Dan Dare

It's so unfair. She sings well, too.

Ah, the Grateful Dead rig. Nice to see it again.

I'm struggling to understand why one has to do one or the other thing - scales, notes, etc - first. It sounds a bit mechanical/programmed. Surely learning is a cumulative process and you acquire/learn combinations of pieces of knowledge as you progress.

If you like flats, try Thomastik. Expensive, but nice. Use them on my fiddle, too and just converted to them on the bass.

New drive unit? I put a Black Widow 15 in an old Fender cab and it was great until some toe rag pinched it. Ampeg cabs tend to be well built/worth repairing.

KT88 similar to the 6550. Made by many different companies.Both tend to be used in high end hi fi amps. Can be amp dependant as to which is best for a given purpose. Suggest asking someone like Watford Valves for advice. Have found them very helpful.

Companies tend to offer products at a variety of price points. Probably hope if you start with a budget item and like it, you'll upgrade to one of their belter offerings. Some make their own premium products and sub contract budget items (EBS). Instruments the same - G&L for example.

AH PA series has better eq than Zed (2 band mid) and cheaper. Mackie Onyx nice - very good mic preamps and eq. I have one. Yam digital desks good, but not keen on their analogue models.

Having been through the jointly owned PA minefield, I'd strongly advise that each band member buys/owns the constituent parts individually - one owns the mixer, one the tops and so on. That way if someone leaves, they take their item with them and no arguments about buying them out, value etc. At worse, if you split up and sell a complete PA to share out the proceeds, you can lose a lot of money. Been there, done that. Am fortunate in owning my own complete rig these days - decided to buy to avoid another loss. Gets me gigs, too. I'm a crap player, but people hire me for my kit

If you want one and have the lolly, doooooo it. Can't take it with you

Hi All. Just signed up. Been playing 45 years (am very old) on and off. Have had the same instrument for the last 30 of those ('72 Jazz, which I found in a hock shop when they could be had for reasonable money). Just bought a G&L 2000 Trib (Thomann sale). The old beast with flatwounds great for blues, etc but needed something more modern sounding for some jobs. Amazing what you get for your money these days. Still after the ideal rig, of course. Running a BBE pre, bi-amped, with Peavey and RSE power amps and a couple of SVT cabs. Not bad, but would welcome ideas to get me closer to the classic rock sound. Lots of knowledgeable players on here - good site. Looking forward to picking everyone's brains. Cheers. Dan