Dan Dare

Exactly. I am fortunate in that I can span/stretch easily, but I still move the fretting hand and don't always use the same finger on the same fret. You have to be aware of where you need to go next. If, for example, I play a C on the G string and have to follow it quickly with a G on the D string, I'll play the C with the fourth finger and the G with the third, because it means I don't have to cut the C short or scramble to get the finger across.

Glad you liked it. My favourite live Pistols recording. Ten strings, a drum kit and three voices and sounds as fat as a full orchestra.

A lot of punk bass parts wouldn't be what you'd call "interesting" in isolation. That's not really the point of them. They're all about keeping it solid and driving the band. The bass playing here is a great example of that - Sex Pistols live @ Phoenix Festival 1996 (complete MTV broadcast 1of2) - YouTube. Might not win any compositional awards, but boy does it do the job.

Shedloads of cash.

It's best not to try to keep your fretting hand stationary or attempt to play out of fixed positions. You need to move it constantly to compensate for a variety of issues - you may have small hands/short fingers that make it impossible to reach all the frets from one position, you may have an injury as |Hiram points out, or it may just be more comfortable for you. We all have to find our own way to get the results we want.

Did you have a previous interface? I replaced my old one recently and had to keep telling the PC not to default to the old one (I've now deleted the driver, files, etc for the old one).

???? I have a friend who is a highly regarded violin maker (players in major London orchestras use his instruments). He also does restoration and repair on some pretty special stuff. I visited him once and he had a viola in his workshop. I asked, jokingly, whether it was a Strad'. "Yes", he replied. "It's actually the only Strad' viola in the country" (there are just a dozen known to be in existence worldwide). I asked him whether he thought the working of an amplified solid instrument was more complex than an acoustic one and he was amused. I shan't mention his name because he would rather I didn't.

Don't fret about it.

Agreed. That's why I don't like the great majority of metal bands. The fact that thousands of other people do something doesn't make it any less trashy, even if it is well executed.

Agreed. Skilfully executed and formulaic.

That's one of the things you pay Ken Smith prices for. It doesn't alter the fact that any half decent instrument (maybe not outright El Cheapos, as I pointed out) will be made from reliable materials. Talk of leaving instrument timber for years for the "grain to align" or exposing it to vibration to "make it resonate properly" is all part of the sales pitch (some may even say snake oil) we're fed by those eager for us to spend our money on their wares. Aren't I the cynic?

If you want backup and assuming that cost is not too critical, I agree with Bill and others who say you may as well get something of 500w or so. That will do for both smaller jobs and as a stand in for your main amp should it ever blow a gasket.

Interesting article on R4 earlier about streaming, trading of music as product and investment (see The Price of Song - BBC Sounds). Thoughtful, sensible comments from Abba's Björn Ulvaeus, and others including Paul McCartney. Björn: "I want my money to go to the people whose recordings I play; but at the moment most of it goes to the mega-artists who have billions of clicks". "But you're one of those mega-artists!". "Yes, but it's completely unfair". Agreed, Bjorn

No instrument manufacturer, save perhaps the worst El Cheapo merchants, uses unseasoned or green timber. It will all be kiln dried at the very least.

I'd try re-gluing the dust cap. You need a flexible glue and one that doesn't contain powerful solvents (driver manufacturers use latex-based glues on cones). You've nothing to lose by trying. It won't hurt the driver any more than it might be already. Given that the noise occurs when you are playing low and hard, which demands more extreme cone movements, it might help.

P/J pickups and a preamp will cost you quite a bit - £200-£300. Is the instrument worth it? Remember you won't get much of the money back when/if you come to sell it. "Upgraded" instruments rarely fetch good money. Would it be better to put the money towards a new bass?

Wilmslow are very good. Have a look at IPL and Falcon, too.

With the combination of instruments you play, I'd agree that quality powered PA speakers and mixer or preamp are probably the way to go.

It's a tranny amp. See xgsjx's post above. Fixing it will cost more than it's worth. Save your money and put it towards something newer/better.

If you only want it for headphone use, a small decent quality mixer will do the trick. I use one at home, fed by a good DI box and it works well. You can feed whatever you want to practice/play along with into the mixer and adjust relative volume levels, even reduce low frequencies in the track if the eq is good enough, which is handy if you don't want to hear too much of the original bass part. Getting get that studio/flat/clean tone out of an amp and speakers at any volume is another matter and it won't be cheap. You need large monitor type speakers and powerful amplification, all working well within their capabilities to do that.

Fwiw, I have the Rega, too and am happy with it.

Got any nice instruments you're willing to let me have for well under market price? 😁 P.S. I promise not to flip them...

In that case, slojo's correct and the preamp is built into your turntable. You will need to connect the phono out (which is the non-boosted signal) on the turntable to a phono preamp and from there into your amp. Take the turntable to the shop so you can compare them.

Ah. Didn't think of that. I wonder if it can be by-passed if that's the case.