Japhet

Excellent choice. Lakland punch way above their weight on their cheaper ranges and the 55 01 has probably the best 5 string neck I've ever played. Love mine and it's such a versatile instrument too.

Never trust the electorate and take all statistics with a hefty pinch or salt.

Loved a load of John Entwhistle's basslines, particularly around Quadrophenia, but the tone on a lot of later stuff was a clanky mess IMO. With regard to comments about players above though (particularly Pino). I'd say that whilst a lot of us could undoubtedly play many of the basslines, would any of us have been able to come up with them in the first place?

The thing I really liked about the MB500 Fusion was the 2 channels with separate gains and footswitch. Loud little bugger as well.

My fairly cheapo Lakland 55 01 has the best 5 string neck I've played, including SR 5s. It's completely stock with Bart pickups and active/passive selector and I love it to bits. Can get a bit heavy on a long gig though but what 5 string wouldn't?

The only thing I'd want back is all the money I spent on stuff I didn't need.

The amp section in your combo will run at a max of 4ohms. Adding another speaker would increase this to 2ohms (counter intuitive I know, but that's how it works), and would blow your amp up. The industry standard is that most combos/heads run at 8ohms and have a speaker extension socket to run an additional cab. Yours doesn't have an extension socket because it can't power another cabinet.

I'd go for a 4 ohm 2x12 cab for starters. I reckon the one I have now is louder than a 1x15 & 4x10 setup I've had in the past. Take your pick of class D heads since anything from 350 watts up will have plenty of power. My 500w Tecamp head is very loud at around 30% of available power. I also find the 2x12 much louder than the Barefaced Compact I had for a while.

Practice with a single pluck as in 'bum di, bum di, bum di' until it's smooth. Then practice the double pluck (I use index and middle finger) as in 'diddy, diddy, diddy'. Start it all at a comfortable pace and then build it up. When both parts sound smooth, put 'em together.

AC Cars and Carroll Shelby.

Saw Talon at Milton Keynes Stables. I'd gone off The Eagles when you couldn't get away from Hotel California but after this I realised how many great songs they'd done long the way. No into the tribute thin either but Talon were right on the button and you won't see the real thing again. Los Pacaminos in Jan next - always party time.

Solid time keeping is the foundation. I used to (and still do) keep time in my head with something on the radio and then turn the volume right down for a while but still keep the beat going in my head. After a while, turn it back up to see how close you are and if you have sped up or slowed down. It's not always a good indicator though since the time keeping on some stuff can be out but studio recordings tend to be pretty good. You'll then notice if a drummer can keep time.

One very strong aspect of grief/loss is nostalgia. The loss of a musician, actor, broadcaster or whoever will likely trigger a lot of nostalgic feelings. The death of somebody you've never met or heard of won't. I also wouldn't describe a nod in that direction as an 'outpouring'. In my case it's a simple recognition that that person had an effect on me through their work, and I appreciate it.

Aaaaaaaaaargh!

Have had the same issue in the past. I unplugged the guitar and started packing my gear up. When I was asked what I was doing I said 'I can't hear what I'm playing and neither can anyone else so this isn't a rehearsal - so I'm going home. Anything else can be dealt with by email'. They got the message.

What bit of 'smart/casual' did you not understand?

I use the Diago ones that are very similar to the George Ls (but cheaper). I like being able to cut them to whatever length you want and have the jack pointing in whatever direction you need. It's a shame that power supply leads are always miles too long result in loads of bound up cable to try to keep things tidy. Would like to be able to make them to length.

1980s Tokai.

The end part of Layla is, to my ears, an unbearable racket of out of tune wailing guitar.

On my board I use a Bass Soul Food at the start of the chain for a bit of grit and a Tritonab drive pedal later on for dirtier stuff. Love the Tritonlab.

I'd have the Puma in a heartbeat if I was you.

In my experience it's very much a 2 handed technique where the muting or complete deadening of notes is just as important as slapped or plucked note. It's more like drumming on the fretboard than anything else and requires a lot more subtlety than you'd think (especially after watching Louis Johnson!).

I use a Tokai Hardpuncher (which to all intents and purposes is a P) with flats. Sounds good through my Aguilar Filter Twin which I prefer to the MXR which I also have.

I put a John East preamp in mine. Volume across the strings is fine whatever you do with the tone controls.