Dan Dare

Yammy Pacificas are always a sound choice Can't go far wrong with Squier, either and they sell easily used when you want to upgrade.

If an item was discounted, I wouldn't worry about a few marks. If I liked it, I'd probably try to get a few quid back and keep it.

It's a practice/starter combo. As it's from MB, it's going to be decent, because they have a reputation to protect. Whether it will be enough for you to gig with is something only you can determine. Practice amps don't usually offer a simple upgrade path (for example, by allowing you to run additional cabs), so when/if they are not sufficient to do the job, you have to sell and start again. The market for used practice combos is limited because fewer want them. The new price of the MB is not far short of what you would pay for a more capable used combo. It won't be a bad choice by any means, but it may be a limited one in terms of what you can do with it. I'd advise trying one - plenty of shops carry them. Don't buy on spec' or on the basis of reviews/recommendations.

If you're looking to save weight, modular - several smaller, lighter boxes, rather than one large heavy one - is the way to go.

I love it when people who plainly know nowt about something come up with tripe to boost it - "Whether you're a seasoned musician or a beginner, this Music Man style bass guitar is sure to meet all your needs"... Yeah, right. I wasn't going to buy it, but, having read that, how could I not do so?

I'd say a smidge above. I converted a fretted to fretless and filed the slots to be slightly above the board. If you like a lot of relief in the neck, you may get away with level. A DB may have them level with the board, but remember its action is much higher than an electric. Best to experiment, rather than file them right down from the off.

You don't need to centre subs, but it is best to place them together. Frequencies become less directional the lower they get. Depending on room acoustics, it can be better to place them at one side to take advantage of boundary reinforcement, floor coupling, etc. One good sub will easily outperform two average ones The problem with large, one box cab's is that they can be a bit precarious when put on poles, which you have to do to get the best coverage/dispersion of higher frequencies. If a drunk punter crashes into a stand whilst dancing a bit too enthusiastically, things can go pretty pear shaped. It's better to have compact top boxes on poles and keep the sub(s) on the floor, from both performance and safety standpoints.

Closed back cans are better because ambient noise can't cause problems. You generally get a better bass response from them, too, which is handy. I have an ancient set of Beyer 770s that do the job for me.

Aguilar Tone Hammer?

As you don't play yourself, I'd be wary of buying something expensive on spec'. It's difficult to get it right when buying something for someone's interest that you have little knowledge of. As it's not a main present, I'd keep it simple. Programmable strobe tuners are all very nice, but are a bit expensive/overkill for a young guy with his first instrument and amp. The TC clip on tuner at a quarter the price would be fine and you could add a decent strap and gig bag and still spend less than the the cost of the Peterson suggested above.

Now that's one occasion where a round of applause when they'd finished would have been in order...

A wise move. Incidentally, when you say you've seen a bass for sale that you owned as a teenager, do you mean the same make and model or the very same instrument? That's intriguing because most teenagers don't own massively desirable instruments (unless mum and dad are minted).

Good advice. With multi driver cabs, you should normally mic' one driver only. They should all sound the same, so for the purposes of mic'ing, that's the way to go. It can get a little more complicated - the BF multiple 10" cabs for example, where some drivers are fed a different signal and obviously cab's with tweeters or mid-range drivers. No such issues with the C4. Be aware that with close mic'ing, you are not getting any cabinet sound, but just that of the driver itself. For live work, I'd agree with Phil and others that DI is the way to go.

You should experiment to find the sweet spot on cabs that have no tweeter. On cone drivers, if you point the mic' directly at the centre of the cone, the sound will be brighter. It's often better to point it more towards the edge of the cone. If you're mic'ing a cab in a live situation, you want to get the mic' as close as you can to minimise spill from other instruments, drums, etc. Using a hypercardioid mic' helps. They pick up in a narrower/tighter arc and are better at rejecting sounds from the sides and back. It's also important to aim the axis of the mic' at what you want to pick up. In other words, ensure that the capsule diaphragm is flat/180 deg. to the sound source.

It wouldn't make much sense for brands to make their budget offerings too good and take sales from their higher priced lines. Often, companies will own other brands that cater for different price points - Yamaha owns Nexo, which is a pro' audio PA brand, for example.

There's a clip of the new cab up on the BF YouTube channel. No sound, just someone showing how easy it is to lift it.

Surely it's a practice tool. Handy if one lives in a flat, where even the sound of sticks hitting pads can be annoying to neighbours or flatmates.

Took the words out of my mouth. If I'm paying, it's my business and I'll do as I see fit. As for the "someone's paying" point in a pro' situation, I've been there, too. We didn't expect everyone else to be in the control room, hooting, hollering, high-fiving and "engaging" during tracking/overdubs. It would have been pretty naff, actually.

Yep. That massive low end may sound good in isolation and at low/practice/studio volumes, but use it in a live situation and it's usually mud city.

I'd rather poke out my eyes with sharp sticks.

Depends on the individual. I prefer to be left alone to work on something without half a dozen pairs of eyes watching my every move. You can't generalise..

Fair points, but the truth is that, unless one has unlimited funds, resale value has to be a consideration for ordinary mortals like me. I know people say things like "this is the instrument I'll never sell", but who knows what life may bring? Something even nicer may come along and the funds from selling the previous "forever instrument" will be needed or come in handy. Worse case, one might need funds due to some disaster that crops up and be forced to offload something(s) to raise the money. At my age (70), I recognise that the time could come when I am no longer able to play (or lose the desire to do so). If that combines with a need for funds - to cover care costs, for example - I'll have to sell some instruments since, next to my house. they are the most valuable things I own. If I've spent a lot of money on a bitsa, even a superior one, it's likely be less easy to sell for a good price. I was in this dilemma some years ago. I decided to spend quite a large sum on the mandolin I'd always wanted (an F5). I spoke with custom builders and was very impressed by some of their instruments, but decided in the end not to commission one but to get a Gibson because it would hold its resale value.

If you're buying a bass for the sort of money custom shop instruments go for, you'd be foolish not to do an online lookup of the serial number before handing over the cash.

I bought a decal for my bitsa that says Findus Sea Bass. haven't got round to putting it on yet as I'm rather fond of the Dinky Toys decal that's on there already. As far as the OP's question - why is putting Fender decals on bitsas allowed in the first place? - who's going to prevent it? Somehow, I can't see Fender or anyone else knocking on doors at 2 am and the Old Bill certainly wouldn't be interested. "We have reason to believe you have a fake decal on your bass. You're nicked, sunshine". Caveat emptor as always. It's not hard to spot a fake, unless it's so well done it's better than the "real" thing. Nobody moans about high quality copies from the likes of Limelight.

That's my experience, too. It doesn't sound that great when you're stood next to it. Not bad by any means, but nothing special. Out out in the room, it's a different story.