lemmywinks

Amp first every time, those little practice combos are almost always the weakest link with starter kit. Check local listings on Facebook Marketplace and eBay, if you don't mind a heavier/bulkier combo you can score a significant upgrade for half your budget or less like Hartke, Ashdown, Trace Elliot etc. If you just want a better P bass then a Squier CV will likely be all you ever need at around £200-£250 used, you should be able to sell your G4M kit for about £50 or so. Those starter kits are a bit of a dead end tbh, they might seem like a good deal (and I understand why shops have to sell them) but you'll want to upgrade pretty much everything in a surprisingly short time.

There's a few sets of 1/2" Ultralites (USA and Lic) for sale on here at the moment.

The Sonicake Pocket Master has a headphone out and is within budget, it's also tiny and contains a rechargeable battery. Supports IR and also has a few NAM capture slots.

We have a (very reslistic tbf) fake plant in the foyer of my work, one of the women in the office keeps watering it. It's gone on so long now I haven't got the heart to tell her.

We had a guy who used to come to jam nights and pub band gigs here, harmonica player (using the term loosely) who always wanted to get up on stage for a guest spot. Played the same 3 cheesy blues licks on repeat regardless of the song, pretty sure he thought he was some sort of local celebrity. Sounded awful every time.

The only Cort built bass I've had on which the active treble control doubles as a passive tone is the Ibanez EHB with its Vari-Mid preamp. The GB Modern has the Markbass MB with a separate passive tone but I don't think other Corts offer that, even the ones using that preamp.

Cort's slimmed down J body is extremely comfortable IMO, good to see these still have the Ultralites and Luminlays. If you still want to scratch your Overwater itch on a budget there's an Aspiration Deluxe (Tanglewood built) 5 string in a Hiscox Liteflite case on eBay for a low start bid: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/197513973505

I always gigged with the angled driver pointing up, being pretty tall playing on small stages was always a pain for me but this was like having a regular cab and a wedge monitor in one compact box. I did tiny pubs and ballrooms with it like this, always delivered the goods. I later recreated this with the Markbass Club 121 cabs (after struggling with the TRV151p) - one facing forward and the other angled upwards on top of it with my head on an Ikea laptop tray! Looking back I should have just kept the Schroeder..

@Stub Mandrel you need a TC BAM200 so it all matches!

If this is just for home use then it makes sense to get something small, low powered and visually appealing. That way you can leave it out in the open and it doesn't make your front room look like a storage area. They aren't toys, they're amps for specific use cases, albeit very few of them sound like a "proper" amp. I've been pretty blown away by how the PJB BG-75 sounds as a living room amp if you can stomach the price, even at low volume (and it can get surprisingly loud) it just sounds like a great bass amp with no compromises. Can get them in red and white as well as black.

That's the Purple Chili stuff if you can find them used, this entire rig sold for £650:

I have a TC BH800 with a PJB C8L, both in red. Looks far to posh for the way I dress. It's a shame you can't get the bigger PJB stuff in white like their small combos, they should also do blue tolex to match their 800w head. Aquilar and Purple Chili used to do cool coloured tolex, actually a bit surprising more manufacturers don't go for it really as they look cool and stand out.

The body is reminding me of a Fodera Emperor, must be that lower bout. Stick a butterfly decal on it to wind people up!

Bargain GP7 head and 115 cab for £80 in St Austell https://www.facebook.com/share/p/12HRFrmnCqx/

\ bought a pre cut 90 degree piece, the eBay link is in the original post if you need one.

Rather than viewing the Toneprint as a replacement for an effects pedal you have to constantly change consider it as a way to add a fixed feature of your choosing to the amp. It's not something you have to figure out or mess with much, just add compression, drive, chorus etc to your amp with its own dedicated knob and crack on. For me the Spectracomp vastly improves the amp and makes a massive difference to achievable volume/depth when using a small cab, I wouldn't use the BH250 without it. The smart eq requires more figuring out than the Toneprint feature IMO.

There's also a used BH250 on sale in the Marketplace here for £100 including a Gator bag, has the smart EQ, mute function, tuner and Toneprint option.

His main trade seems to be odd vintage parts with sensible prices, a lot of the weird stuff has been up there for years and I don't think he cares whether it sells or not. It's just junk he likely got for peanuts and is taking a chance on. I've actually bought from him in the past (like 15+ years ago, was a fret guard IIRC) as he had the thing I needed at the right price.

My BH250 actually came with the TC footswitch but I sold it. I only really change it a couple of times and that's only during a dep gig I sometimes do when I want a bit of drive.

These cabs are notorious for scuffing up on the bottom edge when being pulled along by the trolley handle. My cab was previously owned by sadly deceased BCer Bumnote/Nigel who had kept it in A1 condition, I was a little bit disheartened to see the tolex wearing after wheeling it across Chorley - it was that or pay for parking and I don't like spending money! So a sheet of chequer plate, some black spray paint and a couple of layers of lacquer later and it should be good to go for plenty more rehearsals with no risk of damage. The size I bought was 4cm x 4cm x 20cm, I got it for under £7 here if anybody else would find this useful: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/112166014466

That's what I did, bought the BH800 for gigs/rehearsals as unfortunately my bigger cab was a bit too thirsty for the BH250. In retrospect I could have bought a more efficient cab and the 250 would most likely have been fine. The only thing I don't like about the BH550/800 is the Toneprint selector switch is difficult to get to without moving the two surrounding knobs.

Been years since I paid for a setup, get yourself a decent notched straight edge (I have a Crimson one which does all common bass scale lengths, not cheap though) and some basic tools then watch a ton of luthier videos on YouTube. £125 is a lot for a basic setup and nut adjustment, unless you also need a fret dress then I'd look elsewhere. The last four basses I bought all had wholly unsuitable setups for me, one needed a fair bit of adjustment and two of them needed frets knocking down higher up the board, the tools have paid for themselves already.

Yeah our old German firewood peddler.

Knew who the seller was before clicking on that!