Dan Dare

Kind of odd to have an all-time favourite anything. It presupposes that one's tastes are frozen at a certain moment. At the time the Beatles were around, it was a toss-up between them and the Stones for me (I'm that ancient) as to which was my favourite. A few years later and things were very different, as my musical and educational horizons broadened. That's been a continuous process in my life and I hope it remains that way.

THOSE NUT SLOTS 🤢 And as for the headstock... A shame his father's tool slipped, eh?

Gauge affects brightness. Generally, the lighter, the brighter.

This. That fat, smooth, juicy sound we like in isolation is often completely wrong when playing live. I like to check, either using wireless or a long lead, by going for a wander out front to listen how the bass sounds in the mix. Often, I find I need to thin the low end to remove the mud and boost the mids and top to make it sit right. The resultant sound can be none too pleasant when I'm stood next to the rig, but if it's what works in the room, I'll put up with it.

Sounds like flannel to me. If the claimed "upgrades" can be verified (take out the pickups to check they are as they are claimed, etc), may be worth a look. I doubt you'll be able to do that - given that he states he won't reply to messages, I'd be highly suspicious and avoid.

Tell 'em something like "G, as in George, E as in Edward" or similar in that scenario. G minor is George Michael, A minor is Arthur Mullard, E minor Eric Morecambe and so on.

I went through exactly that process several times this morning - navigated all the screens you pasted into your post, got the 6 digit identifier code sent to my phone, etc - with no success.

Rant alert. I moved recently and have been trying without success to inform PRS of my new address. It appears a simple task. Just log into your account, add your new address, press "Submit" and voila. Oh, er, computer says no. The address on my account is actually my last but one, because I had a similar problem when I last moved in 2013. Attempts to contact them are fruitless. Anyone else had similar experiences with them? I just hope (probably in vain) that their system is a bit more efficient when it comes to royalty calculation and distribution.

Interesting. I preferred different rigs according to the instrument/style of playing. I thought the most versatile - the ones that worked with everything (although were not necessarily best at any particular thing) - were the Proamp and Eden. I don't know how meaningful the comparisons were, given that the amps were eq'd differently in different clips as you point out. It looks as if they set each one up to give of its best for each sample, which is fair enough. All goes to show that there is no "best" and that variety is the spice of life.

I've found this with a number of string brands. I think the stickiness is due to whatever the manufacturers coat them with to prevent rusting in the packet. Since I started cleaning new strings with meths/alcohol, I've not had a problem.

Motown - JJ and Bob Babbit (I'm pretty ancient). The first bass part that really made me want to play the instrument was Tears of a Clown, which was Bob.

I used to have a Lehle pre' (which I regret moving on) and tried to run it direct into a power amp. I found I had the same issue as Jakester above. Couldn't drive the power amp adequately. Shame, as the Lehle was excellent. In the end, I gave up and bought an AG700 and traded the Lehle against it.

Odd request. I could understand if they asked for something £££/exotic, but a Rumble? Decent, competent amps and nowt wrong with them at all, but hardly the last word or cutting edge in bass gear. I'd take your MB rig over a Rumble any day of the week. I'd be asking them what sound they mean - bright, distorted, clean/dirty, old school, etc. Are you able to speak with their regular bassist to find out what he sounds like?

Slow day then. Does the label really matter?

Not sure about that. The bass guitar was originally developed to be a portable, convenient and amplifiable substitute for the upright bass. There's as much dissimilarity between it and the UB and the guitar and electric guitar. The electric guitar predates the bass guitar by only about 20 years. Both were quickly used by musicians for their own, rather than any traditional qualities.

Great advice. Although a '78 isn't truly "vintage", it's still worth a bit more than an off-the-rack new one. If it works well fretless (not all do), it seems best to keep it that way.

Good personal hygiene, large vehicle to transport the rest of the band, own PA. That's what got me a lot of work back in the day, not any musical ability.

If you Google "speaker cabinet corner protectors", you'll find plenty (they don't have to be used on speakers, obvs). Penn Elcom has a decent selection. Re material, I'd go for ply. Something like pine would look nice, but it isn't that stable or strong and can warp. For covering, there's good old Tolex, or you could use something like Tuff Cab paint.

Old TE stuff is rack width. However, there is no complete internal casing (there wasn't on my old AAH350), so you cannot just whip it out and put it in a rack case. Ashdown make ply amp sleeves. Given that they were originally TE, the dimensions/layout will probably be similar. May be worth asking their advice.

I admire good tribute bands. The dedication and attention to detail required to play the material true to the original (musically and stylistically) is impressive. I played a large wedding once where the main band was a Beatles tribute. They had the right instruments and amps, the right clothes and sounded very close, including spot on vocal harmonies. They were great and I enjoyed their set very much. However, I couldn't play in a trib' myself. I'd get bored. I'm too much of a grasshopper. I like to flit from one artist/style to another. My failing, I guess.

If you're in the Oxfordshire area, FinnDave is selling a 2x10 Ashdown combo at a reasonable price in the Market Place (no connection to me, so not trying to boost a pal's sale). It has a tweeter, so should do your required clean and sharp.

Does Lee Sklar not live in the "real world"? I've seen/heard him play in many styles (but not "clangy metal", oddly enough). Metal players like Dingwalls because the long scale means the low end is clear (good for de-tuning), intonation is accurate due to the fretting and the pickups give even tone across a wide frequency range. That doesn't limit them to metal. I've tried one and I thought it was something of a Swiss army knife instrument, albeit a modern-sounding one.