Dan Dare

I'm a bit of a PJB cab fanboi. The small drivers mean you need a few of them to make any serious amount of noise, but since I switched to them, nothing else sounds quite right to me. The clarity, focus and lack of zing and clang (can't stand tweeters for bass) set them apart. Not so keen on PJB amps, however. Powerful and clean, but too hi-fi sounding for me when used with their cabs.

This. Then you can use a regular amp. No point in spending good money on a whole rig you'll rarely use.

You could use both the new head and EBS, using the EBS as a power amp to drive the additional cab.

Spot on. I don't suppose Joe Pass ever weed on his audience.

I always tell an audience "Remember, the more you drink, the better the music sounds and the better looking your partner becomes".

Given that lap steel is played with thumb and fingers (and players almost always wear thumb and finger picks), I'd say many bassists are not "perfect to play steel guitar, especially the finger picking style ones". Sure, they can learn, but they will probably have to make more effort than someone who plays fingerstyle slide guitar, dobro or pedal steel, because they will already have much of the technique needed. I appreciate you wanted to show off your lap steel (and very nice it is, too), but you make little sense.

If "something new" meant exploring new tunings, different techniques, etc, I'd be all for it. However, hacking/butchering things and then attempting to profit from it does not really equate to innovation.

G&L Kiloton Tribute. Bought on a whim and the only and therefore best and worst purchase of 2021.

You're a braver man than me. My backline's worth more than my bass.

I had an AH250 that I used with a Fender 2x15 cab, with the original drivers replaced with Peavey Black Widows. I also ported the cab properly. Sounded fab and very loud. Shame it was such a beast. I needed a Volvo estate to carry it around.

Do you have a fretless? It might sound a bit meh on a fretted. I wondered about the following, too. My father fought in WW2 and he died 15 years ago at the age of 86.

The issue then is, of course, that they may be reluctant to have you in their band. We all need to find our level.

Agreed. The volume/gain control on a power amp is only an input attenuator (it cuts the signal entering the power amp). It is useful in cases where you don't have a way to reduce the signal strength of what you're feeding the power amp, but if you have a master volume on your preamp, use that.

Tricky. If they're decent blokes and I had nothing else on the go, I'd probably agree to give it a try on a provisional bases ("Let's see how we get on", etc), However, I'd insist on rehearsals and subtly suggest improvements/get people to tune up, etc. Which might mean I wouldn't last long... On the other hand, the singer might be grateful for an ally, who wants to do his songs justice, so you and he could work on knocking the others into shape.

Shift working is not unique to the police. I've played in bands with doctors, retail and maintenance workers, all of who worked shifts. It can occasionally limit the band's ability to take last minute bookings, but it's not an insurmountable problem.

I carry a set of part used strings so I can replace one that breaks and not have the replacement twanging and stretching and causing issues if I have to change one on a gig. I would happily offer then to someone who broke a string, but wouldn't lend them my instrument. I once had a similar experience to Cat Burrito, where someone I offered to lend a bass to moaned about it being strung with flats. I put it back in the case and told them to make other arrangements.

If you want a nicer, slightly more solid replacement for a BBOT, the Gotoh 203 is the one. Not high mass, but slightly heftier, smoothly finished and no sharp edges, brass saddles, all for around £25. Has 7 screw holes - the rear 5 are the same as the BBOT and you don't need to drill for the other 2 at the front of the bridge if you don't want to. I have them on several basses.

If you do make up your own, use real Speakons. Most imitations are rubbish (some won't even fit actual Speakon terminals without persuasion). It really isn't worth saving £1 per connector for the aggravation.

Are you sure? I have an old A&H PA12 that has 2 and built in fx. The A&H ZED-12FX has 4.

Tbf to Thomann, this sounds like a shipping issue rather than anything they are doing. It's the same with virtually any overseas online seller. People go for those low, low prices and wonder why back-up and assistance is not as instant as it would be from the shop down the road. You can't have your cake and eat it.

This sums it up. We, because we play bass, spend hours tweaking and fettling to get "my tone". It may sound great at home, but if it doesn't work in context - be that working in the room acoustic, suiting the song, blending with and complementing the other instruments - then it's no use. People don't listen to the bass in isolation. If we're running entirely through the PA, that can be left to the engineer, but where we use backline for the room sound, it's important to set it to suit. Since I started using a long lead or wireless to check how the bass works out front, I have thinned out the sound I use and added a little midrange bark/bite to it, so it sits right and has more clarity and less bloom. It may not be the most pleasing sound to me in isolation, but it works better as part of the whole.

Yamaha Stagepass systems are decent for the money, but are essentially plastic boxes plus powered mixer. Better than most generic Chinese plastic boxes, but not really an improvement on the Mackies you want to get rid of, save for the fact that they will be lighter/more compact.

In a nutshell. The following is a major red flag. You can wear specialised plugs that do mot completely isolate you from your surroundings if you want to protect your hearing. He is using headphones to hide in his own little world and avoid contact with the rest of the musicians.

Agreed. I borrowed one once from a pal and it was impressive for a lightweight combo with a single 10" driver, but it wouldn't have been nearly enough in a band with two loud guitar amps. Re. the OP's question, I'd be looking for a compact cab to use with the Streamliner, which is a compact, easy to carry head. Buying another amp in a combo seems a waste, especially as the budget is not large.

Depends on your budget. I ran large and heavy RCF cabs and, with advancing years, got fed up with lugging them, power amps, etc up and down the stairs to my flat. I did a lot of reading and was drawn to the idea of powered subs and compact line array tops. There are a number of companies that make such systems. I auditioned quite a few and settled on Fohhn. Not the cheapest, but made in Germany and good back-up for spares and repair. I run XS22 subs (12", but surprisingly large sounding and I'm not routing full kit and bass at very high volumes through them) and LX150 tops (twelve 4" drivers plus horn in each). Sounds like a giant hi-fi. Very good onboard DSP/eq, so matching to rooms is easy. The slight downside was the fact that they cost me £7k around 5 years ago, but you can't take it with you and they'll probably see me out. They haven't missed a beat and I'm very happy with them. Google Fohhn Linea LX150 (soundonsound.com) for a review. Of the conventional sub plus top box systems I auditioned, I was very tempted by Nexo. Sound quality of a single sub plus two 10"+ horn top boxes was excellent and it was ridiculously powerful for its size. It needed additional power amps and processor, which added to the weight/number of boxes I would have needed to carry and was on a par with the Fohhn system, cost wise.