Skybone

Yes... In a Welly Wanging contest, no one boasts about having the biggest wellies do they?

But watt about the universal "willy wanging" contest of "my amp's bigger than your amp"??? Or "your amp may be bigger than my amp, but my amp has more 'heft'"

RickenFakers!

Used to use them a lot, but found some other, cheaper strings that did the job. Those strings are now discontinued, so I've been looking around for some replacements. Elites Stadium SS are top of the list.

Depends on how much you want to spend on one really. Up until relatively recently, I used an unpadded, 3" wide, plain leather strap. Sturdy, didn't slip, and more importantly, relatively cheap (about £15.00). Been getting some pain in my shoulder for a few years, so finally decided to "bite the bullet", and spend a bit more money on a decent padded strap. Finally settled on the Mono GS1 (black), which is comfy, doesn't slip, and appears to be very sturdy. I got mine from Amazon UK, for £35.00 (still the cheapest in the UK for the Mono strap). Looked at the Comfort Strapp & others, but the Mono was the right price at the time, and does the job I ask of it.

You don't have to go down the full blown Helix route, there are plenty of other options available, at far more wallet friendly prices. The old Zoom B3 will be available second hand as it's now been superseded by the B3n. The B1on & B1Xon are even better priced. Something like a Line6 PODxt will be another great buy, there is a bass version available, but I'd recommend getting the "standard" guitar oriented one & buying the Bass Expansion Pack. If you want to spend a bit more, then try to find a Line6 POD HD Desktop. Again, you will need to buy the HD Bass Pack, but again, it's well worth it. I use the HD500x, which is a floor board, not ideal for home use, but great for using in a band situation (managed to get a great deal on a used HD Desktop from the For Sale board on here, and it's great for using at home if you want to get some "amplified" sounds). There are also the Boss GT6B & GT10B boards, but I don't know much about them.

Who says that you need an amp for home use? A half decent amp modeler with headphones is all you need if you want to amplify things, or just play your bass without plugging into anything. That at least is simple, cheap, and only needs you and your bass.

Fender "Custom Shop" cables. Reasonably priced and very good.

I'm hoping that the Chowny straps aren't the ones with the shiny vinyl on the inside face, but have some grippy material instead. They're OK for (some) guitars, but definitely not suited for bass. Using a 3" wide Mono just now, I think they're great.

Or you could get a step down transformer from a builders merchants.

As mentioned above, a number of people these days are using amp modellers, (like Helix, Kemper, AxeFX, Headrush, etc.) direct into the PA, and/or have their own powered PA monitors (FRFR) setups. It can be done.

Nice bass

Anyone tried the powered cab?

Fabulous Negrito - fantastic

Yup, had tinnitus for years, all my own fault due to years of bands & gigs without earplugs, though a bang on the head didn't help it either. IMO, it's more about managing it than anything, so I've been using ER20's for a good few years now. They're great because they don't kill any frequencies, just reduce the volume. Use them for gigs (attending - we haven't played any yet!) and rehearsals. For any other situations where I need hearing protection (out on the bike, mowing the lawn, etc.), I use some reusable, industrial 3M plugs rated at around 33dB attenuation.

What you could do, is buy a relatively cheap, Class D amp head with an effects loop, and plug the Ged2112 into the return, bypassing the map's pre-amp. Or sell your rig & buy something like a Fender Rumble 500 combo (17kg total weight), and plug the SansAmp into the effects loop return on that.

IIRC, someone on here is a Blackstar endorsee, and runs the Unity 500.

Sounds pretty much as though my HD500x covers everything the Helix would at a far more wallet friendly price. Got to say that I'm really happy with it, and it sounds great. I do have a number of patches set up, but only really 'use' 3 of them with the band, and they're variations on a 'core sounds (different effects etc.). I'll probably get a Helix at some point in the future, but not quite yet. Maybe when I can afford that 4003... Having second thoughts on the Rumble as well...

I know, first world problems and all that... Backstory so far: I'm selling a guitar valve amp, I've found a buyer, agreed a price etc., and I'm meeting up with them tomorrow todo the deal. Some of the funds are going to go towards a Rumble 500, but I've been looking at the Helix LT as well. I don't need the Helix, I'm more than happy with my HD500x, but GAS has struck and I'm sorely tempted by the LT. So... Talk me out of it / talk me into it...

Some good suggestions here, but my recommendation would be Hawkwind's "Space Ritual" live album. Primus is a good suggestion, and anything with Steve DiGiorgio if you like heavy, heavy stuff. Om are an acquired taste, heavy again, but bass & drums duo. Anything by Killing Joke, especially anything after 2003's self titled album, featuring a certain Dave Grohl. "Pylons" is a brilliant album. Check out a band called Evil Blizzard, bass led/driven bonkersness, great stuff. Sure there's more, but can't recall just now.

The old tale is that they wrote the album & recorded it, but only realised when Geddy came to do the vocals, that they'd written it in the wrong key for his voice.

I remember buying the misprint vinyl version, and being absolutely gutted. Well, i was rather young at the time. With the benefit of hindsight, i really should have kept it, but I wanted to listen to the whole album, not just the B side.