Dan Dare

If the input gain clip light isn't flashing and the cab farts, you're either causing the power stage of the amp to clip (too little power - amp cannot produce sufficient power and cuts/clips the peaks from the signal, resulting in a near square wave) or pushing the drive units too hard (too much power from the amp causes them to hit their extension limit), as Alex at BF points out. Could be a combination of both. Modern compact cabs with a single 12 or a couple of 10s and compact amp heads are very capable, but there are physical limits to how much they can do. Playing outdoors or very loud calls for a lot of power and sufficient drive units to shift enough air, especially for bass. A brief fart from the cab won't cause damage, but if you don't turn down and keep blasting away, it will.

C*nt Basie

D'Addario Chromes for me. They feel good under the fingers and are a little brighter (but not harsh) than La Bellas and more traditional flats. They last well and mellow nicely. There's a 45-100 set or a 40-95 set (which is the one I use), which is low tension for a flat, but not soggy feeling as Tomastiks can be (particularly the A) in my experience.

Which Tannoys do you have? I've always wanted a pair. My old house had a 25x15 ft lounge, so I could have accommodated decent sized ones. The place I've bought recently has a lounge around half that size, so I'm thinking 8s or maybe 10s. I fancy building a set of those Wilmslow Audio kit cabs and getting a pair of Tannoy DCs to put in them.

The Grateful Dad

The midrange is where most of the critical information is. The frequency extremes are dressing. Talking of hi-fi, I was in one of those shops that sell very expensive stuff you've rarely heard of and heard a low wattage valve amp and horn speakers. The guy in the shop put the obligatory Ry Cooder album on the turntable. The instrumental intro was nothing to write home about - there was little of either frequency extreme - but when the vocals came in, it was remarkable. It's a cliche, but I did have that "It's as if he's in the room singing" moment. I promptly forgot about the lack of low bass and the fact that the percussion was not very sparkly and started wondering whether I could possibly find a way to afford to buy it.

It'll be just as effective as any of the synthetics. Give it a go. If it's compressed, could be worth teasing it out a little.

If people still want to see them and they want to keep going, that's fine. Unless I'm mistaken, there is no rule book that states when/whether anyone "should" retire. Obviously, one has to temper expectations when going to see people who are getting on and perhaps not as sharp as they once were. I went to see Segovia less than a year before he died. He was in his 90s and did not play very well. That wasn't the point. It was just lovely to see him one more time and we all knew we would be unlikely to see him again.

It's "ambidextrous" too, according to the description.

Indeed. The Aguilar owner's manual explains how to connect cabs (the one that came with my AG700 did, at any rate).

It means someone who doubles on acoustic/upright bass (Big Violin).

What I said. A magnetic pickup does not "hear" the string in the way that a microphone or our ears do - by physically sensing movement of air molecules. It detects movement of a piece of ferrous wire within a magnetic field. Different processes at work.

Because a magnetic pickup is not a microphone?

Love the Del boy final para - "YOUR PURCHASE HELPS MUSICIANS and supports our studio! Buying from us directly helps support unsigned musicians and bands that struggle to produce professional music without help from major record labels these days." Yeah, yeah, lads.

Could well be. I'm not the world's most laid-back or stress-free person.

Good point. If, for example, members of the band change instruments between numbers or there is likely to be any delay (string breaks, etc), it's important to have something worked out to avoid awkward pauses and silences. Best to avoid cringe-inducing stuff - "Are you ready to get dowwwwwn", "Three blokes walk into a bar", "Take my wife.... please", etc - of course.

Pretty well par for the course where the typical amp eq is concerned. With 3, 4 or possibly 5 turnover frequencies, each will cover several octaves of the frequency range. They are very much blunt instruments when it comes to fine tuning the sound. That's why it's so important to find an amp with a neutral tone that you like and don't have to manipulate too much.

Probably because we don't. We'll happily offer advice if we think we can say anything helpful, but it's probably best not to demand instant responses. Compare them side by side. We aren't you and don't know your preferences. Fwiw, I'd say the Hartke, with its hybrid aluminium cone, may well be more mid-focused and a little brighter sounding than the Aguilar. Aguilar products tend to be voiced more towards a smoother, fuller sound (you can adjust for this via eq to an extent, of course). But as I said, we can't know which you would prefer.

Can be a tricky balance to strike. On the whole, I agree with your drummer and Doctor J above. The fact that you say "Audience thought it was good and lots of compliments afterwards" shows that perhaps it wasn't as bad as you'd feared. There's a big difference between headlining and doing a short support spot. In the position you were in, I'd favour keeping the chat/engaging with the audience short and sweet and letting your playing do the talking, which it appears you did. Play your 7 or 8 best numbers and finish with "Thanks for listening. We've been XX. You can see us at the Dog & Trumpet next Tuesday if you like what you've just heard" and direct them to the place where your merch', etc is on offer if you have any. Then offski.

PM'd

I've had the same issue with the middle/longest finger on my right hand intermittently over the last year. It's curled when I wake and have to pull it to straighten it. I flex it a few times after I have done so and it's fine for the rest of the day. It's not Dupuytren's, as far as I can see, which is permanent. Ther is no thickening of or lump in the tissue/tendons in my palm, which you normally get with Dupuytren's as the tendon shortens, pulling the finger into the palm. It comes and goes and is worse when I do a lot of work that requires me to grip with the hand (which I suppose one would expect). I put it down to age (70 next year) and advancing decrepitude. I love getting old, but I suppose it's better than the alternative.

A&H QU16. I like it. If you are happy to mix using an iPad or similar, the QU SB or QU Pac mixer-in-a-stagebox models are cheaper and more compact.

Can't go far wrong with RCF for the money. I worry about putting big boxes on poles, so would look at 10 tops with a sub, but that's just my preference.

Indeed. A floating tower block. Interestingly, they can be relatively inexpensive if you make a last minute booking. I have to confess to looking into it when I moved house recently. My flat in London sold 3-4 weeks before I could take possession of my new place in Hampshire. I puit my stuff in store and looked at Air B&B and similar. The cost worked out at a couple of grand. For that, I could have had a month on the Queen Mary 2, with all food, accommodation, etc included. I decided against eventually. It would have been hell on earth for a curmudgeon like me, but I did consider it. In the end, I managed to rent an out of season holiday caravan for around a third of the cost.

I'd go further. Even if it's not sh1te, the fact that attempts are being made to dragoon me into it brings out the Victor Meldrew in me (who, tbf, is never far from the surface).