woodwind says, several smaller cabs is easier to carry than a single larger one. It's worth looking at used gear to save some money. PJB stuff tends not to be bought by hooligans, so can often be picked up in very good condition. I had a flightcase (which was what led me to PJB stuff originally). I bought it mint from a jazzer, who had barely tickled it with his double bass. I loved the sound of it and used it for a time with an additional power amp and cabs for more volume. I sold it to help fund my current head (AG700).

I have a couple of C4s and three of the older 4Bs (which uses the same drivers in a larger cabinet and sounds a little more old school than the C4). The C8 is effectively two C4s in one box. I like the PJB sound very much (as you can probably gather). However, there are a few things you need to be aware of if you have not used them. I would certainly suggest a test drive before buying. They are not very efficient and take a bit of driving. You will need amplification with some power. The sound is very clean. It certainly isn't sterile and I wouldn't call it "hi-fi" as some do. I like the clarity, but it lacks that bloom (for want of a better term) that many traditional bass cabs seem to produce. Switching to PJB cabs can leave you feeling there is something missing until you become accustomed to the sound. For me, that missing something is colouration and mud, but if you play in a loud rock band, you may find the sound a bit too polite. Related to that is that those 5" drivers, although they can shift a lot of air for their size, need to be used in multiples in any situation requiring volume. I use two cabs (which will be equivalent to the C8 you are looking at) with a 700w head for pubs/bars at average volumes and more for larger occasions. Two C4s and a decent tweeterless 12 (I use a Berg') makes a clean, compact powerful rig with good low end poke, plenty of clarity and none of that spiky quality most tweeters seem to produce. Hope this is of some help.

Perhaps they mean rare as in under-cooked...

Every clip I see from Standing in the Shadows of Motown reminds me why it's my favourite film. Just magic.

Doesn't hurt to repeat it. Music is one of those things that can be a job or a hobby. People do it in the manner of their choosing. Nothing wrong with that.

This. My two bands play in a couple of locals for beers because they're nice places and the landlords are gents who give us paying gigs. It's not far to travel and means a fun evening on quiet nights early in the week.

My local recycling centre has a bin for metals, so they go in there.

Frank Zappa - "All the good music has already been written by people with wigs and stuff"

He was known to be fond of God's own county. Apparently, his party trick was to play with a ferret down his trousers. You can see evidence of it on the live clip of him playing What's Going On with Marvin Gaye. Note the way he keeps shifting from side to side in his seat as the little fella burrows about in his trollies.

Anyone know what brand of foam he put under his strings?

I agree with davebass above. By the time you've messed around sourcing plugs, soldering them up (and ruining a few), etc, it's probably best to buy ready made links.

I'm of the opinion that power cords are what supplies electricity to your gear

You could use additional cabs with a combo that won't drive them if you add a power amp, but that adds cost and is more to carry. This would probably clash with your wish for something "small, light and powerful". Separate head and cabs is more flexible. You can take as much/little as you need for a particular job. If you're spending proper money, which you appear to be, please try to visit somewhere with a decent range of options and try/compare things before making a decision. We will tend to recommend what we have/like and what suits us might not work for you. eBay, the Marketplace on here, etc are full of nearly new equipment that has probably been bought on the basis of favourable reviews. It's worth taking some time to make an informed decision. "Small light and powerful" doesn't usually go with "moderately priced". I've no doubt you know that. If the thing you really want is a bit more than your budget, try to scrape together the extra somehow. You'll be much happier in the long term (I speak from experience) and probably better off. It's almost inevitable that, if you settle for something you don't really want, you'll probably end up buying again.

Joe's back is fine. Not sure about his neck, though.

BB is the reason I started playing bass. The part on Tears of a Clown was the thing that first inspired me to want to do so. Great player.

I've found that groundwounds (which were originally introduced to give a bright string with a smoother feel than rounds) dull quite quickly and end up sounding more like flats. A brighter sounding set of flats (Chromes, EB Brites, Cobalts or similar) might be a better option and will certainly be easier to find.

If you're coming from rounds and want a halfway house between them and full on flat wound thump, try D'Addario Chromes in 40-95 gauge. They are slightly lower tension than most flats, so won't feel like ropes under your fingers and you shouldn't need to adjust the truss rod. They are quite bright to start with and mellow nicely, but without going to the full aged La Bella thud. They work particularly well on a Jazz bass.

The issue with low frequencies is that they are structure-borne as well as airborne. Even if you manage to prevent or limit airborne noise from spreading, they still will cause floorboards, etc to resonate and migrate through the building. So soundproofing will be of limited help, especially as you want to reduce the disturbance to your partner, who lives in the same house. Is it possible to record using headphones? Failing that, placing the cab on something like thick, dense foam and recording at low volume (not necessarily a problem if you are using a mic' close to the driver cone) may help. But it is unlikely to completely solve the problem.

If you want simple and powerful, a Hartke LH1000 has to be on your shopping list. 3 band eq, shape control and lotsa watts.

The nicest lightweight, compact PA I heard was a pair of Nexo 10 + horn tops and sub. You could fit it all in the boot of a small hatchback. Not cheap, mind, by the time you add the necessary amplification and Nexo controller.

K&M for me, too. Not too pricey, which is nice.

The other issue with steel wool is that the fragments will coat your pickup magnets in a fine metallic fur that you'll never completely shift. I agree with suggestions to clean strings with meths or similar. I do that with new strings, which gets rid of the sticky feeling they can have (which I think is either some sort of machining oil or a coating to prevent corrosion in the packet). Do it before you put them on the instrument, by wetting something like a coarse paper towel, pinching it round the strings and drawing them through it. Works for me.

I agree with everyone above. KA pickups are good value and nice sounding. I have one of his P/J sets lying around not being used if you're interested. PM me if so.