grandad

All mine are passive. Less faff suits me. Keeping it simple means less to go wrong. The only spare batteries I need are for my music stand light and I usually forget about those.

Yes, I would say that all Hofner models are a similar broomstick shape & not thin. Other makes can be thinner, my Tanglewood is.

For me, after several years of the weekend warrior circuit, corporate events, weddings & local festivals, I too became weary of the lugging about & repetition. Old age also crept up. How to keep on doing something you love to do but without the hard work? How to continue to enjoy the social side & maintain the good friendships. In my case we, the band members, formed a music club at our local community centre, (Quarry Bank Music Club). Open to all ages regardless of skill level we meet twice a month. Anyone can get up and have a go with plenty of willing musicians to back them. Everyone gets applauded for just that, getting up and having a go. A great night socially with cups of tea & biscuits, many friendships formed & folk just having a go for the pleasure of making music. Links have been made locally with other venues. Aside from that I was invited to play with a Jazz quartet, weekly practice & the occasional gig. This really broadened my repertoire. We must have getting on for 100 numbers in our music folders now ranging from jazz standards to pop. Sometimes other musicians join us & vocalists too. Just playing for pleasure. Don't pack it all up, just a change of scene might be the thing!

I'm glad you like it. All the makes/models I've tried are just a bit different in feel & tone. I settled on a Hofner HCT & a Tanglewood. They're all just a bit different to each other & are to be enjoyed for being just that. A big sound and a light weight with a SS is a bonus when the old age problems of tired muscles & achy fingers overtake us. Enjoy. 🙂 P.S. I use LaBella FH760B2 strings.

Discovered flats accidently and I've never looked back. . The smooth feel . The warm tone . The longevity. They suit me down to the ground. I'd recommend all to give them a try, they may or may not be your thing.

I think I've been lucky with all my 6, hopefully 7 keepers. All 2nd hand, & priced from £100 - £250. 1. Tokai SGB translucent cherry red medium scale - 1980s. 2. Aria Pro Cardinal CB380 translucent cherry red. medium scale - 1983. 3. Hofner Contemporary Violin sunburst short-scale - 2010s. 4. Tanglewood Violin sunburst short-scale - 2010s. 5. Squire Mustang sunburst short-scale - 2010s. 6. Squire Mustang fiesta red short-scale - 2010s. 7. Yamaha Motion B II white - medium scale - ? Not sure about the date this was made as a student starter bass. Just had the body resprayed in a warm white. The neck is good. I have a replacement Hipshot bridge to fit. The tuners seem fine. It's very light-weight. I often play my humble collection one after the other & enjoy the different look, feel & tone of each.

Yes, I have a contemporary & with the black knobs & binding on the neck, same tuners, I'm pretty sure it is.

TCE BH250 into 1 or 2 One10s.

All my cabs I think have been ported and my combos too. The only exception is my TCE BG250-208 which is my small portable practice combo. Can't really compare from my experience but most do seem to be ported.

Remembering J. J. Cale (December 5, 1938 – July 26, 2013) “I’m a background person,” Cale told the Chicago Sun Times in 1990. “I’m not a household name. People have heard my music, but all my famous songs were made famous by somebody else. . . . But that was my goal.” In spite of the low profile, Cale continued to exert an influence on subsequent generations of musicians. “The effortlessness, that restraint and underplaying, under-singing – it was just very powerful,” Beck told the Los Angeles Times in 2009. “The power of doing less and holding back in a song, I’ve taken a lot of influence from that.” Photo by Michael Putland

My lightweight solution is also a BH250. Just 4lbs and no fan noise, (I think it's only on when hot). Tuner and Spectracomp built in. Plenty of power for practice and for small/medium gigs with the right cab/s. The right cab for me was a BF One10, then another, (16/17lbs each). I opted for the BH250 after buying a BG250-208 combo which I still have. I really can't see me buying another amp or cab, ever. But you must try before deciding what's right for you, and often that's the difficult part. I think I must have bought and sold a dozen or more amps & cabs, (all good), before finding my preferred rig. Good luck, enjoy the search.

My Mobile phone. I'm waiting to speak with someone from the State Pension Service. The music keeps being interrupted by a voice giving me advice about going online or calling back later because they are busy. The music, although a short repetitive ditty, is the least annoying that I've experienced whilst hanging on the end of my phone.

I ran the PA for a number of years and spent far too much money in the process. IMO: 1. Be quite sure of your power requirement, i.e. venue sizes. 2. How many channels and what instruments. 3. Transportation and storage. Most folk recommend the make of PA they've had success with. Working a PA with good results in different venues comes from experience, learning to listen & familiarity with your equipment. I'm most familiar with The Yamaha range and have owned most models. The FB suppression works well for me. The Stagepas is a super little package. I sold mine to a colleague who entertains a lot in old folks homes, (the best, most appreciative audiences out there), and he is thrilled with it. I sold my EMX5016f into EV SX300's to a colleague who in the main does WM Clubs and he is also thrilled with it. So do have a look at the Yamaha range as I've had 100% reliability from them. For my present needs I now use an EMX2 & a pair of DBR10's. The EMX2 powers my EV S-40 monitors if needed. At the music club I help run I've had experience with 2 stack/array, a Bose and a Mackie. For some reason I couldn't get on with them. The sound seemed all bass and treble with no warmth. Maybe it's just my old ears but I do prefer a woofer and horn. The great benefit of modern equipment is the lighter weight. Best of luck with your search, don't rush it, think it through. Let us know what you decide is for you.

ĴĴ ČÃĹẸ ǪǗỖŤẸŜ #26 “You might be right there. I hear my influence in other artists,” he agrees. “That’s standard. When you do something and you have a quirkly little style and people like it, then other musicians pick up on it. Guitar players are the greatest at stealing from each other. I steal from everybody else and they steal from me. That’s how we all advance the art of music.” (Brian Wise, Rhythms Magazine, August 1996)

Over my time, say 20+ years, I've played for nothing and at most about £200 for a gig. I would guess most would have done similar. Never my main employment and untrained, I describe myself as amateur. Certainly the venues played for free are different to those paid in my view. Having given up gigging with a week-end covers band I can say I'm enjoying it more than ever. The pressure is off to perform or please anybody other than yourself, (hopefully though others too). I think a wide variety of venues is healthy. Music at every level from beginner to professional has to exist and allow progress to happen. It has to be fluid.

https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/off-the-beaten-tracks-jj-cale-ill-take-the-fortune-not-the-fame/?fbclid=IwAR3jdADI6Ftg-jcSmsemQf02WZFjLwpgJALOfny0V2XhYrlFZYDetKafDqA

Well I suppose I like to experience some level of jouissance from Art in all genres. If that is not there then it's not for me.

"In more extreme forms of the genre though, the lyrics can get downright disgusting. Whether it be about cannibalism, rape, self-mutilation, or sexual deviancy – for better or for worse (mostly the latter), heavy metal has had some of the most deplorable and abhorrent messages scattered across its twisted backbone over the years." I'm afraid to say there is some truth in the above quote. I really don't want to listen to such stuff. I think some Zappa is probably the heaviest music I would listen to nowadays. I like his tongue in cheek attitude. My current delve through the history of C&W has lead me in the opposite direction to seek out 'nice' music. Nice to listen to, nice to play, nice to sing along to. That and back to practicing with my Jazz quartet, which of course is nice.

K&M

Rosewood fingerboard I use teak oil sparingly about once a year. Maple fingerboard & guitar body I use this:

I settled for the BH250 into 1 or 2 BFOne10s. I can't see me ever changing my amp or cab again.

J.J. Cale: “The first album was a collection of tunes I’d been working on for about 32 years,” “It was a collection that refined everything that had come out of me and weeded out all the bad ideas I’d had over 20 years. But, when it was successful, the record company wanted the next album in six months. When you get successful, the money comes in and pretty soon you’ve got to hire an accountant, you’ve got to get up early, and then you’ve got a day job. The management was – was, you know, hey, John, why don’t you make another – another record? And I go, oh, ain’t nobody wants to hear -- You know, I’ve already did – I have a hard time with not trying to imitate myself. After you – after you’ve made so many records or you wrote so many songs, pretty soon, you know, you – you think – your songs all start sounding – you start sounding like a song you’d already written ten years ago or fifteen years ago. That’s kind of what’s rough about making a new album at my age and as long as I’ve been in the business or the music kind of a thing, is – is to keep from imitating myself, so I have to listen to it and go, you know, that sounds like a song that was on my third album, you know? And that’s kind of rough. I – I guess I semi pulled that off. You can probably bust me on a couple of songs but there was no particular inspiration. I’m always writing songs just to entertain myself. Photo by Michael Putland

I have both Roqsolids & Hotcovers. Both are well made. Hotcovers offer more protection against knocks in that they are well padded. The basic Roqsolid is fairly thin in comparision but they do offer an extra padded option for a little more money. I've always been fussy about protecting equipment and not skimped on getting something that does the job well. Even my bits & pieces travel in one of these: