Truckstop

Currently own a Max700 and a Firebass700 and a TVX 410 and a TVX 210. For bigger gigs it's worth lugging it all around although I usually just use the 210. Great tone that you only get from massive transformers and 24mm ply!

Have a look at the websites of a few wedding and function bands and then learn about 50 of them to give yourself a head start. Thankfully, most are fairly easy but there are a few that end up being a small challenge and, as others have said, practice changing keys on the fly. Have you got a 5 string? That'll make life a lot easier when there's a number in Eb!

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1431983203' post='2777041'] A Ritter Cora is a rare and beautiful thing whilst Rita Ora looks like a high percentage of girls down Watford High Street on a Saturday night. [/quote] Yeah, but they're all fit.

I do see your point though, Mr. Baggins, and I don't want to detract from that. I've just gone off on my own train of thought. Many apologies

But even complex, lengthy and structurally interesting music is learnable. It doesn't require extra knowledge or experience to learn 'hard' music. It's all just notes on a fretboard at the end of the day and, like you, I learnt a lot in the first few years of my playing life and have barely improved (in a physical sense) since.

Most music just isn't very hard at all.

It's been interesting reading this thread and I've been trying to actually introduce fret noise to see how I mute in a reverse engineering kind of way. So, I found that I have a floating thumb style, but that a lot of the time when playing the D and G strings I actually use the plucking finger to mute. For example, I'll play the D string with my index finger and once the string is plucked, my finger naturally drags onto the A string, muting it. At this point, my thumb is resting on the E and my fretting hand will mute the G. I also found that I'll often start a riff in the same way (index finger, then rest on the string above) and play the rest of the riff with my middle and 3rd fingers leaving the index on the string that needs muting. My thumb won't touch the bass at all during this time. I think it's something that came naturally over the years as I never had any lessons.

In my opinion, 4x10 are the best. I'd use one if I could be bothered to cart it around! If it's just for a rehearsal room, you can't go wrong with an old Peavey, Ashdown or Trace 4x10 and a proper solid state head. If you won't need to transport it around all the time, you may aswell go heavy and cheap! Peavey Firebass 700's and Max700's turn up all the time on eBay for around £100 and they're great amps. I picked up a Hughes and Kettner 410B last year for £112, and a Peavey TVX 410 for £90 a few months ago too. Hartke VX range cabs are pretty good too. Amp wise, I think someone's selling an Ashdown MAG 500w on here for around £250. They're worth it because of all the EQing options available on them. Increase your budget a bit, and there's an SWR SM400 for sale on here which is an awesome amp! Little and lightweight's fine, but if it's for a rehearsal room you might as well get bang for your buck!

Your toolbox has been what?!

Get some handles on it. Couriers like being able to pick it up comfortably with one hand, if it needs to be picked and carried with two hands there's more chance of it getting dropped and/or put down roughly. Whenever I package large amps or some cabs, I always leave a handle poking out.

I've borrowed a BC212 a few times and was very impressed by it. Not strictly lightweight but not particularly heavy and capable of terrific volumes and EQ spread. Probably one of the cheapest 2x12's on the market too and it's definitely up there with the Genz Benz and Fender.

Ordered a 100 from my local music shop (The Music Dept., St. Albans) where they have them for £229! All the online shops have them for at least £240 so that was a nice surprise. None in stock, so will have to wait a week or so. I'll be sure to report back with real world experiences when I've used it for a while.

Try some brighter strings before messing with the electrics. DR Sunbeams I think are supposed to be quite bright and there's another band that makes a set called 'Super Bright' so search for those. You might be quite surprised at the difference!

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' timestamp='1431432866' post='2771242'] That's probably not the case. Power distribution is a far more complicated issue than simple division. For that matter power delivery into a single cab isn't a constant. It varies with impedance, and impedance isn't a set value, it's different at every frequency. A typical 8 ohm rated speaker will have an actual impedance that may range as low as 5 ohms and as high as 50 ohms.Also not the case. Most speakers cannot take anywhere near their thermal rating before mechanical damage is a possibility. Most amps can put out at least four times their rated power for short duration peaks, and most will put out twice their rated power long term with high THD, as their power ratings are measured at low THD. The key to preventing damage is simple enough,though. If the speakers distort, turn it down. [/quote] Happy to be corrected

Both cabs will get 250w. There will be no issues or problems at all. Even if you run the amp at full chat, neither of them will receive enough watts to cause any damage and they'll both get the same amount. However! I'd assume that different drivers are being used in each cab to cause the disrepency in power handling? Hopefully they won't sound too different.

Anyone got any real world experience of the Rumble 100? The 1x12 combo? The 500 is far too powerful for my needs, and I've tried one out in my local music shop but with an unfamiliar bass in a bad room!

Musks. We use our sense of smell.

Edit: ddoouubbllee ppoosstt

It's interesting because I'm actually quite sickened by the audacity of Zvex to charge that much for a piece of metal but if I saw one in the flesh being used by someone I'm sure i'd be quite impressed!

Well when you see how expensive most effects are these days then you can see why pedal board manufacturers price them so high!

Cheers guys!

No tweeter though, makes drives and distortions sound toppy as hell. The normal speakers will have enough zing for you!

Got an iPhone or iPad? (Or similar Android?) get Garage Band app; you can compose songs using only one hand. Press record, loop a drum beat, get some keys, organs, bass, guitar etc and satisfy your music urges that way

Blimey, what a career! RIP

Every band I've ever been in has rehearsed playing quietly for this exact reason. We'd pick out songs that sound better with rods and brushes and drop songs that don't work. It also makes it easier to achieve a more workable stage sound when we play with full PA support too. Guitarists should never ever need more than 60w through a single 12 and bassists don't need 500w through a 4x12 monster rig. Pub gigs really don't need to be much louder than bedroom levels and any louder you'd have PA support anyway. I see different cover bands nearly every week and the one thing I always struggle to hear is the drums!