Dan Dare

Agreed. Given that JP pulled the frets on his J bass, filled the slots and coated the board with epoxy and sanded the lot smooth, a resin board was more authentic to the original. And who doesn't love to save 3 grand?

GSS Sumo? GSS make several power amps, up to 1200W, which are very compact. Not too expensive, either. Someone was selling one on here recently.

I make my own.

Ah yes. The old "halve the value of your neck by slapping on a tin of Ronseal" trick.

Is there any excuse for it? How about insanity?

Yep. If you're the sort of person who carries spare leads, etc, yours are likely to be in good nick and not fail unexpectedly.

The best help we can give is to suggest you go to a few decent shops and try stuff. Everyone is different and what we like may not please you. If you like MB, it would be sensible to stick with them. There may be nothing wrong with your existing amp. Many amps have a thermal cut out (my AG700 does, for example. Not sure about yours) and it could simply have been doing what it was supposed to do. The fact that it was fine the following day would support that.

I use PJB cabs and can confirm that an additional one will give you more of everything and a much fuller sound. I have two C4s and three 4Bs. Two C4s is my go to compact rig for most occasions. 4Bs are more old school sounding - a little softer and fuller, but without some of the midrange punch of the C4s. I like them when playing with my soul band, for example. As you know, PJB cabs are quite inefficient and take some driving, but your PJB head should have plenty enough grunt to power an extra cab. I occasionally use a C4 with a Berg' single 12 (no tweeter - don't like them for bass). I like the combination. It goes surprisingly loud and the clarity of the C4 complements the 12 nicely. You would really need to experiment if you wish to add a different type of cab to your C4 to find one that works well with it. An additional C4 is a safe choice that you can be certain will work.

That is a particularly nice looking sunburst. If it was mine, I wouldn't change it.

The headstock is genius. Or should that be genitalia?

If you're bothered about it, you can get removable castors that push into a plate mounted on the cab base. My old Bassman 2x15 had them.

Bill, should you allow for the wadding when working out cab volume, or does it not affect it? Thanks.

Well, let's not compare apples with oranges. The discussion is about how much commission shops charge. And again, one is not forced to use auction rooms. In fact, I wouldn't to sell something like a bass guitar. Most people in a typical auction room will not be interested in basses and the chances of one making a good price are slim, unless it's very rare/desirable. Even then, there are unlikely to be several bidders who want it or know what it is to compete and push the sale price up. The vast majority of average auction room bidders are more likely to be after paintings, antiques and similar. A specialist shop is the best option for a commission sale (imho, of course).

I'd advise against rosin. It's intended to make things sticky. That's why we use it on our violin bows.

Could be the fact that they are in Camden in the heart of the mighty metropolis, where everything is expensive. They must know their market. It's also a fact that sticker prices are usually open to haggling. If I was selling, I'd have no problem with their asking more for my instrument id it meant I got more when it sold.

I'm not a shop owner or member of staff of one, but I have to disagree. I don't think 15-20% is unreasonable if a shop takes all the grief out of selling an instrument. You don't have to deal with chancers and tyre kickers or dodgy types who come round to case your place to see what you have and whether it's worth coming back another time and breaking in. You don't have to worry about shipping an instrument. A shop will normally clean, set it up and prepare it for sale and advertise it. Many more people will see your instrument when it's hanging on a shop wall than will if it's in a case under your bed. You sit back and do nowt and wait for the money to materialise. What's so disgusting about that? You can always sell an instrument yourself if you prefer. Nobody is forced to do it through a shop.

Interesting and reinforces the point that type of material a body is made from really doesn't matter.

Did I say it was? £10m worth of public liability insurance included with the price of your sub's isn't to be sneezed at.

This. Tubes also tend to overdrive gracefully, whereas transistors do not. You can listen to a tube amp working hard and not be made aware that it is being overdriven. Push a transistor amp past its limits and it's rarely pleasant to hear.

MU membership gets you public liability insurance up to £10m at no extra cost. You can insure your gear through them, too.

Danelectro guitars are made of hardboard (Masonite in the US). I owned a Danelectro bass and it worked very well. Needs to be painted, which rules out a clear finish over a nice looking grain, but does the job more than adequately, being rigid, inert and easily worked. Humans seem to find wood grain beautiful. I don't think it's due to the fact that we are conservative, necessarily. It probably appeals to some instinct within us. It may not make for a better instrument, but if it pleases us and gives us pride of ownership, there's nowt wrong with that.

You could extend this argument to virtually anything we buy or use. For example, I'm an angler. Do I really need a Hardy fly rod when I can buy a perfectly functional rod from China for a fraction of the price that will catch me just as many fish? No, but I can afford a Hardy or two and the pleasure of ownership is worth it. I admit I'm also a bit of a tart and like the cachet of owning nice things. I can't take my money with me when I go.

They have their own payment system for sellers, but if you buy, you are directed to use PP (I buy and sell on there). The buyer's payment goes from PP to eBay, who deduct extra commission (additional to the fee they charge for the sale) from what they pay the seller. That's why they don't like people paying sellers direct

They can expect all they want, but they don't get it from me if I've arranged to collect an item. Just ignore the payment reminders from eBay. They try to push you into using PayPal because they make a bit more commission if you do. eBay has no power to force you to use PayPal. Once you have paid the seller direct, just mark the item as received and payment sent. It's worth asking the seller to mark it payment received, too.

Wiping them down also gets rid of the gunk that manufacturers coat strings with to prevent them from rusting in the packet. Stops them feeling sticky. I use a little isopropyl or meths on the cloth to get them properly clean.