Happy Jack

We only ever start the whole song again when the guitarist forgets to put on his capo.

That may the case now, but it certainly wasn't historically. I used to own this 1971: When I sold it, I replaced it with this 1976: Not a fretline in sight ...

They're in Avrainville, a tiny village just south of Paris. For that sort of money, and with a choice of seven available, I'd contact the seller and say that I was going to come over for a weekend in Paris with a visit to Avrainville (Uber would be good) as the centrepiece, allowing me to try all seven basses and choose the one I like the best. If the seller immediately starts throwing obstacles in the way, there's your answer.

But what a great Certificate! I'm particularly impressed by the need to write in the serial number and year in pen, because he presumably issued one of these certificates every time he sold one of Ronnie Wood's many Ovation fretless acoustic basses. Incidentally, Paul Karslake used to be Ronnie Wood's brother-in-law, so you'd think he's know which "ten years" Ronnie played this bass. He might also be in a position to work out who "Santana's bassist" might have been.

Loving that 1U blanking panel with the draft excluder ... the second I saw that, I ordered one!

We can sale this Bass for £4695.00 including case. But for that sort of money, don't expect us to speech English.

This is 'the new wireless' ...

Yup. In my rockabilly 3-piece I can play much 'better' basslines on a Precision, I can play with more accuracy and consistency, yet the same songs played on a DB just sound like the real thing, and it feels to me like I'm playing the real thing.

Nice one Jack, that's exactly the sort of detailed insider gen that we really need to know. When I retired last year the firm gave me a reasonably top-of-the-range Dell laptop as a retirement prezzy and - frankly - it has been largely gathering dust for nine months. I'd say it has now been re-purposed. What's really sold me on the XR18 is the option to ditch the wireless angle and just run an Ethernet cable. It's not so much that that's what I want to do ... more that this means that the option exists in an emergency where the wireless/router/network/cloud completely f***s up just before a major gig. I love the cabling for the outputs. Did you cut the hole and fit the grommet, or was that already part of the rackmount kit?

Three years is no big deal, and should be easily surmounted. What you really don't want to do is to get involved with a band who have played together for 10 years or more, and where you'll always be the 'outsider'. After three years together yes, they'll have stories to tell and shared experiences, but you have a fighting chance of becoming a fully paid-up member of the band. Musically, their tightness works to your advantage. Your inevitable mistakes will do far less damage and they'll be able to carry you to a certain extent while you get up to speed.

Now that's a fairly crucial piece of information! Thanks.

That's amazingly helpful, Russ, as always. Many thanks. The aim is not to do anything particularly 'clever' ... no IEMs, no personal mixes, no live streaming of gigs, no use of Midi or patches or pre-recorded parts. I've never yet used a DAW and I'm not hugely enthusiastic about starting now. I play pub rock & similar. Most of the bands I play in have maybe one person under the age of 50 and we tend to be pretty old-school. Fundamentally what we're after is the ability to have the PA controlled by our FOH gal Silvie in situations where that's necessary or appropriate. We're talking vocals x4 (max), mic'd up backline x6 (max), mic'd up kick drum, and (in exceptional circumstances) a pair of overhead mics for the kit. A 16-channel mixer should be more than fine ... that's what I use at the moment and I've never run out of channels yet. The XR18 (https://www.gear4music.com/PA-DJ-and-Lighting/Behringer-X-AIR-XR18-Digital-Mixer/18DJ) looks like a very competent piece of kit and, as you say, at that price it's a bit of a no-brainer. When you say the built-in wifi is ropey, is that in the context of playing big venues with serious bands, or an all-embracing "forget it"? If it's at least adequate for pub/club gigs, then starting with the in-built would obviously simplify the transition process. The other big question is controlling it all via the tablet. This is not an Apple household - we're strictly Dell & Windows, Samsung & Android. Should I just Google for software/apps that will control the XR18, or is there anything else I need to know?

No idea if this is the right section to ask this question (see my suggestion under Site News) but what practical experience can the Basschat Collective offer? I play in pub/club bands, audiences between 20 & 200, where Silvie and I do the sound. We have a very nice PA system (Mark Audio AC4 on each side) and we currently control the sound with a fairly standard mixer - we use Studiomaster, Behringer, Alesis, whichever unit is the right size for the band/venue. Silvie does the sound engineer bit by yelling at the band between songs ... he's too loud, that needs to come up, etc. If we want to go wireless and hand Silvie a tablet to operate from her camera position, what should we be looking at, what should we be worried about, how much should we be paying? I can read articles and reviews for myself. What I'm really interested in is your practical, hands-on experience.

Given how often the bass player ends up being the PA guy / sound engineer for the band, and how many topics on Basschat stray into or through PA territory, how about a section just for PA-related topics? For example, I'm interested in finding out more about mixing desks controlled remotely by tablets. I'm sure there are plenty of Basschatters who know about this stuff and have practical experience of using it, but do I post in General Discussion or Off Topic or Amps & Cabs or Other Equipment?

Oh Good Grief! Apostrophe (and Spelling) Police here. Callous means hard-hearted and unsympathetic, and that may well be the case, but the word you are groping for is CALLUS.

Yup. The last band I quit, I just emailed them to say, "I do this for fun, and this band isn't fun." They got the message, I still play with the guitarist in another band, the drummer fell off the radar, and the BL hates me. I'll take that as a result.

Unless you screw that one up too ...

Why do you want to erase the signature of Sid Vicious?

The Dogs banner was always a kludge job right from the start. Rick the Slide found an old tripod in his local Oxfam shop and ordered a heavy vinyl banner to match the dimensions - at every gig he needs at least five minutes just to erect the damned thing, and at tight gigs on small stages he has to gaffa the banner to whatever is available. Just carrying the thing is a bloody nuisance, since it comprises a rolled-up banner inside a cardboard tube and a wonky tripod that catches on everything. The Damo banner is light and compact, dead easy to use, and looks much better.

Both times I've been sacked it was done by phone, and I had no problem with that. Both times I've walked I did it by email, and I had no problem with that either. Most people are really very poor in potentially confrontational situations, and things can get out of hand really fast. My feeling is that it's best to put people in the picture from a distance, but then tip up quite happily to the next gig/rehearsal/whatever knowing that they already know. YMMV obviously.

No gigs within 200 yards of school gates etc.

From where I sit, that's Game Over, Insert New Coin.

In all fairness, he always runs 100% Feedback. I see that it has just dropped to 99% due to someone cancelling a purchase but then leaving -/ve feedback anyway, which is - frankly - a bit off. I wouldn't buy anything that's been through his hands, and I wouldn't recommend his products to a friend, but he does seem to have many genuinely satisfied customers. Just saying ...

Also, don't allow yourself to be confused by recommendations for appropriate wattage ... there is SO much more to it than that. At your price point you won't need to worry about valve combos -v- solid state / digital combos (valves are WAY louder, but also WAY more expensive) but even amongst apparently similar combos with similar ratings there will be some very striking differences in output. The only thing you really need to remember is that all these combos have volume controls that go down as well as up. Right now on eBay you have a charity shop barrel-scraper: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PEAVEY-Basic-112-1x12-75W-Bass-Combo-Amp-W51/392232252519?hash=item5b52dd3467:g:XgIAAOSwAdFcWuTm A slightly more modern piece of kit: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LaneY-Linebacker-KB30-Reverb-Combo-Keyboard-Bass-Guitar-Amplifier-Amp/113577370881?epid=835737403&hash=item1a71bd2501:g:N~sAAOSwsDZcQ6u5 And a ridiculous amount of bangs for your buck: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hartke-Hydrive-210c-Bass-combo/323566788118?hash=item4b56155e16:g:ffsAAOSwtc9buJ8D Those three are each very different from the others, but all will do what your son needs at this stage. The last of them (the Hartke in Huddersfield) will see him through until he's left home!