Mottlefeeder

We are both routing the earpiece cables to the back of the neck. The problem I had with taking the cable up my spine was that it was then clamped by the bass strap. If you didn't get the amount of slack right, the earpiece pulls out when you turn your head. Having the slack on the side of your neck keeps it away from the strap, and dropping it down the left front keeps it away from the bass, so it doesn't get clamped except by the clip at your collar. Like you, I use belt loops to feed it to the umbilical connector, but mine is at the bridge end of my bass strap, because it gives me easier access to adjust the controls. There is no right or wrong, just different options to consider. David

I've found that a single rubber cup on an earpiece does not give me sufficient isolation, but a multiple cup (Xmas tree) works better. I'm not sure what yours are, but that might be worth checking. As far as the earpiece cable run is concerned, my cables go from the earpiece to the back of my neck, then round the left side of my neck to be clipped to my shirt at the front, then down the left side of my front. This is the only path I have found which keeps the cable away from the bass strap (assuming you are a RH player). Finally, if you take a feed from the PA, either through a DI designed for speaker use, or from the output (headphone oputput?) of the PA mixer, you can balance the PA and ambient feeds with your bass feed to get the mix you want. David

Heat shrink sleeving is not compatible with all cables. I tried to add extra protection to a microphone cable where it entered the plug, but the heat caused the conductor insulation to shrink, leaving nearly a centimeter of bare wires in the plug. I didn't find out until the cable stopped working during a gig. That particular cable had a polythene type insulation, as against the normal PVC or rubber based ones. Best to check before you start work. Daivid

We put acoustic guitars and vocals through a fairly basic PA, with keys, electric guitar and bass through backline amps. I use resistive DIs to take a feed from the PA speaker, and the speaker lead of my amp, and a Maplins/Tandy electret mic to pick up ambient signals. I feed this to a simple 3-channel mixer, with bass panned left and everything else panned right. The headphone output feeds a belt-mounted junction-box that gives me separate volumes on left and right, and a mono/stereo switch to blend everything together. I'm using shure SE215's. The combination of PA feed and mic feed means I can usually get a good mix of the band sound, and I don't have to fiddle with a separate monitor mix on the main mixer that is not within reach. I can give further details if anyone thinks a similar system would work for them. David

Have you tried tilting the cab back to the angle you want - that will tell you whether you need a wedge under the front or a prop at the back. I needed a prop at the back and I found a s/h 'Standback'. It works well provided no one tries to move your rig. https://www.thomann.de/gb/standback_ampstand.htm David

It is not a 200 W amp. The spec in mathlang's post states a maximum of 200 W, so its 'RMS' power could be 100 W - or it may be that they have got the power supply reserves right this time and it limits at 200 W without objectionable distortion, so it still sounds louder than the competition. Who knows. David

My Ashdown MyBass was fried by a faulty generator at an out-door event. Ashdown talked me through the diagnostic checks I had done/needed to do and then sent me a new amplifier/PSU circcuit board with the agreement that if it worked I would send them the faulty one and £80 and if it didn't work I would send the amp back and they would check it out. No complaints here. David

An alternative might be to get an inverter and a cheaper (but heavier) lead acid battery. Cheap 'modified sine wave' inverters will cause a buzz on some sound systems, but a 300W 'true sine wave' inverter starts at about £80 and gives you the benefit of using the amp you already know and love(?) David

Something you might like to consider - WD40 is designed to repel water, so it may help as a cleaner in the short term, but it will leave a residue that will cause problems later. A proper switch cleaner is mainly solvent, and leaves no residue. David

If you have two tweeters pointing in different directions are you not going to get a hole in the middle at higher frequencies? David

An outfit called Buzzard basses or something similar offers advice and kits for converting 1/2 and 3/4 size guitars into U-basses, and said that the standard (20-inch) Thundergut strings will fit up to 23 inches without risk of snapping. Also, Kala make solid bodied U-basses with a 23 inch scale, including a 5-string with a low B. Aquila also make a short necked bass (https://aquilacorde.com/en/shop/strumenti-en/shortbassone-60/) and rubbery strings to suit - they are doped with copper to make them lower pitched without being thicker. The scale length is 60 cm / 23.5 inches If you want something longer, it may be feasible to pick A-D-G strings for a 20 inch U-bass and a C or similar from a baritone ukulele (also 20 inch scale), and tune them to work as E-A-D-G on a longer scale. David

In theory, yes all test equipment should be regularly checked to ensure that it is still within its specification. In practice, the chances that the test equipment still works, but fails to detect gear that is just bad enough to fail is pretty remote. Given that one of HSE's surveys of electrical equipment found that over 90% of faults were visible and needed no test equipment (failed cable clamps, damaged cables etc) if I'm visually checking my gear every time I use it, and testing it to a schedule, I can live with that residual risk. David

The legal requirement is that the equipment is maintained in a safe state, so far as is reasonably practicable. If you are paid for the gig, you are at work, and it is your responsibility. If you are not 'at work', the organizer is, and it will be his/her responsibility. The easiest way to discharge that responsibility is to ensure that all mains powered equipment has been checked by a competent person, and looking for 'PAT tested' labels on everything is one option. However, there is no legal requirement to put a sticker on each item, and that option can be abused. Asking for a certificate itemizing the tested items is a more professional approach. Carrying that itemized list on your phone, so you can show it/email it to an organizer, is your easiest option. Basic equipment to carry out portable appliance testing (pass/fail of equipment and mains leads) start at £150 [https://www.tester.co.uk/testsafe-minipat-appliance-tester], so it will pay for itself in 2-3 years, or sooner if you start charging for checking other local bands' gear. David

£456,000 in the summer to £500,000 between Christmas and new year - that's why we have January off! I'm not sure we've ever shared the stage, so that's something to rectify in 2019. David

Assuming it is a class D amplifier and a switch-mode power supply, there is not much you can do without a circuit diagram, test gear and the skills to use them. You could take the lid off and check for connectors not seated correctly on printed circuit boards, but I would only recommend that after letting the unit sit unused for several days. The power supply capacitors may be charged to 200-300 Volts and that will take time to leak away. Ashdown charged £80 for a replacement Amp+Power supply board after I blew mine up connecting to a faulty generator, so it may be that is the going rate for swapping out the faulty unit.

Loose Change Buskers, based in South Manchester, are a group of about 30 musicians and collectors (bucketeers) whose sole aim is to raise money for Cancer Research UK. From small beginnings about eight years ago, we reached £100,000 after a few years but in the last 2-3 years, we have averaged about £100,000 per year. For busking, we field a team of 10-16 people per day, changing the front line every couple of hours to keep it fresh. For functions, we have a 5-6 piece band drawn from the same pool of musicians. For me, it started out as a retirement hobby - 'a gig every so often would be nice' - fast forward four years and I'm playing 2-3 times a week: 9 gigs in one week is probably our record. If anyone is interested in starting their own busking band to raise money for Cancer Research UK, please let me know and I will see whether the charity can put together an information pack like the one that got us started. David http://www.loosechangebuskers.org.uk/

No idea where to get one from, but the 'fast food delivery' backpacks used by cyclists look to be about that size. David

If you don't want to go for leather, you could try spraying the underside of your existing strap with the rubbery gunk designed to stop carpets moving around. Alternatively: (a) reduce the neck weight by fitting lighter tuners, (b) make the body heavier by hanging an old phone case full of washers from the bridge-end strap button, or (c) make the upper horn longer to shift the balance point (I gained 50mm by using a 100mm bolt instead of the strap-button mounting screw OR there is a thread on here about adding a carbon fibre 'horn' to a steinberger/hohner type body) I ended up selling my problem bass, so I hope you find a solution that works for you. David

My starting point would be to check the drive units, and how they are wired. If each speaker is 8 ohms, they you have several options, but if they are all 32 ohms, then your options are more limited. Personally, since I don't have a dedicated roadie, I'd be thinking in terms of 2-speaker boxes, and take 1-4 depending on the volume that you want. David

I've just been on the Pascal website and checked out the module specified - it claims 1000w RMS into 8 ohms or 4 ohms ( the latter limited by the power supply capability) at 1% distortion. http://www.pascal-audio.com/product/s-pro2/ On paper that looks good, but if testers cannot get that power out of it that suggests that the gain structure may be wrong. David

Less likely to be the value of the pot, and more likely to be the gains of the circuit blocks before and after the pot. Also, the law of the pot may also be defined by its place in the circuit, e.g. within a feedback loop in designs where there in no separate input gain control. David