Rosie C

I use an LS-2 for line switching - it has level adjust on both channels. At the end of the line is a GEB-7 for EQ, mainly to roll off the lowest tones to reduce feedback.

I have ACS ambients and I love them. I mainly use them for playing double bass I take a feed from my tuner pedal into a little amp them into the IEMs. I'm starting to use them when singing as well now, but that's a work in progress.

Or new even - my Squier jazz was a tad under £400, I bought it the day before covid lockdown. I couldn't fault it really, certainly compared to what I was playing in the 1980s.

I would dearly like a Hagstrom H8. One day...

I think similar at times. After 30+ years of just messing around on instruments I started a music degree. I have to be careful with topics like "effective practice" to look forwards and how I can do things better, and not back at thousands of hours of ineffective practice!

I placed several orders for acoustic treatment last year - delivery was a bit slow at times, but the price was the lowest around.

Brilliant, thanks!

Thanks @Kitsto !

Does anyone have a checklist they use when booking gigs that they could share? I have a meeting coming up with our town council and I'm trying to think of things to ask...

Others must have had better experiences, but every instrument I've personally bought from Thomann needed setting up again by a local luthier. +1 on getting an adjustable bridge - as well as being able to try different heights, you can fit a Realist Lifeline pickup. I play bluegrass and jazz - I'm a big fan of Innovation Rockabilly strings - a lovely dark sound and much easier on my hands than metal strings. Only suitable for pizz though.

John Taylor - the inspiration for starting to play bass back in the 1980s and still my favourite bass player.

That's about the rate our band have been working at. When you add in holidays, Christmas, sickness, etc. it's taken us about six months to get a decent range of songs to suit a range of situations.

Exactly the same in our church - Fridays used to be our rehearsal, then a meal at Weatherspoons next door. But it took an evening, and it was rare everyone could make it. So now we meet up an hour before the service - works just as well.

Some sort of reference tome, like the Oxford Companion to Music?

I use the gold Herco for mandocello, once I tried them I've not used anything else.

I suppose in the 70s & 80s the UK had student grants, so there was the route the likes of Bowie followed of going to art college and having a few years to experiment. Maybe I'm just too old, but for me loud volume is killing live music. We were at a pub last weekend, just for a beer. There was a band setting up and we would have stayed, but they were SO LOUD. The drummer was wearing industrial ear protectors...

Yes, I do "Sound of Silence" and America. But vocals + mandocello, not bass.

My Squier jazz has alloy tuners. It made a huge difference to the weight. I believe they're Hipshot Ultralights but they don't have the Hipshot logo on so maybe copies. Sadly I can't help with sourcing them - my guitar technician had a second hand set in her workshop. But I would recommend that style - from a post I made on another bass forum it saved 6.5oz on the headstock.

that's what I would do, I bought a mandocello mail order a couple of years ago. There was a 10 week back order but suddenly one was available. It didn't feel right when it arrived though the only thing I could see was a couple of dead strings. I needed it for a gig and didn't want the hassle of a return to an overseas company. A few months later my guitar technician reported the neck was cracked. My guess is it was a return passed off as new.

I was ready to give up playing in bands, in fact I probably posted earlier in this topic. But just this week I met a potential band member - a mulit-instrumentalist with similar music tastes to me... meeting up for a jam after Christmas. 😎

I might have to hand in my basschat membership card at this rate, as once again no bass was played. After a sudden decision 4 hours before the performanceI I played the bass lines on piano accordion. We did some rock'n'roll classics, T-Rex, etc. It's the closest I've ever got to a genuine Marshall stack... and wasn't plugged in to it

Gift vouchers for a music shop? My Christmas pressie list often has Andertons vouchers on it.

It's look like it will be Lindisfarne who are playing locally next summer. I've not seen them since the early 1990s and Alan Hull was still alive, so it won't be the same, but maybe it will still be good

Me. I have a fretless jazz and a plywood economy upright which somehow manages to sounds great. Other than a novelty Lego bass on the wall, that's me done.

Arrgh, my back was fine when I read this topic yesterday. Today I can barely stand straight. I think I just slept in an awkward position, but I did move some PA speakers yesterday afternoon, or was it just the power of suggestion?