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Had a 1970s Kay bass. Unique non resonating anti dead spot neck construction (plywood) with lightweight comfort body (very thin plywood - I used to look in wonder at the thickness of real guitars like telecasters). Special custom bridge with individual string width adjustment ( screw thread with slotted wheels), super high output full frequency range pickups (lots of handling noise, micro-phonic and feedback at a the slightest provocation). Special low insertion loss tone and volume controls (they did B**** all). Super fast scale length (was it even 30"? string tension was not an issue, there was none). On the plus side, it was well finished with a reasonable sunburst, and very hard paint. The plywood neck was actually quite nice to look a (I could imagine this as a boutique multi laminate feature) and was pretty stable. £25 (I think) at woolworths in Hereford circa 1974. A columbus jazz type came next (better, but not much better) then the Gibbo EB2 - a real bass. Downhill from then on. 1970s Kay basses - if someone gave me one I might think about forking out for new strings, then again I do like to use my money wisely

Why do you suspect the transformer? seems unlikely to be the transformer in my experience. What sort of noise, hiss or 50Hz mains hum? How good is your mains electricity - a few of my amps are noisy at home, work fine elsewhere, even though the house wiring is tested all OK. Can you borrow same amp and try at home to compare? Final shot would be take it to a good technician - as with everything in life several causes and several fixes.

Looked for old photos of my black JB EB3 but unable to find any. For those who have mentioned interest in one - try before buying, I remember with mine the neck dived considerably, probably the worst neck diver I have encountered. It was also relatively heavy compared toan EB3 due to all maple construction. Then again the headstock won't snap off in a hurry.

[quote]Bassists are too stupid to play anything with more than four strings.[/quote] Four, nobody told me there were four, do I have to use that little thin one that sounds puny. My day has been ruined, four, I ask you, surely three are enough!

The luck / stupidity of being older - gear from 1974 or thereabouts age 14 onwards Vox AC50 - £30 - unreliable at the time 1958 Gibson EB2 - £80 - muddy but well made, would probably be nice with modern amp / cab - the frets were very soft and wore rapidly Marshall 100W supalead - £can't remember I was at school at the time - the old one with bulgin plug, eyelet board Hiwatt DR103 1977 ish £swapped for the Marshall - good with bass, though the Hiwatt 200 was just too tempting Hiwatt 200 £swapped for the DR103 - orange tolex - yuck, loud, very heavy, moved on for a Peavey the era when valve amps were bread & butter & cheap. 77 Fender Precision - bought new, written off in moving house - don't ask John Birch EB3 type bass - £can't remember 78/79 Rickenbacker - traded JB + some cash leading to current stable - 85 G&L SB1 which I have had since 1991/2 ish and I really rate it, however recently my late 70s wish has come true - Kramer DMZ4001. Still it was fun at the time,

Can't let you see it because I moved it years ago - EB3 style bass - black, maple through neck, Grover/Schaller small tuners, hyperflux pickups, stainless 3? 2? point bridge, I think it had a full size plastic belt rash plate on back. Really well made. Took it back to JB himself in Bromsgrove circa 1980/81 and had it refurbished at a very good price. Only downside - short scale. Wonder where it is now. another one I wish I had kept.

Also have one, bought new circa 1980 - they were some of the first affordable acoustic basses at the time. Still has the original Roto tru bass strings, not a bad sound acoustically if quiet. Fitted a clip on Jazz bass pickup in the soundhole and its rather nice amplified. The neck is huge and solid on mine - that one must have had some drop.

TI flats on my G&L SB1 and Kramer DMZ4001. No shortage of brightness IMHO.

Lightweight cabs - I thoroughly rate my Barefaced Big One. You could build your own Fearful or Bill Fitzmaurice - I am at the moment, very easy to do. Had the big rig Marshall VBA 400 + 7215 very recently, then had the bad back (not connected). Moved it on, and am happier with lighter kit - am not 25 anymore.

Simple mistake, seller has not noticed that decimal place was wrong in start price - then again £99.900 - do we have a 0.0p coin? Nice looking bass, but not at that price, c'est cher

Used Peavey - I used a bass combo mkiii (130W) for 26+ years, small gigs up to university halls (small ish) without p.a. Sold a 300W Peavey bass combo for £150 last year. The guy I sold it to thinks it is the dog's blx and is a happy bunny. Well built, reliable, easy to fix. Downside, 'boxy' sound compared to current rig - barefaced big one and peavey tour 700 head. Big downside - heavy, very heavy, fit castors. edit for spelling - again!

Also waltz, hornpipe and one amazing tune that went through 3/4, 4/4, 5/4, 6/8 changes... keys (GDAE typically) and scales are the secret, A typical dance tune will use two or possibly three tunes with a key change between each. Due to the sheer amount of tunes used (at least in bands I have played in) bands will usually have sheet music which includes chord labels (G, C7 etc). Reading and counting then makes it fairly straightforward combined with scales to link the roots and fifths. Dance music requires rock solid on the beat bass with phrases to 'lift' and 'lead' the dancers through the dance sequences e.g. strip the willow ! do si do and a whole range of other square dance steps. You want to get people 'skipping' or 'walking with a spring in their step' with your bass lines. They are dancing to it not listening to the 'artistry' Enjoy.

What sort of folk? Trad Celeidh music, Scottish, Playford, Folk Rock, Fairports???? It is a broad church. I cut my formative first 8 years bass playing gigging 2/3 nights a week, week in week out in a trad celeidh band. Can give you some pointers in that line if you want.

Is that fun or what. I want it but it would cause instant divorce at present

Can we see the assignment question and the grading criteria (assuming your degree has them, mine did not, but it was 30 years ago this July - oh how much have I forgotten / lost) . With these we may be able to give you some more focussed pointers.

Just listen to (and now with the wonder of modern technology, watch on youtube ) plenty of Deep Purple, Deep Purple in Rock Fireball Machine Head Who Do We Think We Are and the awesome live album Made in Japan Then get playing them, once you are in the 'groove' they are not overly difficult. You will need speed and good pick control. Get a Rick 4001 if feeling flush (but not essential) Once we get to Stormbringer with Glenn Hughes, it becomes a different matter for me. I rate his funk rock playing on stormbringer, still can not get near it yet My early teens spent listening and working on these basslines, a formative influence in no small part - they still have that excitement and power 39 years or so later. Very good for turbo training on the bike, improves cornering speed on car as well. No babe pulling power by playing DP riffs / numbers these days! unless it's the "strange kind of woman" type

My local garage tells me that a large petrol engine luxmobiles (BMW/Jag etc) are fetching the same money as Yaris etc a few years down the line. However £5 to go 20 miles there and back to the shops is a bit steep. As they said though, if you do minimal miles it is serious luxmobile motoring for little money (unless it goes wrong). Musical kit - try it in the context you will use it - there is no alternative (TINA)

[quote]A very high number of 70's Fender basses had misaligned bridges, with G strings almost going over the fret ends![/quote] It may be easily fixed - had the same problem with my 77 precision from new. Wrote to Fender UK and got a setup guide. Slacken strings, slacken neck bolts, tap headstock to get correct string alignement on E & G . Retighten neck bolts, tune and way to go. Sorted mine out prefectly. It is surprising how much lateral movement is available in the neck pocket.

Strange things auditions - have been abysmal at music styles I have played for more years than I care to remember (no comments about being c*** and talentless please, I know that, they just haven't caught me yet). Have played well off the cuff in less than ideal circumstances - started work at 7:30, left work at 6:30, no food, no break all day (stupid job at times - teaching), 7 pm auditioned for 1 1/2 hrs. Self and guitarist were on fire and got the seat(s). The big thing is to leave people with self respect, hope and ways to move on. We all started somewhere.

No shortage of highs with my 5+ year old TI flats. Part of the answer is your speaker setup, Barefaced Big one with 6.5" doing the mid/highs. If anything too revealing of finger tapping, string click from damping/stopping etc. The big plus is virtually zero fretwear, unlike roto 66s on my 58 EB2 when I owned it - extreme fretwear was an understatement. TIs on Kramer and G&L just cut through in the bands I play in. The downside is the purchase price, the upside is the cost per year.