TheRev

My ususal playing time is 10-11pm, so I use mutes and plug in to a headphone amp. That doesn't help when I start singing though.

Last summer, out of desperation, I dug an old Peavey 2 x 15 cab out of storage to use as backline for a festival stage and it sounded bloody amazing. Not amazing enough to want to lug it to gigs, but I'll be using it on all my stages this year.

£90? If they last 30 years like a good set of flats should then they're a bargain.

Christ. It's a bit alarming that it fell apart like that. A well made bass should last more than 19 years and it's not like Kolsteins were cheap. ....must go check on my Eminence....

There's currently three double basses at £1000 or less in the 'EUB & double basses for sale' forum, any of which would be suitable for your needs, with the added bonus that you know they've come from reputable people and haevn't been abused.

I use the Fishman and am very happy with it. I also see a lot of folk musicians using them for guitar, mandolin, violin, etc. There's also an input trim control and a boost switch, wich is very useful if you swap between instruments.

Bob Gollihur's site has a good explanation of why impedance matters and why you may need an impedance matching preamp for your piezo pickup https://gollihurmusic.com/ohms-impedance-from-the-input-perspective/?srsltid=AfmBOoqHLBKvd9-BHmshssKiCIrAT5-J3dtKmh8iyoYJAZfJ0RjsUZO7 If your Shadow 950 sounds nasal and thin through your Rumble 115, then you probably need a preamp with a high (5-10 MOhm) input impedance to match the high impedance of the pickup. The simplest preamps, like the K&K pure preamp will buffer the impedance difference between the pickup and the amp input but offer no EQ, phase inversion or high pass filter (HPF). If you can afford it, I would recommend a preamp with a HPF control as that will help defeat feedback on loud or boomy stages. Again, Bob Gollihur's site has a good range of preamps available, but it's a USA site, so it's worth seeing waht's available from a european dealer https://gollihurmusic.com/preamplifiers-and-eq/1-channel-preamplifiers/

Another year where the SW bash clashes with a regular gig booking.

I came across this in my lunchtime interweb browse - I had no idea that SGC made guitar versions of the Bass Collection bass.

The sound of wing mount piezos will vary with fit - too tight and they sound very mid-focussed. You could try widening the slot in the bridge wing to give a looser fit and see if that gets closer to the sound you want.

I thought there were no wrong notes in jazz?

You'll have to send it 9 years back in time, mind.

We use iZettle. Whichever one you go for it's definitely worth it in terms of additional sales.

I only change my strings when a new set is released that claims to be the best string for everything, ever. And then I go back to what I've been using for the last 8 years.