Downunderwonder

Don't take PayPal. Insist on bank transfer. Very few Americans have any knowledge of Swift so you can expect the 'buyer' will run a mile, especially when he has to organise and pay for his own courier and insurance, and deal with customs clearance one way or the other.

Let's get this straight. The unit is irreparable and unsupported but PJB sent some random parts to have a crack at fixing it anyway?

As in ''we think your design is so good we'll take it for ourselves''. I think that's a compliment any designer can happily live without.

Only by close visual inspection I fear.

Maybe the bass has a momentary short/break somewhere between pickup and jack?

Trace Elliot sold the SMX system with strong claims that only a dual band comp could compress either or both lows and highs without either missing the lows or crushing the highs, something like that.

The video originally went through a progression of substitute bodies: Proper guitar kitset body. Piece of 4x2. Air body.

How did that pan out?

Another thing you can do is sit on the cab while playing and adjust your position to put pressure on the cab / brace joints. If there's a slightly loose brace you'll find it.

The takeaway I got from the last time around this mulberry bush is it's semantics. The bridge grounding grounds the player from acting as some giant inductive antenna.

Third time up in as many months? Short version, it's all pickups and strings.

See my experience above. The test one thing at a time thing is a good general rule but it doesn't catch all.

I could have bought a well played 70's shell pink P back in '93 when I was looking for my first bass. From memory it was about 500quid in today's money but that was too much for my close to brokeness.

How small is small? Don't tell them it's a 4hr monster set?

Worst amp I ever heard would have to be a 20 year old Ashdown stack when brand new. I gather the blue speakers were the problem. I think I would rather stay home than have that as my sound. Murky and not very loud.

Basically there is no economic packing method that can ensure a duckwit can't break it throwing it out the back of the truck. Crating it makes it too heavy, cardboard yields. Best to have the buyer use one of the carriers that offers packaging. You can make a 'pretty safe' box by strategically cutting up a car windscreen shipping box and recombining the pieces. It's getting a bit late for doing a how to but I could have a go tomorrow if you're interested.

There was a guy who sold some rare fancy bass to US not so long ago. He did the hands off shipping with DHL like Gwilym did. It came unstuck at the US end still required multiple phone calls to various outposts but all resolved. Much less stressful that way for sure than being the one in the hot seat. Bonus points for being an excellent scam artist filter. Just be sure to be paid direct by bank transfer and be aware your bank will be taking a fee off your end.

You can't be reading / absorbing too many thread titles if you didn't know about all the amp delivery schedule setbacks and even Mesa abandoning the European market for the meantime.

Do you get gain lights but the amp is quieter? Or do you fail to get the red light to go off with heavy playing? Tube or SS or both? Could even be a dud cable or pickup or your bass preamp or battery. In these cases it helps to report all the troubleshooting you already did so we can get to 'busted amp' legitimately. Half the time it is something else.

If you find a cheaper source of "ICEpower" boards you will be buying a knockoff. They are a little bit cunning and charge plenty.

Was there a cable in the amp input with no bass, or not?

How about the cable? If no cable plugged in then there has to be something gone very wrong in either your wiring or environmental RF load. If the latter I wouldn't want to be living there!!

I advise adopting a 'Beverage Free Zone' policy of zero tolerance to drummer et al beverages being set down on your amplification. It will hold you in good stead. A beer will never be spilt on an amp if it's never left on an amp.