BigRedX

As someone who has mostly played on originals bands, and who always submits a set list for the songs we play, I can recall only one venue played in the last 20 years that was not covered by a PRS licence and that was a house party one of my bands did, and which I didn't bother reporting anyway.

There’s more to music than just funk.

Technically "Jingle Bells" isn't a Christmas song

Works fine under High Sierra and Safari for me. Personally I don't see what the problem with the website is. It might not be bang up to date with all the latest HTML, but it does the job of showing you what is in store and what can be ordered along with all the salient information about the products they stock. What more do you want? There are plenty of much nicer looking websites out there, that use all those new flashy graphics to try and cover up the fact that the product(s) they are selling aren't really up to much. The website for that vapour-ware footswitch that's recently popped up on Basschat is a prime example of looking flash while obscuring the details.

Post Punk. Anything you like. Ideally something so obscure that (in the late 70s and early 80s at least) nobody other than the most ardent gear nerd had heard of.

Does it still make the same noise if it is completely unplugged from the mains? Somer gear never properly switches off unless unplugged/turned off at the mains socket.

The problem with the initial M1 Macs is that they only support 2 decent-sized monitors, and Logic works best with as much monitor real-estate as you can give it. I run a 3x24" set up with arrange and mixer on two monitors and an editor and plugins on the third. My current graphics card does support a 4th monitor but I currently don't have anywhere sensible to put it. Also depending on what else you might be using you computer for, £500 isn't a lot for anything that will do more than show you the CGI. I certainly haven't come across any colour accurate ones at under £500, and even some of those over that price are pretty bad for light-leakage and colour variations across the screen.

Not my experience at all. The two gigs I have attended as a punter recently were rammed, and the five I played in my bands have had audiences of a similar size as before the pandemic. As a performer, if someone buys a ticket and chooses not attend I don't mind. I've still got their money. Both of my bands were seeing this before 2020. For the gigs were we organised the ticket sales ourselves there was always a number of people who bought tickets but didn't turn up on the night.

Two things to consider about the budget digital wireless systems. 1. They tend to be come less reliable in situations where there is a lot of mobile phone activity (i.e. any well-attended gig). I was using one of the better models but decided to stop using it after two occasions where the transmitter mysteriously switched channels mid-song for no apparent reason. Always take a good lead as a back up and have it in an easily accessible place on stage. 2. If you use any digital effects you may start to encounter latency issues as the delay caused by the number of AD/DA conversions adds up. I personally won't be using wireless systems until I'm in a position to be able to afford a professional-standard low-latency one that doesn't operate in the WiFi bands.

AFAIAC an iPad (and the iPhone for that matter) is just a handy device for browsing (but no really interacting with) the internet, getting email and using a few apps that are iOS only. If I want to do anything serious (including things like typing this reply) I do it on one of my Macs which has a suitable interface for such things.

If that's a serious question the answer should be where Happy Jack wants them. My preferred positions are on the "fret line" for unlined boards and either on or between the fret lines for lined boards.

Actually selling something like this without also supplying a UK mains lead is against consumer law. There should be no need for you to go and buy one. Personally I would expect Andertons to get me a suitable lead in the post for next day delivery or threaten them with Trading Standards.

UK consumer law states that all mains powered equipment must be supplied with cables with UK plugs on them. Alternatively a UK plug that fits over the EU one and is held permanently in place is an acceptable substitute. Plug in adaptors are not allowed. Technically the OP has paid for a UK cable so one should be supplied.

Fernandes do a travel bass with a built-in amp and speaker called the Pie-Zo (Nomad in the US), which at full volume and with a new battery in the amp is powerful enough to drive the strings. Personally for the bass I'd be looking at getting a Gizmotron

Surely the Shergold version of that idea (as used by Mike Rutherford) pre-dates this by several decades?

Just for UK made basses then? None of that Fender nonsense?

That's interesting. However my Ebow won't even switch on until it is in the presence of a magnetic field (like a pickup), so that won't work for everyone. Also IME having to pre-excite the string, removes a lot of the expressiveness from using an Ebow.

What I was trying to imply was that as soon as you fit the required magnetic pickup to an acoustic guitar from using an Ebow PoV it is has become no different to an electric guitar.

And he's solved it by adding a magnetic pickup to his acoustic guitar and then fitting strings that are affected by magnets.

I assume then that Happy Jack intends to use the same strings for both fretless and fretted playing? Also that you are going to put some sort of over-all string retainer behind the nut to mimic the break angle produced by the Lull angled headstock so as to try and keep string compliance consistent between necks?

@Linus27 Do you also play guitar? If so even if you can't make the Ebow work with the bass, you'll have hours of fun with it on the guitar. BTW it's a non-starter for acoustic instruments since the Ebow requires the interaction with the magnetic field produced by the pickup the generate the bowing effect. I'd have a good look at the Michael Manring video (#3) and see if you think you can invest the required time and practice to make it work on the bass guitar (I couldn't, but then I also play the guitar where it works brilliantly with almost zero investment in practice time). And as you will see from the video it will help considerably if you have a bass with an extended fingerboard that you can rest the Ebow against whilst still being close enough to the magnetic field of the pickup for it to activate and produce the bowing effect.

I suppose because it's so effortless on the guitar (give any guitar player an Ebow and they'll be getting great sounds out of it within seconds), I've never bothered to invest the time required to make it work on an instrument that has not been designed for. All those videos you've posted show just how awkward it is to use on the bass - except for the one that has two Ebows joined together which is able to rest on the strings between those being bowed. Hammering on the get the note started does work, but being able to fade notes in and control the volume of the bowing by moving the Ebow along the string closer to the pickup requires more dexterity thanthe videos show (again something that is trivial to do on the guitar) Also IME much of the difference between having frets and not having frets will be lost once you add a bit of distortion and delay to the sound (which you will almost definitely want to do). To the OP. By all means have a go and see how you get on. Then lend your Ebow to your guitarist and see how quickly they are able to achieve the same thing (and a lot more besides) using it with a guitar.

I've used the Ebow lots on the guitar but I have never been able to get it work reliably on the bass. There are three things that you need to consider. Firstly the conventional way of "holding" the Ebow is to rest it on the strings either side of the one being bowed. There are handy grooves in the base of the Ebow to allow this. On nearly all basses the strings are too far apart, sometimes to the point where the Ebow will completely fit between the adjacent strings, and even if it doesn't it will never reliably rest on them. This means that you need to hold the Ebow a lot tighter and position it far more precisely it order to hold it in the correct place so that it bows the string and does not touch it which will stop the bowing. Any unwanted movement will either reduce the volume of the bowing effect or kill it dead. Secondly the energy required to bow the strings on a bass tends to be greater than the device is capable of, especially if you want the Ebow itself to initiate the string vibration. I've only been able to get the Ebow to bow bass strings if I have first started them vibrating by "hammering-on", which limits what you can do and the kinds of attack available to the notes. Finally IME on the guitar the Ebow always works best in conjunction with the neck pickup, where the full range of bowing effects are available and you can easily use the Ebow to directly drive the pickup for more extreme sounds. Most bass guitar "neck" pickups are closer to the bridge as a proportion of the string length than on a guitar which lessens the effectiveness. It's obvious from the videos out there that the Ebow can be made to work with a bass. However IME it takes a lot more practice, so don't expect the instant gratification that nearly all guitarists get when using one! Also most of the ones I have seen on the bass are using it in registers that are available easily and more reliably on the guitar.

IIRC Spalt is actually American. He might be based in Europe at the moment though.

IME it is very much dictated to what you are used to. My problem with Fender-style bases is very much compounded by the fact that I'd spent over 25 years playing significantly different designs before I got my first F-shaped bass, and found that I simply couldn't get on with it at all.