Dan Dare

I've found string life has a lot to do with how you put them on initially and how frequently you clean them. I always take them up to pitch gradually over several hours and clean the gunk off them regularly (I sweat quite a lot, so this is more necessary for me than it may be for others). As they lose brightness so gradually, changing them can be something of a shock to the ears.

in active or passive mode?

That is an excellent idea.

And as long as it doesn't overhang the edge of the cab...

Good advice from Bill as always. The upper wattage rating of an amplifier almost always means it can deliver that power in a very short burst (measured in milliseconds) and at a set/limited frequency. Steady state power delivery will be a lot lower. Few amplifiers have power supplies that are beefy enough to deliver high power over sustained periods. Any decent drive unit will usually be able to deal with short term peaks of twice its rated power, provided it is mounted in a well designed cab. And as Bill points out, a high power amplifier will ensure the signal you send to the cab is clean. If you drive an amp into clipping, that can be far more damaging to a speaker than feeding it high levels of clean power.

Asymmetry doesn't bother me, but poor design does, such as headstocks - see above - which don't give a straight pull of the string over the nut to the tuning peg.

I had a similar experience. Had a CD player stolen from my PA rack (I had left it onsite overnight on a 3 day job). Turned up in the local CC a week later. I got it back, but was told the same thing by the police when I reported it.

Thank you so much for posting this. Beautiful. That version of Let's Fall in Love was magic.

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).