Dan Dare

Before the days of t'internet and buying stuff electronically, I used to be asked for my autograph on cheques, credit card payment slips and the like quite often. Does that count?

Peavey bass amps of that era (in fact, Peavey amps in general from that time) did tend towards a cleaner, leaner sound. That's one of the reasons country players liked them. Rounds and a pick will tend to emphasise its brighter nature. 130w may be a little quiet for a rock band, too, if you have a couple of guitar players who like to push the volume. The speaker in the TNT130 is not the best, unlike the higher end Peavey Black Widow drivers of the time, so its ability to go low and loud will be limited. It has pre and post gains, so the general rule is to up the pre level and dial back the post - thus driving the pre amp harder - to give a warmer/dirtier sound. Be aware that, due to the nature of the amp, it may just sound harsh and dirty, rather than giving you that softer, fatter valve type of overdrive, though. Lozz's suggestion above is good. The TNT, if memory serves, has a parametric mid eq, so you can do quite a bit with it. Obviously, you'll need to roll down the highs. I'd do it on the amp first, rather than on the instrument and see how that works. The tone control on a P bass is simple and fairly unsubtle. Take it down too far and it'll just sound dull. Start with all eq set flat and change one thing at a time when experimenting. In the end, it may just not be the right amp for the purpose you have in mind. If the amp is in good shape, it may be worth selling it (I appreciate that may not be your preferred option, as you inherited it from your dad) and putting the money towards something more suitable.

Heed Phil's advice above, please and take it to someone who knows what they're doing. I'd also suggest that anyone who does know what they're talking about does not give advice on here. I don't wish to appear unhelpful, but encouraging someone who does not know what they are doing to poke around inside an amp is potentially dangerous.

Wonder if they need to show the taxman how they come to have sacks of money lying around...

They are great (I have 4 - two of the minis and two full sized), but they are active only. Not a problem if the desk has phantom, but if not, he'll need a passive. The Palmer gets my vote for a decent inexpensive passive DI.

May be worth selling as is and getting a PJ. Could well be the cheaper option, once you take into account the cost of the pickup and having the work done.

Unless it's a really obvious issue, it's a bit pointless to ask for a solution on here, where, even if we have electronics knowledge, we cannot see or hear the amp and the problem. I'd be wary of poking around if you don't know what you're doing at the suggestion of people who, albeit well-intentioned, may not know what they're talking about (no offence intended to anyone). Huge Hands is absolutely right above. Most tech's will quote a highish price to diagnose to protect themselves from doing a lot of work only to be told that the customer does not want to go ahead with the necessary repairs. Plumbers and mechanics do similarly for the same reasons. Why not ask your tech' if he/she will offset the diagnosis charge against the cost of any repairs that are needed? Most will in my experience.

If you do it, wear old clothes when playing. I should imagine Tufcab will fray your duds quickly.

Be aware that adding a bridge pickup to a P bass may lower its resale value (not everyone views it as an improvement) May be worth thinking about if it's an expensive or vintage instrument. A used Mexican Fender PJ is not outrageously expensive. If you do decide to do it, have a professional rout the body cut out unless you're skilled. If you want to preserve the Fender look, go for a stacked humbucker to avoid hum/buzz. They look like single coil J bass bridge pickups.

K&M always worth a look.

K&M make some nice, although not cheap, high stools. The Gravity FMSEAT1BR looks good and has a backrest. Again, not cheap. Ditto the Gator. The Bassbags website lists a decent looking double bass stool with a back rest for £100 which has good reviews. There's a round up of double bass stools on the CMUSE website (2022, so recent) which is worth a read.

Aguilar, although not valved, can do warm and clean. The TH series is mentioned above, but I find my AG700 can also do the job, although it won't give you that dirty rock valve sound in my experience. I also have a Carvin B1000, which has a valve front end and works well. They're no longer available (Carvin is out of business) but do turn up used sometimes.

This is very true. Buying used can help reduce the cost, but keep an eye out for smaller cabs that have been pushed past their limits (which often happens before people decide to bite the bullet and upgrade). Audition carefully for odd noises before buying. Neo drivers are lighter (and often mean higher prices). The BF 210 is a stock recommendation and for good reason, but it isn't cheap, even second hand. Plenty of other brands use neo drivers. If you like the sound of your old Ashdown 410, a pair of their 210s used won't break the bank and will mean two trips from the car carrying a lighter cab each time, so could be an option. Peavey 210s work quite well and can be had cheaply - often very cheaply - used. Your amp will drive a 4 ohm load, so one 4 ohm or two 8 ohm cabs will be fine.

So many options. Where to begin? The radio is your friend. A few weeks of having Radio 3 on at home will expose you to a pretty wide variety of music. If you really are a newcomer, I'd suggest Classic FM could be helpful. Their diet is very much popular/mainstream classical music (which purists won't be happy about). They also compress their output pretty hard (presumably to make it more audible over workplace/background noise, road noise for those listening in the car, etc), which can be a mite annoying. However, it will give you a whistle stop tour of many of the popular composers and their best known works. Once you start to develop preferences, you can explore them in depth elsewhere.

As dear old Ian Dury put it, a sense of humour is required amongst the bacon rinds. Lighten up, peeps.

Dunno. The thread was getting a little earnest (as often happens on here).

Hmmm. The estimable and worthy qualities outlined over the previous 4 pages of this thread are all well and good, but this fellow made a living out of playing the bass...

I'm partial to my '72 Jazz. It's been my musical co-conspirator since 1980.

If you like the PJB sound, you probably like it clean but without tweeters. I'm a PJB user and appreciate their clarity together with the lack of the click and clatter you always seem to get with tweeters. Given that you say cost is not an object, I reckon you'd enjoy a Barefaced Super Compact and class D head of your choice. The SC is light/ easy to carry, tweeterless but clean sounding and versatile. It will also do old school very well - if you like a P bass with flats, for example. It will go very loud for its size. Add another SC and you would have a potent and portable rig that will cover the majority of jobs in virtually any venue.

Popular music is often part of the uniform we wear that identifies the tribe we belong to. It applies most when we're in our teens and twenties (and sometimes beyond). If we're fortunate enough to move on from that, we can enjoy music for its own sake without worrying about how we think others will perceive us for liking it. This isn't to say we turn our backs on what we liked when we were younger (or not all of it, at any rate). In my case I find I like more things now than I did 40-50 years ago. You never know. You may even end up liking some jazz.

Yep. And a paid gig of course.

I'd play my existing instrument, that I am familiar with, for any gig that mattered. I know it would do the job for me. Not interested in coffee table basses.

I had a similar experience the other day. Got an email from DHL informing me my parcel had been delivered to "my surname". Nobody had knocked on my door, rung my bell, etc. Opened the front door to find said parcel on the doorstep, soaking wet and in full view of the road. My front path is only a few yards long. Fortunately: 1. It had been well wrapped in plastic by the seller. it was an electronic item and would not have taken kindly to getting wet. 2. I live in a cul de sac and have nice neighbours who would not nick something off my doorstep. I have no doubt it would have disappeared in short order at my previous address in London. The delivery person had obviously falsified the delivery report and claimed to have delivered it to me personally. Most of these courier/delivery companies are a joke. My local Evri delivery woman is an honourable exception.

There is rosewood and rosewood - Indian, Brazilian, Madagascan, etc - and colour/grain pattern and density varies between them. Within any type, colour, etc can vary according to which part of the tree it comes from. Or perhaps Rick may be being a little creative with the biology. Pau Ferro is not a member of the Dalbergia family like Rosewoods but it is part of Machaerium, a closely related genus. Given that they lacquer their boards, any wood with the right hardness should do the job.

Is the hiss masked when playing an instrument through it? Few, if any instrument amps are completely silent, especially at higher levels of gain (just listen to any valve guitar rig when it is fired up but not being played through). PJB gear has quite an extended high frequency output - more so than many bass amps - so it may be more noticeable. If it does not intrude when playing, is it a problem in a real world situation? How is the mains supply at yours? Are there appliances, etc, which might be causing noise? I had an issue where I used to live with a street light that was right outside the house. When it was lit, it created noise on the mains, which I noticed when listening to my hi-fi. A power conditioner helped.