tauzero

Well, that's it all buttoned up (remembering to solder up the connections to the speaker first, of course). Now for the first test.

Might be worth a polite email to them, just to clarify the position. They may have forgotten the refund or they may have had to pay the courier - in the former case, you should get the £8 back.

Arrange for the fight to be in a remote and secluded place that the drummer doesn't know, and give them a map showing them how to get there. After all, it's always best to avoid a fight if you can. If you value the drummer, put a tracker on their phone. If not, some hikers may discover the body in a year or two.

Very near the end now. Put in some acoustic wadding (left over from the BC112 mk3 which is still awaiting completion) and mounted the speaker and grill. The front panel doesn't bear close, or even medium, scrutiny, but it's all valuable lessons isn't it? I haven't put any wadding on the rear panel - I may be putting a mini power amp in there so I didn't want to put wadding on until I knew how much space there would be. Waiting for some screws to arrive to fit the rear panel on, and then it'll be all systems go.

Also, the transition from 4 to 5 takes a little time but you get there. If you're not sure about it, I'd suggest getting a cheap 5-string to get used to it before investing much money in a 5-string Warwick.

If you get on with the NT, I'd go for that - neck profiles changed through the years so it does help to try before you buy. My 1987 JD Thumb NT is fine, as is my similar vintage Thumb 5 NT. I've also had a bolt-on Buzzard 5 and currently have a Corvette 5, and have a Thumb 4 NT that started out as fretted but I had the neck reprofiled to be the same as the JD Thumb and also had it defretted.

If you also play that between every song for no apparent reason, I saw you supporting The Who.

That's an admirable feat of carving and a very distinctive bass stand. A bit bulky to carry to gigs though.

In time with the drums? That's a bit advanced, isn't it?

Remembering that partially shredding a Banksy doubled its value, sticking a Precision in a wood chipper would not just double its value, it would also improve it.

Ah yes, you're new. It's easy to tell.

Reassuring - did it take long to arrive though? It appears to not have got out of Germany yet, having got as far as the parcel centre in Ebermannsdorf on the 14th.

That's what I've got incoming - did you get yours from Musikding, and how long did it take?

I've also bought a box of electronic parts which could be assembled into a HPF/LPF pedal, so doubly out. I trust that if it takes me till 2024 to complete either or both of these, they will still only count in the 2023 abstinence.

Well, I could get to try an Ibanez headless fretless.

I've bought two pieces of wood, five tuners, and a bridge, that if I ever assemble it would make a bass. That'll be me out then.

You have realised that the only true bass is a headless bass.

Relax by Frankie, so I can get a pint from the bar with my left hand.

I mostly play with fingers, but due to a slightly wonky right hand due to having a bone broken which has resulted in my index finger being slightly shortened and lowered relative to my middle finger, I use a pick for rapid successions of notes. I did try switching to mainly pick playing when I was in a Marillion tribute band, but went back to fingers when they decided to dispense with my services.

PMT Birmingham have moved from their old premises just outside the Birmingham Middleway to where I think the Triumph dealership used to be, just inside the Birmingham Middleway, which means they've moved from outside the clean air zone to inside it - £8 for my car to go there (at least Mrs Zero's is free).

Don't be silly, tea isn't hot enough to melt solder.

I imagine that this was caused by just soldering the sockets onto the board and then putting the board into the box. I would suggest desoldering the three sockets, soldering just one pin of each into place, putting the board into position and lining up the sockets properly, then soldering them, if necessary desoldering the one soldered pin.

That's right, and that's what @Smanth was after. You can get DC step-up converters (I've got one coming for my ordinary USB power bank) or get this which will operate on multi-voltage USB-C power banks and request a specific voltage. Which is also all covered in the video on the linked page.

I did the mod on my Puma 900 and I can't hear the fan at all. It's not moving huge quantities of air, just creating some air movement.

I should clarify on the active/passive thing - I meant how the speaker is used rather than what sort of bass is going in, so the speaker can be connected either to an external amp or use the internal board. Using a USB power pack, it would be possible to leave the power pack permanently in the speaker and have a USB connector to charge it.