JoeEvans

I think for me the 'best' instrument - the one I value the most - is always going to be the one I most enjoy playing out with, so by definition I always gig with my best instrument!

Yes, but you might want to offer something over and above your basic statutory responsibilities.

I would write a short, clear returns policy, and when you sell a bass, give a printed copy to the buyer and briefly talk them through it. That way everyone knows where they stand.

I took the train from Manchester to Lancaster with a 4x12 cab once.

I did try Harry Potter - everyone used to love the sound of the amp like that, but then it started making these weird tweets, which really irritated some people.

I prop mine up on a 1950's edition of Proust's 'Au Recherche du Temps Perdu' in the original French. Great for that wistfully elegiac P bass tone that so many of us strive for.

Re electric bikes - yes, what isn't always immediately obvious is that they let you choose how much effort to put in, and you can still put in just as much effort as on a non-electric bike, only you go farther and faster. My observation is that people tend to use them for a wide range of different reasons - to shift a heavier load than you could without (especially a load of kids and their bags etc); to do a longer commute than you'd fancy on a non-electric; to keep on cycling when age, injury or progressive disease might otherwise have stopped you; etc. I think they're really helpful for people to get a bit more exercise and have a bit more fun in daily life. (Total thread derailment but I read the recent reports about the political desire to clamp down on illegal electric bikes for safety reasons, and the desire to make companies like Deliveroo to employ their delivery riders instead of forcing them to work self-employed. It would be great if regulation could instead force delivery companies to provide riders with decent electric scooters rather than leaving them to source their own ramshackle bodge-jobs.) I recently got another bike (non-electric) to use as a round-town cargo-carrier, with front and rear racks, hub gears and so on. I'm now getting a useful amount of extra exercise just in the course of a normal week, because I'll jump on the bike to nip down to Lidl or wherever and grab some shopping rather than driving.

I was discussing this with my partner yesterday - we're both in our fifties and the point has come where regular exercise is compulsory not optional if we want to continue doing the things we enjoy for a decent amount of time. I personally intend to continue to enjoy the pleasures of an active life well into my eighties so I'm trying hard to eat well and do daily exercise that includes cardio, strength, mobility and flexibility over the course of each week. I personally find that exercise is as important for my mental health as for my physical health, or perhaps that mental and physical health are really just aspects of the same thing.

I think MartinB has it - if you like the tone of the DI from the amp, just stick a plug in the headphone socket, as long as that doesn't also mute the DI. A very cheap technical fix.

I don't think I've had an amp where the DI output was affected by the volume, that seems like a weird way to build an amp to me. But maybe it's common enough, I don't know...

In general I think you want a stage sound which is brighter and less bassy than the out-front sound. That helps with both feedback and intonation. So it can be good to send a clean DI to the desk for out front, then use a stage amp that lets you roll off the bass while still sounding ok. You definitely want stage volume as low as can be managed - if there's a kit drummer that's a problem. In-ear monitors would be a big help.

I've been very happy with using a Turbosound ip300 powered PA speaker instead of a bass amp for double bass - I go through a mute pedal and a valve preamp and it sounds great to my ear. Bigger gigs seem to work fine just DI into the PA.

What difference does the triode/pentode switch make to the sound?

I actually really like this idea. You could have connections on all four sides and a couple of rotary selector switches to choose which side is in and which is out. And routing boxes to build up send/return loops, split signal chains etc, and DI boxes... I think you might have reinvented the effects pedal!