Marvin

My wife has one in her work bag, I'll pinch it later, cheers

The Aguilar Tonehammer 350 is a great little amp, incredibly small, light and great tone. BUT!...the blue lights on the front. My word, how bright do they have to be. Every photo of me playing a gig has this blue ora consuming the stage/playing area. I'm seriously considering putting a piece of tape or thick card over the lights

Encore P4 Blaster, not a single redeemable feature, complete junk. The only other bad bass was a Harley Benton 6 string bass. But this was the fault of the owner not the bass itself. The strings had never been changed and had visible lumps of gunk on them. Also, it had been tuned to standard guitar tuning. The B was therefore now an E etc, and the tension pulled the neck around so much it was now effectively a multi string bow! Otherwise, I don't play other people's basses or wonder into music shops and play basses, so limited experience ☺

First band i joined, when i started playing again 10yrs ago, the guitarist really couldn't stand the singer. That band lasted four gigs before he walked off. Mostly though it's all been friendly, if not friends. The only band I don't talk to at all are two brothers I was practicing with...they really were the most unpleasant pair I've met in music. They spent most of their time slagging off local bands. That was 5yrs ago I left, they're still in their garage and I've done quite a few gigs since 😎

I've never really bought an expensive bass so my experience is somewhat limited. The most expensive bass I've ever bought was a £400 Yamaha, it had the most uninspiring tone of all the basses I've ever owned. I like all 3 of my current basses, for different reasons. The cheapest was £150 s/h the most expensive was £280 brand new

This could be a really good thing. Ampeg is an iconic brand that has been allowed to wither a little, if not a lot, of late. You can see that from how few replies there are in this post actually. Hopefully Yamaha can put some new life back into it and give it some of its QC ethos.

Just under a mile. We practice at the singers place which is just outside the town. No neighbours, great cups of tea and I'm home in a few minutes...absolutely fantastic

The open mic my mate runs has a sort of house band, if you could call it that. Him and his bandmate might do the first 2 or 3 numbers. But they get people to put their name down if they want to play and they'll call them up to play during the night. It sounds a bit regimented but it's a good night and very popular as most people get to play. If not many people turn up then the 'house band' sort of fill in the gaps. Jam nights are a bit more of a free for all it seems. The night I go to is 'run' by one guitarist and you go up and join in if you want. That's my experience anyway, it might be different elsewhere.

I'd be inclined to go ask for a refund myself. That said, if it's the 'long distance retailer' I think it is, then I had to return a faulty item to them. They were very good. Very prompt and the issue was fixed. All told, I think it was less than 2 weeks to sort out and that included transit time. It was much better than the service I received from a local music store. Still, I'd go for a refund.

Jam nights seem to be things where anyone can just jump in and join in, which is usually why it turns into a 12 bar fest. Open mics on the other hand appear to be solo acts or bands taking a turn and maybe playing a few songs, then the next soloist or group get up. Maybe.

Music in general can be really cliquey. Certain venues have 'preferred bands' and if you're not one of them you'll be waisting your time trying to get booked there etc etc etc. I might actually be going to a jam night tonight. The guy who runs is actually a very generous guy and does try his best to encourage as many people as possible to get up and have a go. I think he's all too aware of the 'same old faces' thing hogging the 'stage'. That said, the only reason I probably get up or get asked to join in is because the guys from my band know him really well, so yes, they can be very cliquey even when not trying to be.

I've been using a Schroeder 1212L for over 2 years. It's capable of being incredibly loud for a cab of its size. I've got it paired with an Aguilar TH 350 I must admit it's taken some time to like this set up, but I've found a tone now that really works. I've tried the cab with an Ashdown ABM and that sounded good, so if I were to change either it'd be the amp not the Schroeder cab. I've been toying with a Markbass amp recently, just haven't got the funds.

February 2016? Is that when I took leave of my senses and sold you that Rumble 😎

What other drivers could be used in the smaller cab @Phil Starr? And how would they effect the overall sound/tone? I’m keen on building a cab to stick in my bands practice space and this looks ideal

If my memory serves me correctly, there's one of those Premier Guitar rig rundowns on YouTube about Guns 'n' Roses. Apparently they have cabs underneath the stage all mic'd up...some apparently in some sort of sealed box

I played my first gig with a new band on Friday and all went really well. A very small pub, so we were all crammed up next to one another, and I couldn't hear myself but it was great to be back gigging again after my previous band came to a stall last June. Nice thing at the break. I got talking to a guy who'd been sat at the bar quite close to us. Turned out he was an ex-pro musician who'd had to give up some years ago due to ill health. We got chatting, he asked if he could have a noodle on my bass, said yes. Then he asked if he could sit in on a number or 2. The rest of the band were fine with it, so I had an extra long break So, Bill, if you're on here, lovely to meet you and your playing is miles better than mine

How ever many are on the set list at any one time. That's about it. Like with any other thing in life, if I've not used the info for a while it starts to get forgotten. I go to blues jam nights occasionally now. Blagging my way through an 8 bar or 12 bar song for any given key doesn't really count I don't think

I've never touched or played any other instrument than a bass. I recognise some guitar chords but I can't play guitar at all. Hasn't ever caused me problems. I get into bands, I get to play gigs.

I've been looking at manufacturers sites and the tensions of strings varies quite a lot. Flats can be incredibly tense to under what my rounds are. I'm still pondering at the moment. Thank you for the advice, very appreciated

I went to a blues open mic/jam night last night with a couple of mates whose blues band I'm playing with at the moment. A really nice crowd of players, the guy who runs it is a real gent, if you can play then they really want you to get up and have a go... ...the only disappointment was the absolutely awful tone emanating from the bass amp all night. I thought I'd got to the stage where I didn't really care too much about tone. As long as it sounded reasonably bass like then what the hell, life's too short to be continually swapping amps and twiddling knobs :). But this thing was like sludge...and I mean sludge, there was no definition at all to any note you played. It was a one of those Ashdown 180 combos, and it sounded as if the octaver was permanently on. I can only assume it was in some way broken, because you could play around with it for an eternity and you'd still just get sludge. It was really disconcerting and off putting. Because of the tone I couldn't hear myself at all. I spent the numbers I played relying on playing shapes on the fretboard. I won't be tone hunting, it wasn't that bad, but there's clearly a limit to how bad a tone can be.

My Squier VM P bass has been my most used bass for gigs and practice for the past 2+ years I shall be playing it this evening probably at an open mic.

I'm not sure my Squier P bass has the neck to take the tension of regular flatwounds. I was just wondering if anyone had any opinions and experience of using low tension flats and which ones would you fine people recommend? Ta

I’d say you’ve had to have a rethink as your circumstances have changed since you auditioned, and say you’re no longer available Life’s too short to be messed around by people like this.

And I regret selling it to you

I just don’t go into music shops at all. I don’t like them. I wouldn’t miss the nearest one to me, it never stocks anything I’d buy, it doesn’t do guitar/bass repairs or set ups or repairs to other music equipment.