The ongoing saga of Paddy's rig.

For those of you breathlessly anticipating word of the repairs to my rig, your cries of anguish and deprivation have been heard. I am about to bring you up to date.

Last week, after reading some advice from a commenter on this blog (Hello Dr B!) I pulled the blown driver out of my speaker bin and dropped it into the shop to be rebuilt.

Me: "Hello my good man. Would you be so good as to fix this sorry-looking thing for me?"
Shopguy: "Why certainly. Is that it there? OH MY GOD! IT'S HIDEOUS!"
Me: "Yes. Umm, can I have it recoiled please?"
Shopguy: "You fool! Of course it must be completely reconed. Look at it!"
Me: "Sure OK. Will you recone it?"
Shopguy: "Is this from a car, or a home stereo?"
Me: "No, no. It's from a bass guitar speaker bin."
Shopguy: "WHAT?! You imbecile. I mean, look at it! A paper cone?! It's too soft. Idiot. What amplifier are you using?"
Me: "A Laney Pro Bass."
Shopguy: "A LANEY PRO BASS? WHAT!? But that needs a 4ohm load: this speaker is 8ohms. Look at it, dolt."
Me: "Well, it's only a solid-state amp. It's merely underpowered, it won't break anything."
Shopguy: "Pfft. It's your money, asshole. Come back tomorrow. And bring cash."

I returned the next day, handed over a healthy pile of my money and collected what looked like a beautiful work of art. The cone was an elegant blue and made of some hard material. New cork had been glued around the front edge. I screwed it back in to the bin and drove off to rehearsal.

That was the first time I'd tried the repaired amp I told you about last week, let alone this new speaker. Dave and I set up, I plugged in and let rip. Shopguy had done a brilliant job, the notes from the lower end of the E string were deliciously commanding, the higher frequencies were nice and clear. Aah, it is so nice to have my rig back.

If anybody needs any work on speakers, I can give you Shopguy's number: he's awesome.