Dan Dare

Design a good pre and add an IcePower or similar module and away you go. BF have already done powered cabs.

I have Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats on my 5. It's 34", but I'd say they definitely have enough un-silked length to fit 35" scale, unless it has through body stringing. Not the cheapest, but last well, feel nice under the fingers and sound good.

Never say never. Your gigging days may not be behind you. I'd definitely get one which has a preamp/line out, so you can add a power amp and cab(s) if you need to make more noise at a later date. All those you list will do the job, depending on what you want. If you like clean, I'd look towards the Edens, rather than the Orange. Hartke combos are decent and quite versatile. I've never been that thrilled by Laney bass gear, except their big valve heads.

Why not build two 2x10s? Easier to carry/transport. Make each 8 ohms and away you go.

That is staggeringly disrespectful of her. I would have had to stop her. I wonder what she would have said had you placed glasses on something she valued and started to fill them.

Me too. If someone comes on stage with a bass and asks "Where do I plug in?" without asking me beforehand if they can use my gear, I point to the nearest mains socket. Drinks on gear is a no-no, of course, especially as most has cooling fans these days, which will suck anything that spills into the amp and destroy it. One guy I allowed to use my amp put a pint on it. I tried and failed to catch his eye to ask him to move it (pretty sure he was ignoring me), so I went on stage mid-song and did it myself.

Fair points, but I would suggest something further. It isn't just the actual CNC machining that costs. That is a relatively small part of building instruments - it only really applies to making the components. Assembly, setting up, QC and inspection, which will be more intensive in the US (partly because the manufacturers need to justify the higher prices charged for US built instruments) is the greater part of the process. If it is done by people who are paid properly, that has to drive up the price. In the Far East, the instruments probably come off the production line and into the boxes with relatively little setting up or hands on input. I agree that the price premium is high for US-built instruments and have no doubt that there is an element of manufacturers charging more for them because they can, but I don't think that's all there is to it.

Surely you don't listen to music with your eyes.

Seller seems to be another of those who don't appreciate that a joke wears thinner with every re-telling.

With a beefier power amp. I think you're right. Unless you play the entire time in your room or in a studio environment, these demos where the cab is close mic'd tell you very little about how something performs in the "real world".

I think you may need to spend money to get that combination of qualities. Something like a used BF Big Baby or Fearless F112 would be my suggestion.

Nothing to stop you going somewhere like Bass Direct and trying a few. There's no law that says you have to buy when you visit.

They do this to avoid unpaid items being logged against their account/feedback. They want you to cancel the sale, so it doesn't reflect on them. I don't send them to option to cancel. I let them stew. After a week or so, you can apply to eBay to have the sale cancelled due to non-payment (which logs an unpaid item on their account).

You answered your own question - "in a cheap labour economy". If we want instruments (or anything else for that matter) that haven't been built by people who are paid as much gravel as they can eat, we have to pay a bit more than rock bottom prices. I'm fine with that - I wouldn't work for a bag of gravel, so why should anyone else? Cheaper instruments also have poorer quality metalwork. fittings and electronics. The best way to get something that plays nicely for not too much money is to do as Slick Bass has done (see above).

That mellow, deep sound is traditionally the product of a lot of drivers, with plenty of surface area and in a decent sized cab' (or cabs) working well within their capabilities. It may be a poor analogy, but think a big V8 cruising effortlessly at 70 mph vs a turbo charged, highly stressed one litre engine propelling the same vehicle at the same speed. You've certainly got the amp for it, but one or two small lightweight cabs are not going to give you that sound, unless you spend serious money (Barefaced, Fearless et al). Not at any volume at any rate. If I was in your position, I'd take the amp to a decent shop and spend some time trying out the options. Someone is (or was) selling a Fearless 112 in the Market Place. It looks mint. If I wasn't happy with what I have, I'd have bought it.

Creased my self at these comments.

Oh look. Auction ended with no bids. Fancy that.

The combo may have 240w, but can the drivers translate that into movement of the air? I'm a PJB user, but I find I need to run 2 or 3 of their 4x5 cabs (I have 5) to make a realistic amount of noise in a band situation. I reckon those 5" drivers are good for around 50w apiece. Don't misunderstand me. I love the sound they make (wouldn't own them if I didn't), but two of those little drivers are not going to blow the windows out.

This. I don't believe through body stringing makes any difference to the sound, but if you use flats, as I do, they will likely fail sooner. Trough bride string changing easier, too.

Been there. Guitards should be banned from using anything other than open backed cabs, which have limited low frequency response. Imho, of course.

I'm pretty sure I remember Alligator operating out of a shop in Finsbury Park, just down the road from where I live. They used Volt drive units in their amps. They were pretty standard solid state combos with nice speakers that sounded quite good. Kent made excellent pickups and did great repairs. He fettled the pickups on my old J bass for very little money many moons ago.

Probably not if it still sounds OK at moderate levels. It's difficult to damage just the parasitic cone and not the whole thing. It's only a piece of shaped compressed paper pulp stuck to the centre of the main cone, after all. It has no separate motor to drive it, unlike, say, a Tannoy dual concentric unit, which has a complete tweeter mounted in the centre of the main cone that works independently of it. Parasitic cone drivers do have limitations as far as power handling and frequency range are concerned. The parasitic cone is part of and being moved by the main cone, which affects what it does.