Dan Dare

Yes. I carry an additional bass tuned a semitone flat because our singer has a penchant for E flat, so some songs are in that key. I could jump up an octave for the tonic, but some bass parts don't sound right without the low root. Chic's "Good Times", which we play, is an obvious example. She also sings some in B, so again, the flat-tuned instrument is handy because it puts those numbers in C fingering.

Could you explain the physics to me? I'm always keen to learn. Thanks.

In my experience, the best people don't usually have the biggest egos. Often, it's the wannabees who do. It's one thing to reach a negotiated agreement that works for everyone and another to cave to one person's demands. If you have experience and a reputation, you have more to offer a singer than many bands and can afford to hold your line. Someone good enough to fill the role is not necessarily with a band right now. They could be between bands (when I left The Smoke 3 years back, I had no band for a year or so). They may be in a band, but not happy or looking for something better. Etc, etc. If you have an established style and repertoire and an audience, someone joining has to accept and be content with that, at least in the beginning. By all means be open to suggestions for new numbers, etc, but if he/she doesn't want to play your existing repertoire, he/she is the wrong person. Thank them for their interest, move on and kiss a few more frogs. Glass half empty is the phrase hopeless idealists use to describe the way those of us who are realists view the world. Remember, an optimist is constantly being disappointed. A pessimist is occasionally pleasantly surprised.

Phil's advice above is good. Do you have anything to show prospective recruits - recordings, etc - of previous incarnations of the band? Are there gigs in the book, or are you re-grouping and on a hiatus? I agree that painting too rosy a picture is not the best policy. No point in getting someone on board, only for them to move on swiftly because it wasn't what they envisaged. As Phil points out, do you want someone who will be a drop-in replacement for their predecessor, or will they be able to stamp their own character/style on things? Covers or original material? How flexible are you willing to be to accommodate a new singer? Whilst Myke is correct that you cannot base your offer entirely on what went before, bands and musicians do have a style they are known for/good at, which, whilst it can be modified, is usually not possible to change completely. Beware the Spinal Tap moment "We hope you like our new direction". The only way really is to get together with a few people to see how things go. Kissing frogs and all that.

So it sounds as if this will be a new, custom-built instrument that you'll be looking to sell for £2k plus. If that is the case, it isn't possible to advise. Prices and desirability of custom instruments are heavily affected by the fact that one man's meat is another's poison. If a builder owes you money, I'd suggest you get the cash back from him/her and forget about accepting and trying to sell on an instrument.

This is key. People can list and advertise instruments for whatever price they like, but finding out what they actually sell for is what's important (and not that easy). eBay, shops and even our own Marketplace are full of stuff that is priced high and sits there for months. I've always reckoned on approximately half new retail for something that isn't vintage or particularly desirable when buying or selling.

What's the choice of basses? No use our suggesting you take a '51 Precision if there isn't one on offer. Configuration, scale length, etc has relatively little bearing on price. If they're all new, make a list of what they are and get Googling to find typical prices.

And not necessarily in the right order

See Phil's and Bill's advice above. That poor single 10 is being asked to do far too much if you're expecting it to produce any kind of volume in a "very loud" band playing outdoors. When you play outdoors, you have no room reflections or resonances to assist and you need to move air, especially if you have no PA support. A single 10 can only do so much. If you're running the amp flat out, the snapping sound you are hearing is either the amp clipping or the speaker over-extending, possibly both. As Bill says, it isn't just to do with watts. Your Eich is quite capable and will run into 4 ohms. You need more speakers. Even a 2x10 may not be sufficient in the circumstances you describe. If you add an 8 ohm 2x10 to your existing 1x10, the Eich should drive them happily and it might do the job. The only way to find out is to try things and see what works.

As in Master Bates? Not forgetting Seaman Staines and Roger the Handsome Cabin Boy. Heave ho, me hearties.

I think I might have seen you. I remember you did a great version of Just the Way you Arr.

Do I get extra nerd points for admiring your old TDL transmission line speakers?

Did you lose the chargeback claims, though? If not, then the system is working. I would have thought (you can tell me if I'm wrong), if someone sent you a different item in return and you could prove it, that judgment would be in your favour. As I point out, I have no problem making a payment I cannot reverse if I have the goods in my hand when I make payment. Otherwise, I'm going to protect myself. If that means I cannot buy from you, that's fair enough.

The only time I will consider a bank transfer is if I am collecting an item I'm buying (saves carrying/handing over a bundle of notes). If I don't have the item in my hands at the moment I pay cash or by bank transfer, it's PayPal using a credit card. There is no difference from the seller's POV - they get the funds in the same way as they would if I paid by bank transfer - but I have some protection. Any seller who objects is likely to be dodgy.

AI seems to be just another thing to get worked up about. I've never seen/heard any AI generated art or music that wasn't sh1te - limp non-melodies, trite lyrics, derivative arrangements (how could they not be?), etc. It may fool some people, but only those who wouldn't know art if it bit them in the behind and they are probably beyond saving. There's nothing we can do about it, so why get upset?

£50 doesn't seem too bad if it's of good quality. I've just paid £100 for two Roqsolid covers for my cabs.

In answer to the original question, you could get creative with the spelling ("Kult" instead of "Cult", etc) if you like the name you have and don't want to lose it.

I'm a J bass man and also a nerd, so there's defo some truth in what you say. However, I think an essential aspect of nerdiness is obsession with technology, so the J bass falls a bit short on that score, being firmly in the classic camp and not exactly cutting edge or SOTA. I'd suggest that truly nerdy instruments need to have complex active electronics, fanned frets, more than 4 strings and be made of things you have difficulty pronouncing.

Playing outdoors removes the major problems of reflected sound and aggravating resonant frequencies of rooms. You can find you actually need more low end, occasionally a lot more. In reality, playing outdoors without PA support is usually difficult if you want to play at any volume. Indoors, it's a case of suck it and see. It will depend on a lot of things - size/shape of the venue, other instruments (you mention in your subsequent post the issue with keyboard left hand clashing with the bass), density of arrangements (more instruments can mean more likelihood of clutter and clashes), how close you are to each other, etc, etc. Your friend's advice is good. Thank you for agreeing with what I've been saying about the importance of integrating with each other sonically. It makes a massive difference.

How so? I can only speak for myself, but I certainly don't choose music that "suits the tone I like". At the risk of being branded a troll again, that seems bizarre. I choose music I like and adjust the sound I produce, the style I play in, etc to suit it. I can't be the only one. Not so. It's simple to use a wireless or even a long lead during sound-check to go for a walk and check the sound from a variety of locations in a venue. I do it all the time. You don't need to guess or be experienced in "how your bass sound reproduces in different rooms" when you can hear it for yourself. Problems will usually be obvious - too much/not enough low/mids/highs, more/less volume required and so on. Most amp heads have plenty enough variation in eq settings to get a decent result. I'm struggling to understand why so many find it a problem to ensure they blend well with the other musicians and the room. It seems so basic.

If only life was that simple. It isn't so much bad sounding rooms per se. It's more to do with how the instrumental mix and the sound each band member makes combines and reacts with a particular space. Sure, a space with lots of hard surfaces - tiling, large expanses of glass and similar - is going to be a problem, but many rooms have not been designed or built with music reproduction (especially loud music) as a consideration. The worst sounding space I ever played in was an art deco style ballroom that was shaped like a Nissen hut internally. The walls/ceiling were hard plaster and it was a complete nightmare sonically. Leaving aside such obvious horror scenarios, pretty well every room has resonant frequencies. They will depend on dimensions, volume (as in capacity, not loudness), etc Excite those and there's often trouble. It has little to do with how good or well designed your cabs and gear are. Several of us recount instances above when quality gear has not sounded great. Quality gear that has a wide frequency response may even make things worse because it gives you more of everything. The fundamental disagreement in this thread seems to be between those of us who favour tailoring individual sound/tone to blend well and suit the overall in-room sound - even to the extent that they may not particularly like the sound of their instrument/rig very much - and those who are concerned primarily with enjoying their personal sound (and who presumably expect others, including the audience, to adjust to suit them). Assuming the band isn't playing entirely through a PA, with an engineer to take care of FoH, the first camp is the one to be in. Imho, obviously.

Is there a modern bass head or combo with integrated reverb? I hope not.

This. The Veyron 1001 head is frequently praised on here as good value. Given that the combo has a turbosound driver to go with it, it won't be cr@p. £250 for something you can gig with is not to be sneezed at. 1000w is probably pushing things a bit, but if it's "only" 500, that should still be ample. I wouldn't worry about "dispersion and top end", either. A 15 will produce as much top end as a 12, 10 or anything else (bar an actual tweeter). You may need to be inline with the voice coil dust cap to hear it, but that's a minor worry. Unless you slap all the time, it won't be an issue.

I'm not sure it will peak any time soon. Musical instruments, like art, classic cars and other desirable items that are in limited supply (I'm referring to vintage/rare here, obvs) are being seized on by investors looking to put their money into things of intrinsic value that won't suddenly become worthless when the stock market tanks or a war breaks out somewhere. It's been the case for a very long time with classical instruments such as violins. Every time a Strad is sold for telephone numbers, the buyer is always a corporation, hedge fund or similar. Said corporation/hedge fund then lends the instrument to a prominent player in return for publicity in concert programmes and so on. Now investors are discovering that electric instruments can be worth money and appreciate, they are piling in. Try finding a '59 Les Paul burst that is owned by a regular player. There are relatively few. Yes, I know the Steve Lukathers of the world own one, but when they pack it in or pass away, it's very likely the instrument won't be bought by another player. It'll be bought purely as an investment.

It's always been the case that people tend to over-estimate the value of what they own, be it musical instruments, cars or whatever. The rough rule that the value of a decent used item (excluding genuinely vintage/rare) is around half new retail price holds true much of the time..