BassBunny

You could always get a couple of Aluminium Angle Brackets of eBay, (other suppliers are available), and trim them to fit. Something like this. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Size-63-75mm-HD-Aluminium-Angles-Corner-Braces-Mending-Brackets-Greenhouse/271170679373?var=570145918288&hash=item3f2308324d:m:mO810e5_SFMIrrX-xRwsPwA I did this a while back to fit a MarkBass head into a non-standard amp sleeve and it worked a treat. The Aluminium is easy to work with and I sprayed them black when I'd finished "fettling".

2/3 of our band are in their 60's and the Drummer is the male singer's Dad. At one point we also had a Female vocalist with her Dad on guitar.

Check this out from Jon Liebman's blog. You're never too old. http://www.jonliebman.com/how-old-is-too-old-to-rock-roll

Gear4Music have the BQ500 on pre-order for £249.00 https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/TC-Electronic-Thrust-BQ500-Bass-Head/2M3F

I've been using either a Markbass Little Mark or SA450 for about 12 years now and never felt wanting. I've even played open air without PA support and it certainly did the job. I've tried just about every other contender and nothing comes close for me but we are all different. The old Peavey's are built like battleships and are very loud. As to whether it would cut it in a large room with a loud drummer and guitar is another matter.

Did someone say Blue?

If money is tight why not go for the CMD 121P Combo which is an LM3 and NY 121P cab? Likely to be cheaper than separate Amp/Cab and they pop up s/h on here all the time. As mentioned already the Little Mark series are a better bet than the F1. If you go this route you can add a 2nd NY121 and you have a "full fat" 500w rig that should be loud enough for any occasion.

He did Manchester Academy 2 a few months back Andy, (assuming it's the same tour). Nearest venue for upcoming dates is Parr Hall, Warrington on 9th Oct.

One way to minimise any possible damage is to take the basses with you to the boarding gate and only hand them over when you get on the plane and then do the reverse at the other end. I know a few musicians who fly out to cruise ships and always do this. Same principle as having a pushchair for a child.

Before we switched to wireless mics we swapped all our SM58's for Samson Q7's. In our opinion they sounded better and the anti feedback circuitry worked a treat. BAX do them for £24.90.

And suddenly. 😀

Real Electronics in Sheffield are the approved repair company for MarkBass. From comments by people who have used them they are pretty quick and reasonable. http://www.realelectronics.co.uk/Markbass-Amplifier-Repairs

I've done the vinyl way a couple of times. Pal of mine does vinyl signage for Tesco etc. He advises a light spray of water or washing up solution and use an old credit card to keep pressure on when applying.

Heavier Strings? Is this one of the SGC Nanyo Bass Collections we are talking about?

I may have a head shell that would do if you are considering going that route. If you want to measure the front panel and PM the measurements I can see if it will fit. It's a shell made by Mike Walsh, (Zoot, Purple Chilli), and made out of his super lightweight helium filled ply.

This chart seems to give a translation of what the Pot is, so a B2 54 is a B250K Pot. It's a 250K Linear Taper Pot, which is pretty standard. https://www.thonk.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/R0904N_Thonk.pdf As to where to get one, somewhere like CPC should be able to help. Would have said Maplin if they were still in existence as you could go into store and compare old and new.

Getting the tuff-cab finish flat will be the challenge, depending on how thick it is. I did a similar thing with a Schroeder some years back, here is a posting on how it went. http://www.finnbass.com/showthread.php?t=11136 The most time consuming part was sanding the tuff-cab. It took some time and god knows how many sanding sheets. I was originally going with Tolex but decided on another painted finish, Warnex, same stuff HK Audio use for their PA gear. It is a smooth finish and dead easy to apply. Tolex it shouldn't be too difficult as long as to plan it properly so that the joins are minimal. If you fancy someting different try Abakhan fabrics https://www.abakhan.co.uk/. They sell Leathercloth in loads of different colours and it should be much cheaper than Tolex. I was going to do the Schroeder in Burgundy. Good luck.

CTS now produce mini pots so you can change to a better quality loom without the space issue.

Looks like a Bass Collection neck with the E and G strings wound the wrong way.

I've never heard a bad word about the older Eden gear in fact I had a WT550 for quite a while and it is the best amp I have ever owned. Plug it in, switch it on and "Boom", it was all there, tone in spades. Only sold it as it was a bit heavy. I then bought a WTX500 and was a bit underwhelmed. The tone was there but it just didn't have the "welly" of the WT500. I don't know much about the later gear but Eden is now owned by Marshall and I don't know what influence they have on the product line. Comparing old school watts with present day Class D watts is like chalk and cheese. An old 150W Trace Elliot or Peavey etc. is likely to sound much louder than the Eden. To get double the loudness of a particular setup you need 10 times the power output. Even if you were comparing like with like the difference between 150 and 225 Watts is inaudible. I don't know about the deal you have been offered but a quick look seems to suggest they are around £600 which is £100 dearer than a Fender Rumble 500. The Rumble is in a different league and has a massive following on here and you can hook up an additional speaker to it, (albeit an 8 Ohm one). The other alternative, if you like the Eden sound is buy one of the new Terra Nova heads and use your 4 Ohm cab. At the end of the day it is your money and you can spend it as you like but the Eden Combo will not do what you outlined above.

I'll see if Mike Walsh can help. I'm sure his Purple Chilli cabs used the same sort of technology.

I guess the reason they have configured it that way is to ensure you don't present the amp with a load less than 4 Ohms but it then begs the question "Why buy this particular Combo?" If you want to use an external speaker it just becomes a rather large head. It's not particularly powerful either at 225w. I can't see there being a safe work around and it wouldn't be on my list of COmbos to buy if I were looking for one. You are a little hamstrung with having, ( I assume), an existing 4 Ohm Cab. To use multiple cabs you would need and amp, (either in a combo or stand alone), that can handle loads less than 4 Ohms.