So I've been scouring Austin TX for a bass cabinet/rig to use for recording.

Have my mid 70's Ampeg SVT fully retubed and 100% but can't use it with the 4x10 cabinet I've been borrowing from my roommate. Have the Fender TB-600 out of the shop but same deal. Both amps are way over-powered for that cabinet (300-600w into a 200w = bad). So I can only use my Marshall JCM800 as a bass amp (100w).

So I hit most of the good gear stores Tuesday, saw lots of good/bad deals but nothing worth spending any money on. Bid $1000 on a $1500 Acoustic 370 w/matching 2x15 but lowest they'd go was $1200. There's an electric blue Kustom head/cab, but the cab is only 200w or so, so I would have to re-speaker it. But not worth buying a head AND cab when I just want the cab. Talked to Travis the gear rental guy and he only has an 8x10. Over kill. Rock n Roll Rentals only has an 8x10 or 2x10's. WTF? Tried to "rent" a cab from Guitar Center and they said no. But they didn't have anything I really wanted anyway.

So my dilemma is I'm willing to BUY something right now, but I'm not finding anything I'd want to pay money for (except that Acoustic 370 rig, heh). My goal is $400 range but willing to go to $600, and to find a cab that won't just sit in the garage once I get my Isovent back. Something I'd want to KEEP. So far nada.

So on that note did my sencond session with 25 Smokin Figurados yesterday and used my current ETB stage rig: Marshall JCM800 thru that 200w 4x10. Didn't sound too bad, a little aggressive and mid-rangey but is that a bad thing? heh. Blew threw 3 songs in 90 minutes. And this time no emailing/phone calls between Tim and Gregg to offer suggestions. They obviously trusted what I was doing, awesome. Would have liked to have prepped more, but keeping it loose allows for creativity, whether suggested or purely unintentional. Felt pretty good about what I did, and even better about the payout. If I can find more session work, playing live can be more about having fun than trying to pay the rent.

Monday and Tuesday at Friends with ETB were brutal, speaking of which. Dead both nights and a double-booking almost had us pack up and go home. Which we probably should have but fuck it. Not very profitable nights.

That, and the last week has been physically exhausting and emotionally draining, and that's all I have to say about that. My time in Corpus was too short, and was thrown right back into the marathon called my life. No wonder I feel so drained.

Today went and tried more gear. Tried the blue Kustom and didn't like the head enough to buy the set. South Austin Music also had an Acoustic 220 head/2x15 cab set. Asked how much. $500. $500?!?!? What the hell is WRONG with it? It's HUGE. Yeah. This particular 2x15 cab was stupid big. Bigger and deeper than an 8x10. Just retarded big. Sounded great tho! But totally over-sized for practical use. And it was 2 ohms and would need an overhall just so I can use it with a diff amp. Not worth the $500... but tempting just to have. Will hit south Guitar Center tomorrow and maybe a few other places.

Hoping the Gods of Rock will take pity on my plight and deliver the perfect bass cabinet to me, like TOMORROW.