chris_b

Yes. All Parts strap locks are made under licence from Dunlop at half the price. They don't fail either.

Why would you have more than one strap lock system? All my basses get standardized to Dunlops as soon as they arrive.

Easy, start up 2 new bands.

But, I'm always looking. I could have bought a couple of amps and half a dozen basses in the last 2 years, but my "Must be better than what I already have" rule has kicked in and stopped me.

The only thing I've bought since my BB2 2019 has been a lead, and that was only because I lost mine at a rehearsal studio, a couple of months ago.

Check the classifieds and get a Super Compact. That cab will be good for many of the larger gigs as well. I briefly used a BB800 with my Super Compact. They sounded pretty good together.

Probably understandable when you hear most of the basslines they were expected to play!

For starters, listen to any of the dozen or so A list bass players on Keb Mo, Bonnie Raitt, Robben Ford, Steely Dan, Delbert McClinton and Crusaders records.

Good move. The criteria for upgrading a bass is that the new one has to be better. If it's not better then wait until you find one that is.

Mustang Sally

It doesn't mean you weren't good enough. You probably were, but people can be greedy and there is always someone who is better.

My 68 P bass needed the bridge realigning as soon as I bought it and a refret after 3 years!! I know there were good ones, but it was a lottery buying a Fender back then. The only vintage Fenders that haven't been worked on probably spent most of their time in the case.

If you are really never going to gig, I'd recommend something like the Palmer Pocket Bass Amp and a good set of head phones. Connect it up to your music source and you have much higher quality bass sound than you can get out of a small or practice amp, and it takes up no room at all.

My passive Mike Lull PJ5 fits that description exactly. . . . and it's 3 tone burst, with rosewood and tort. With flats and foam it's a perfect Soul machine. Take the foam out and it slots into any genre. I bought it used, 10 years ago, in unplayed condition. It's 8.6lb weight is very playable, even on long gigs. I fell on my feet with this one. There have been some fantastic basses in the classifieds lately. I'd check the adverts out for a few months before I'd consider buying new.

I've put Dunlop strap locks on all my basses for the last 30 years. I remain incident free. Last month our guitarist just caught his Gibson just before it hit the floor. His Schaller strap lock failed!! It's not unusual to hear about Schaller strap lock problems.

About an inch up the B string (from the ball end) the string narrows. Can you thread it through the bridge slot at that point and slid it along? Does that make sense?

I've worn my ACS plugs to gigs, at Santa Pod (with ear defenders over them!) and In Atlanta and New Orleans watching the NFL games. They have saved me many times.

They go in just far enough. I've been wearing them for about 15 years. They are the only reason I'm still gigging and have any hearing left.

Stan Sargeant is a monster of a player. Previously Al Jarreau's bassist.

Hi, I don't have the 210's anymore. The bottom line is that I preferred the sound of the BF 112's. IMO the sound I got out of the 10's and 12's was pretty close! I am gigging a passive PJ5 (with flats and foam) through an Aguilar TH500 and the differences were minimal to my ear. I also gig an active J5 through an Aguilar AG700 which works well with the clean 12's. Alex recommends not mixing the 10's and 12's and I never felt the need to try that. The 112's always seemed to be first choice when loading the car, so as they were lighter (my back problems rear up periodically), and louder, I decided to stick with the, IMO, better sounding 12's.

Depends. I generally don't rehearse in the bands I play in and for. Depends on the songs and how good you are at playing your instrument. If I can learn them at home then that's what I prefer. The only rehearsals I've done in the last 20 years was for the benefit of one or more of the other band members. What "makes a band good" is getting the gigs under their belt. Every gig I've done since the lockdowns ended has had one or more people commenting that they are rusty. Sometimes you can tell, sometimes you can't. I doubt the audience knew. IMO rehearsals are a means to an end and it's the gigs that make the band. So, leaving a gigging band because they don't rehearse is cutting your nose off to spite your face. YMMV

Granted he has a few things to sort out!

Imagine the poor sods doing business with the supermarkets. All those reduced price offers aren't coming out of the supermarkets side. So you have 3 gigs lined up and the pub tells you you're doing a 3 for the price of 2 offer!! I'd get to the bottom of the paperwork, then when you go back it'll be a doddle.

So far I have 4 gigs next week!! IMO there are plenty of gigging days left in 2021. . . . get it fixed and start making some noise.