Mottlefeeder

@Eric.C.Lapton - I think we differ on 'Mojo'. To me it means natural wear and minor dents on a loved and cared-for instrument, not ugly scars like this. YMMV. @BlueMoon - yes, it's a Hohner cricket bat in walnut satin stain. The colouring I used was transparent, so the grain still shows through, so the only outstanding issue is filling the hole, flatting and polishing. I accept that it will still be visible, but hopefully will look a lot better than it currently does. @Maude- I've just put on the next coat, so I can't answer that question. I've also put some glue on a bit of plywood to check how hard it sets, and whether I can sand it. I'll report back tomorrow. Thank you all for your input David

I parked the car on a slope, opened the boot and failed to catch the bass as it slid out. It landed on the thinnest bit of padding in the gig bag. The finish chipped down to bare wood, with one crater on the edge of the top/side, and the other on the edge of the top/side/base, The left hand crater is about 15mm long at the bottom. The craters have sloping edges, making the finish look deeper than it is (about 1mm). I made some enquiries and one luthier declined the job, and one quoted £175. Going to Allparts for Gluboost would cost £50-£70 for a range of colour additives and some glue, so I thought I'd look for some alternatives locally. Hobbycraft have a transparent PVA glue and some water based transparent colours so I thought I'd have a go, mixing the colours on a transparent film so that I could see them against the wood. I painted the damaged are with PVA to seal it, and left it to dry. Then I mixed some mid brown with some red and got a surprisingly good match. I mixed that with some glue and painted it on. This is how it looked when it dried. This is the crater with about 6 coats of PVA over the tinted coat. I'm getting there, but it is a slow process, partly limited by the risk of the glue dripping if I put it on too thickly. And finally, my question - If I changed horses in mid stream, would Gluboost complete the job faster, or would it also drip off the edge? David

Not quite on topic, but may help - I play a 5-string ABG and I find that an HPF gives me better control of feedback than the built-in notch filter. David

Any news on date options yet? David

I bought own-brand 5-pole XLR plugs from Studiospares and they did not fit Neutrik 5-pole sockets. Just sayin' David

I've been using my own version of this for many years - a rucksac strap adjustment buckle at the end of my bass strap. Its a lot cheaper. I put it on so I could shorten the strap when sitting down. David

It is also possible that for a small generator connected to a 13A distribution board for you to plug into, it may have no terminal to connect it to earth. Similarly, if your gig is under a gazebo in a tarmac carpark, or on a concrete slab, you will not be able to hammer an earth spike into the ground. Provided that the generator is local, and not feeding any other areas, it is a floating mains system, and will require two simultaneous faults to become dangerous - the first to earth it, and the second to give you a live part to touch, allowing current to flow through you to earth. 'Simple' circuits like that will not work with some plugtop RCDs since they will not switch on unless they detect a connection between neutral and earth, which is the norm in most houses. As others have said, a generator feeding multiple areas should be earthed, and/or may have been earthed at any of those areas, and therefore only needs one fault to allow current to flow through you to earth. That is where the RCD is helpful. David

Adding a C4 to the line up would be good. If I can help with the organising (from Warrington), or set up and tear down on the day, then yes I'm volunteering. David

I'm not part of the organising committee, but I'd like to hear both of those. David

I'd be interested in a shoot-out between micro cabs. I have my even Briefer Case twin 5s and others have Fane or Faital based 6s, or PJB 4s. Any one else interested? David

I've had trigger finger in my fretting hand fourth finger and in my plucking hand third finger. Cotisone injections helped for a while, but it was the minor op that fixed them. In through the palm, sort the tendon, keep it still for a few days, and light duties for a few weeks. Sorted. David

I may be burned at the stake for this, but I prefer IEMs with less bass, and I turn down the bass on my monitor mixer. I find I can hear my bass notes with more clarity without that bottom octave or so. I'm using a cheap mixer with 3-band eq to approximate to the profile of my hearing aids, and I feed that through a passive belt-mounted volume control to a pair of Shure SE215s. I take a feed from the desk (acoustic guitars and vocals), a feed from my bass amp, and a stage ambience mic to pick up drums and band comments. David

Most of the PJB briefcases I have seen work from mains or a 12v 7Ahr lead acid battery, not a laptop battery, but I think one of the newer combos does use a laptop battery. Depending in the OP's DIY skills, a brick sized 12 v battery and a car audio booster amplifier can be used with existing speakers, and is sensitive enough that you don't need a preamp or booster with an active bass. The item on the left is a 150w into 4 ohms when bridged, class AB amplifier, and lasts over an hour with the battery shown. The item on the right is a class D amplifier of similar power. David

The instruction book says one speaker jack and one headphone jack, which mutes the speaker jack. My interpretation of the handbook is that they allow you to add extra speakers, but only in series with the one supplied. David

Band in a box? Type the chords you want onto a stave, and it will make you a backing track in the style you want, with the instruments you want, and a score if you want to practice reading the dots. Software, designed for a PC, so would still need a sound card or outboard D to A convertor.

I'm fairly sure that there is a requirement that mains gear has to be supplied with a fitted plug suitable for the country in which it is sold. That might cause some companies to specify which model can be used in which country.

EU harmonisation was a fudge. The UK voltage is 230v +10%-6% and the rest of the EU is 230v +6% -10%. So, we are harmonised but still operating at the voltages we had before. David

You are focused on playing notes. I don't know you, and do not mean to cause offence, but have you considered your attitude? Are you being fired because you are not a good fit in some way? David

My current band has a history history of putting the main pa speakers at the back of the stage because they couldn't fit a monitor speaker in the car with everything else. After a few gigs where I was standing beside a head height speaker, I volunteered to bring a monitor speaker to every gig I played in. It's also worth bearing in mind that the mix you want in the monitor may not be the mix that is going out to FoH. David

At the risk of being a pedant, the definition of being 'at work' was defined by court cases may years ago, and includes master-servant relationships (unless they are your servants at home), so the band leader(s) is/are effectively the employer, even if, as in my case, we are a charity, and all the band members are non-paid volunteers. In general terms, the Health and Safety at Work Act requires the employer to take all reasonably practicable precautions to ensure the safety and health of their employees, AND those not in his employment. To me, that means that the band leader(s) has/have the responsibility of ensuring that each band member's gear is as safe as it can reasonably be. David

There is a possibility that the aound man was worried that as he connected his phantom power to your rig, the initial pulse of power might break something. Rod Elliott has a good rep in electronics circles and explains it here. https://sound-au.com/project152-2.htm David

https://www.hse.gov.uk/electricity/information/public.htm Indg247- Electrical safety for entertainers David

If it is a 12v fan, this circuit will make it temperature controlled. David https://sound-au.com/project42.htm

Have you considered a cricket bat or an acoustic, both are lighter than almost any solid body and both are available with 5 strings. David