Dan Dare

Apart from the Bass Gallery, I don't know of any that keep a good range. Take a trip to Warwick and visit Bass Direct. It's a nice day trip on the train from Marylebone and not expensive if you go midweek during the day and travel after around 9.30 in the morning (as little as £28 return depending on the trains you catch).

I'm principally a fingers player, but I won't hesitate to use a pick if it will do a better job. I play the mandolin, too, so I know how to use one. There seems little point in working to be able to imitate the sound of a pick with the fingers. It's a bit like saying "I've practiced for years and can now play tennis quite competently with a cricket bat". Just use the tool for the job.

A lot of people do swear that thin nitrocellulose or oil finishes are better for "tone" in solid instruments. They are claimed to allow the wood to vibrate and "breathe". It is certainly true of acoustic instruments, but not for solids.

Stop it, all of you. I'm trying to tell myself I don't need a Bass Cub to go with my other PJB stuff and you're not helping.

All well and good, but a magnetic pickup is not a microphone (you may wish to Google the differences). It doesn't "hear", by sensing variations in air pressure (detecting "sound waves", if you like). It senses vibrations of a string within a magnetic field and converts them into a minute electrical signal. The materials solid instruments are made from may, due to differences in density, rigidity, etc have a tiny (and I do mean tiny) effect on how a string vibrates, how long it sustains and so on, but it will be insignificant. It will be different if you are using a piezo pickup or contact microphone (which is what double bass players normally use).

If you need so much gain that you're noticing a lot of hiss, my first thought would be that you aren't driving the amp hard enough. Hiss will usually be produced by the preamp section of the head. You're not using a passive bass into an active input are you?

Don't forget the reverse form of confirmation bias - "I can't afford that and my pride won't allow me to admit it's any better than what I can afford".

Absolutely. Spending lockdown rehearsing/playing with bands via Jamulus with headphones on made me swear never to get involved in any "silent stage" nonsense. It was better than nothing (just) but soulless and unsatisfying.

Horses for courses. If you want that tic-tac sound, for example, you need a pick. If you play reggae, you need fingers and/or thumb. No point in struggling to make a less than ideal method work.

Rather than spend £200 on a budget powered monitor, I'd look at an active PA top box with a 10" driver (you don't want too much bass in a monitor). I use HK Premium Pro 10s, which double as vocal PA speakers (with or without a sub) in small venues. They're nice, but over your budget. However, there are some decent cabs from RCF and others that should do the job at the sort of price you're looking to spend. Avoid generic Chinese boxes. You cannot get them repaired if they develop a fault and resale value is nix when the time comes to upgrade.

Not so (unless attempts are made to eq out extraneous noise, which will take some of the wanted audio content with it). Some, such as key rattle on woodwind instruments or the sound of a singer breathing, is part of their character, so why would anyone want to remove it? How much truly "expensive and esoteric HiFi" have you actually heard? I'm not talking about gear that costs a couple of grand, but stuff that costs tens of thousands. It can be pretty astonishing - analogue or digital - but you need very deep pockets, the proper space to set it up in, etc. Vinyl is capable of remarkable results, but at a price. Most decent hi-fi does have only a volume control and an input selector. Even mine does and it wasn't particularly expensive. Any device that reproduces recorded music must introduce colouration and yes, designers will voice it to their tastes (in the same way as we use eq, etc to make our instruments and equipment sound pleasing). It's always a compromise. Proper manufacturers acknowledge this and do not deny the fact. Treat yourself to a listen to something really decent. You will be surprised.

I had a similar experience. I had some tendinitis in my right/picking arm and hand. The job I did at the time involved my using Excel a lot and my poor old right hand was being over-worked - jumping from mouse to keyboard and back all the time. It used to ache at the end of a work day. I switched to using the mouse left-handed and added a mouse mat and keyboard rest with gel to spread the load more evenly and the issue went away.

Maybe. The starting point is the recording, not how it was made. Obviously, one cannot make up for anything lacking or present in the recording - CD, vinyl or whatever - itself. The idea of hi-fi is to reproduce whatever is on there, good or bad, analogue or digital, as accurately as possible. Some don't actually like it when they can hear too much - key rattle on woodwind instruments, background noise in studios, musicians breathing, dodgy edits (all of which I've heard on recordings played on good quality equipment), etc, but it's all part of the performance. I agree that some acoustic treatment helps, too.

The better ones allow you to connect them to the PA via a 'through' output, so the monitor level you set has no effect on the signal sent to the mixer. The TC, unlike the Mackie, can mount on a mic' stand, so it can be close to your face and easier to hear. It also has reverb/fx (which don't go to the PA), which makes your voice sound warmer/nicer and is confidence-inspiring. That's why I got mine.

I'd suggest seeking the advice of a physio or osteopath before resorting to more extreme measures such as surgery or heavy duty drugs. Many (admittedly not all, but it's worth trying less invasive options first) such issues can be helped by changing the way we play, alleviating strain, not putting joints at awkward angles and so on. Playing an instrument can put a lot of strain on hands, backs, etc, especially if people are self-taught and have picked up bad habits.

The first rule of pick club is...

More a case of UVs (uninvited vocals).

Spot on. Vinyl can be fabulous, but you'll be hard pressed to see the benefits on a budget. For the average person, who doesn't have the time, money or inclination to chase the audio dragon, digital gives better results conveniently and relatively cheaply. Horses for courses. For some, hi-fi is a hobby. Nowt wrong with that. However, people who claim one playback method is inherently superior to another are all as bad as each other.

I have a pal who picks with all four left hand fingers (he's a lefty). Uses the first to play the E, second on the A and so on. He gets around the instrument swiftly when he needs to. I've tried it (right handed, ofc) and find it utterly impossible. He started out playing classical guitar and taught himself the bass, which might explain his, um, interesting technique.

You still need a trs to trs cable to connect the amp to the DI box. May as well just buy a trs to XLR cable and save the expense of a box...

Agreed, but I wouldn't bother with soap and water. Just use isopropyl, meths or similar spirit, which will remove the grease, etc from the strings. Depending on how sweaty your hands are (or how greasy/sticky said sweat is), you may have to do it frequently. I'd avoid fast fret and the other products that leave a coating on the strings. The coating can react with the sweat/grease from your hands and make the problem worse. Just keep the strings (and your hands) clean.

If the singer won't use in-ears, tell him to get something like this. You can adjust your monitor level independently of the PA or main monitors. Made my life a lot easier when I got one.

With you 100% on that. Hideous. Why Fender and Ernie Ball couldn't make a three on one side, two on the other headstock (as do Lakland) for their fives is beyond me.

The greatest day in music history? 🤣