Dan Dare

Jeremy Hosking? He owns two Deltics and one pf them is in a museum on the site of the old Hornby factory in Margate.

I should imagine it's to do with the fact that lower frequencies are felt - via causing your bones and tissues to resonate/vibrate - as well as heard. Blocking your ears masks the high frequencies by preventing vibration of the air reaching your eardrum, leaving only those which reach it structurally. It's the same as hearing only the bass from your neighbour's hi-fi because it causes the structure of the building to vibrate.

Now that is a serious toy. Which one?

The average person's ability to discern - visually or audibly - is not high. They seem to hear and/or see anything complex as a jumbled mess and are unable to separate out the individual strands of what is going on. If a musician tells me something is up with the balance, I take heed. If it's anyone else, I thank and ignore them.

There's some truth in that, but Switchcraft stuff, which is American, certainly isn't rubbish. Ditto CTS.

I've long since given up reading anything so-called music journos write. It was tripe back in the day and I've no doubt it's tripe now.

The major difference between covers and originals bands seems to be supply and demand. I play in one of each. The covers band (mainly classic soul) gets many more bookings than the other. Without wishing to blow our collective trumpet, we're pretty decent. We're all experienced and know what we're doing, have high quality kit, etc. We do pubs, clubs, functions (weddings, parties, etc) and similar, nearly always get booked back and work once or twice a week on average. It could easily be more, but we've had to agree between ourselves to limit the number of gigs we do to avoid issues with clashes with family commitments and so on. Getting a decent fee for our efforts is no problem. Crucially, there are plenty of venues where we can play and which want to book us. The originals band, which is just as good in terms of ability of the players, quality of material, etc, does maybe one a month if we're lucky. Fee is usually a couple of free drinks or non-existent. There are far fewer venues that put on originals acts and which will take a chance on an unknown quantity and it's a much harder sell to get into them. We have quality demos - audio and video - and a typical response from venues is "You're great, but we're not sure how you'll go down with our audience". They may want some kind of guarantee of how many people we'll bring in. That's fair enough. They're businesses and it has to be worth their while to open the doors, pay the staff and switch on the lights. We're up against dozens of other hopeful (and good) originals outfits eager to get their stuff in front of an audience and fighting for gigs in that limited number of venues. I'm not complaining. Playing in an originals band is satisfying and enjoyable, but the potential to gig and make money is far smaller.

He probably has decent eyesight. Most clip-on tuners are bright enough to be read at a metre or so distance. I can see mine fine and I wear spec's to read. Massive disrespect to the maker? Not really. Strings are metal. Not only that, they are a blend of different metals - core, winding, etc. Never heard of metals expanding/contracting due to temperature variation? As far as music stands go, as long as they are discreetly placed, they're fine in my opinion. I used to play in a function band. Our book had several hundred numbers in it. It just wasn't feasible to have them all in your head at all times. It's a different matter if you're a bunch of weekend warriors playing the same twenty songs each week.

True. Most quality vocal mics (excluding expensive condensers, which are not that useful for live work) are cheaper than pretty well any any decent guitar, bass, drum kit, etc. And that's before you factor in the cost of backline. I'd tell your singer to regard his mic' as his instrument and the PA as his backline and suggest it's reasonable that he should spend the equivalent on it of what the rest of the band have spent on their kit.

Maybe read before rushing to score a point? The post to which you responded stated that the "general public" would be unlikely to be aware of anyone other than Suzi Quatro and "the girl who played for Robbie Williams". I'm sure Tim knows who GAD is.

A dream come true for any music enthusiast... I had one of those dreams the other night. Took me ten minutes to stop screaming after I woke up.

"No tyre kickers"? Must be legit, then.

I'd pop the Tecamp in the boot of the car and head for a few shops to try stuff if I were you. Or take it with you when going to look at/try used cabs. Fender cabs are OK. They use Eminence Basslite drivers, which are not bad. However, if you can spend up to £500, some better quality options are within reach for you, especially if you buy used. A high quality 1x12 should give you plenty enough volume with your Tecamp and you won't have to worry about impedance (quite a few 2 driver cabs can be 4 ohm). Something like a used BF Super Compact should be well within your price range and they can make a lot of noise. Other makes are available, of course.

Absolutely old boy. The PA can go in the stables.

Yep. I've stored a PA in the hallway before now. It now resides in my lounge (heavy bits) and spare bedroom (stuff I can carry upstairs). My wife passed away some years back, so I don't have to worry about her feelings on the matter, although I have to give her credit for being understanding/accommodating when she was alive. Our drummer still keeps gear in the hallway. His wife is also understanding, although as she has her grand piano in their lounge, she couldn't really complain that much. I'd probably tell your drummer "Fair enough. I'll stop bringing my PA to gigs and we can hire from now on".

Their original shop was in the back streets of Camden Town. Like you, I bought a lot of stuff from them. When they moved to the North Circular, they were still within easy reach for me, luckily. Since they went online only, I haven't used them.

Ah, the old chestnut. There are arguments for both sides. If everyone uses the PA, then everyone should contribute. Not necessarily equal shares - it could be argued that some benefit more than others - but bookings for instrumental only bands tend to be thin on the ground. So everyone, even if they don't use the PA personally or to any great extent, benefits in that they get work they wouldn't have if the band had no singer. Singer should buy a vocal only PA? Fair enough up to a point - if, for example, said PA works out at about the same cost as what others have spent on their instruments and equipment. It may be that the singer should bear the lion's share of the cost of a PA if he/she simply sings. But what happens when singer also plays (keys or guitar, for example. Many do)? Should backing vocalists chip in? They're using the PA, after all. How about monitors? They are of value to everyone. Should the cost of those be shared? And how about other jobs that benefit the band as a whole? They cost time, effort and money. There's a lot more involved in running a band than just buying one's own gear and playing. In my band, for example, two of the members are good at the hustle/getting gigs. So they deal with that. My contribution is that I provide the PA. Another member has turned his garage into a studio/rehearsal space, so his contribution is that he enables us to rehearse/record for free. And so on. The only way is for everyone to put on their big boy/girl pants and engage in sensible negotiation.

Amen to that. We're talking about pop music here. It's always been about theatre, fashion and making waves to get noticed. If people don't like that (as is their right), they can move on and find something more to their tastes. As an old git (70) myself, I find it tiresome when other old gits blather on about "role models". Pop music was never about "setting a good example" ("Remember kids. Say no to recreational pharmaceuticals", etc, blah, blah) and similar tripe. It's about rebellion and stirring things up a bit. I loved the Pistols back in the day and guess what? People were spouting the same tired nonsense about them at the time. Ditto the Stones, Elvis et al going further back. Companies such as Fender need to sell instruments. They have bills to pay, staff to keep employed, etc. If they want to pick someone who is easy on the eye and a competent enough player (granted, she's no Marcus Miller, but she can get round the instrument) to promote their wares, that's fair enough. Personally, I couldn't care less about her or her music, but I'm not part of the target audience. I'm not going to buy any more Fenders - I'm happy with the couple I have - and the company isn't going to stay in business due to me. It seems a lot of the moaning is due to the fact that some struggle to accept that they are getting old and that what they want or like is no longer the focus of attention. Well tough. It's the way things are and we have no choice other than to get used to it.

Great advice. ICEPower, Hypex and similar quality modules aren't cheap, either, so you're unlikely to save a lot by going the DIY route. Selling it on could be tricky, too. GSS power amps are essentially class D modules in a box. I'd be inclined to look at one of theirs.

What are you listening on? Sounds plenty fat on my PMC Result6s or DT770s.

Rumbles are the standard recommendation for beginners or those who don't want to spend a lot. I would suggest you look at 100w, rather than 40. Most 40 or 50w combos have 8" (10" if you're lucky) speakers and won't set the world alight, especially if you want to use drive or dirty sounds (when they sound like an angry wasp). They won't gig, despite what anyone claims (barring maybe with an acoustic duo in a wine bar). They're also not that easy to sell on, as will inevitably happen should you a) improve and want something more capable or b) lose interest.

I'd suggest Mr Jones is barking his wares when he says it's "useless to use his cabs with other heads". It ain't. I have both Aquilar and Carvin heads and my PJB cabs work very well with either. I actually don't like PJB heads that much. I find them a little sterile. My Aquilar (AG700), being possessed of a touch of warmth, provides a good foil to the ultra clean cabs. Don't be taken in by the marketingspeak. Don't buy on recommendation, either. Try gear out before you buy.

Hilarious. Taking a pop at Ms Dey, methinks (who, before everyone jumps on me, is an astonishing player).

I take two basses to gigs, because one is tuned a semitone flat. Our singer has a penchant for Eb and Chic's Good Times doesn't sound good without the pedal note (the fingering is also a pig on an instrument tuned EADG). So I suppose I carry a spare as it could be retuned to conventional if needed. Having said that, I've never needed a spare bass in 50 years of playing. I carry a couple of old sets of strings, so I can replace one that breaks without the replacement sounding too twangy. Never broken a string on a gig, either.