Happy Jack

I remember that well!

Depends on who else is in the room, and how loud they are. If you're up against a live kit with a clumsy drummer and a guitarist with a Marshall stack, then no. If you play with musicians, then yes.

65 years old. Astonishing condition ...

Ah yes ... Orange Terror bass + Barefaced Midget, my go-to rig for several years. Loved it.

I did a lot of shooting with the CCF back in the early 70s. Ear protectors were available, even then, but it was considered "a bit wet" to wear them. Teenaged boys are easily steered by peer group pressure, so no one wore them. My hearing in my right ear has a sharp dip in responsiveness at the frequency associated with rifle fire, and I imagine pretty much all the other boys I was with in the CCF have the same.

In truth, Michael, I'm struggling with this too. No one is suggesting stuffing cotton wool in your ears so that you can hear nothing. Now that, that would be impractical. And that's called "ear plugs". Using proper "ear protection" is another matter entirely. My ER15s, or even a pair of (much cheaper) ER20s, will reduce the volume of what I hear without changing the sound of what I hear. As a long-term tinnitus sufferer, my understanding is that you can get it just as easily through prolonged exposure to relatively high volumes as by very brief exposure to very high volumes ... I got mine from riding big, noisy motorbikes, not from playing bass. My point is that regardless of whether you play trumpet, viola or the triangle, playing professionally in an orchestra will require very long periods of exposure to to relatively high volumes. Of course the guy should have been wearing proper ear protection. I think the question now is whose job was it to supply him with that protection and ensure that he was wearing it.

"As soon as we hear that an artist has been asked to put their hand in their own pocket by a management company, big alarm bells start to ring." Pretty much this. I appreciate that being a musician doesn't guarantee business or finance skills, but neither does it exclude basic common sense. Giving significant sums of money to someone you've never met is simply not a smart move. Ever.

Judging by the grounds on which the ROH chose to fight the case, it seems clear that they knew they were on a sticky wicket. The Royal Opera House argued that acoustic shock does not exist, and that if it did, Mr Goldscheider did not have it. Their case was that he had developed an entirely natural hearing condition, known as Meniere's disease, at exactly the same time as the super-loud, high intensity noise burst behind his right ear. However, Mrs Justice Nicola Davies took a different view, stating: "I regard the defendant's contention that Meniere's disease developed at the rehearsal as stretching the concept of coincidence too far."

So long as the Notifications system is working, in my case!

Well you can put your cedilla où le soleil ne brille pas ...

Except in France, where it would be: Ca va! Ca va! Ca va? Ca va. Ca va? Ca va. Ca va! Ca va!

Oh yes, and he's listed it as a "PA Speaker", which is not going to help ...

I think the explanation is in the specs. 480W RMS power handling @ 4 ohms Frequency Response -6dB @ 35Hz and 18KHz Dimensions: 23-1/4"W x 36-1/2"H x 18-1/2"D Weight: 100 lbs. Lovely as I'm sure this is, how many of us really want a bass cab that weighs 100 lbs? In fact, he's got a bit of a cheek describing it as "very portable"!

No - just rise above it. People are people, some have manners, some don't, some have communication skills, some don't. Most of us love saying 'Yes' but hate saying 'No'. If we can avoid saying 'No' by walking away quietly, then that's what many will do. There's no point taking it seriously, even less in taking it personally. Just move on.

Stew, this is only because I'd run in that Midget so well for you ...

Hmmmmm ... as usual, Oscar Wilde got it right, at least for some people. The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.

I always look forward to Saint Paddy's Ext.

Good spot, Tiny. I completely missed that ...

Depends ... is it FRFR?

I've played DB through all manner of completely unsuitable equipment: Orange Terror Bass 500, Trace Elliot Elf, Gallien Krueger MB500, Aguilar Tonehammer 350. You know what? It always sounds like a DB. Yes, it sounds better played through some of the high-end, specialist, DB amplification I've used, but not THAT much better! And if it's for home use, please forgive the slightly disparaging tone, but who cares? It's only you who's going to hear it.

Do you reckon he's also a bounder?

Presumably to pay the heating bills in the rehearsal room?

I imagine most experienced Basschatters are simply gobsmacked to find that I own a Tenson. It's not a brand I think I'm associated with. 😁