BigRedX

With a bit of EQ they would all have been perfectly fine. I personally wasn't massively impressed with the choice of synth sounds, but I know there are far more appropriate sounds available out of all them (even the Juno) so with a bit more programming skill they would all have been able to provide a suitable bass sound as well.

Again true, But the actual pickup mechanism isn't powered. It's the additional circuitry that is required to match the output/impedance of the pickup to conventional guitar and bass impedance and output levels. EMG (and others) could just as easily sell these pickups without the additional powered circuitry with the proviso that they need to be used with a particular pre-amp that has the correct input specifications.

Audio MIDI Utility and the Sound Prefs Pane work in tandem. Any changes to the sound input and output you make in one will be reflected in the other. Generally Audio MIDI has more options available which is why it's the better choice.

Strictly speaking the EMGs are not active. True there is some battery driven circuitry inside the housing, but it doesn't have anything to do with the actual pick-up which is still conventional wire wrapped around a magnet. What it is there for is to match the output/impedance of the pickup to values that the rest of the signal chain would normally expect.

I've done an on-line search for the problem and pretty much everything to do with PhotoBooth is about 10 years out of date. From what I can find the current solution for what you want to do is to use either QuickTime or iMovie with the Mac's built-in camera assigned to the video input and your interface to the audio. IMO iMovie would be a best because you edit the results directly once you have recorded them as most videos will benefit from a little editing even if it's simply to remove dead time and any mistakes you might make.

A Made in the US Fender Precision will cost you about £1500 these days.

Isn't that just a Jaguar bass body?

All pickups except for optical based systems are passive. Some with low outputs have preamps included within the pickup housing to get the level up to one that pedals and amps are happy with, but the pickup itself is passive - just some wire wrapped around a magnet.

TBH I’ve never used Photobooth, so it might override the settings from the Audio MIDI Utility. I’ll have look tomorrow when 8 can get to my Mac.

Have a look at the Audio MIDI utility in the Utilities folder. It should allow you to use your interface as the default sound in and then your other apps will use this too.

This thread is very much proof that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Personally I think the Gus headstock is eminently practical and understated so it doesn’t detract from the overall look of the bass. There’s a slight compromise of minimalist design vs getting a completely straight string line from nut the machine head post but I can live with that. IMO the only better headstock would be none at all. It is certainly more elegant in my eyes than most of the aesthetic and unergonomic monstrosities on display here.

How was that recorded? Is it the acoustic tone of the guitar via a decent mic, or from the pickup system?

With an aftermarket pickup if I’m not mistaken.

Well the delivery date of the Eastwood has been put back yet again. When I first looked it was down as March. Shortly after I put down my deposit, it had been moved back to May. Now it’s down for June delivery. I suspect with the current Covid-19 situation it will get put back at least one more time. There is also an interesting interview with Peter Hook on the Eastwood Customs web site about how this new version compares with the original Shergold (extremely well) and which Joy Division and New Order songs feature the 6 string bass - a surprisingly large number of tracks on Closer. Well worth 30 minutes of your time even if we don’t get to hear either bass actually being played.

Remember that a significant portion of the bass sound is created by the speakers in your bass rig. If your not recording with a mic, but going direct from the amp it will sound different on Playback. Doesn't explain why the chorus isn't evident in the recorded signal but it may explain why the overall sound is different. I used to have the opposite problem where I was very slightly overdriving my multi effects, but through the amp and speakers of my bass rig it wasn't noticeable. DI'ing directly from the multi effects into the recording desk it was very obvious on playback.

If your effects are in hardware before the interface then they should be recorded unless your pedal has a pass-through output and you have that connected to your interface. Otherwise as has been said previously if you are applying the effects in Logic it is always best to record the instruments dry and put the effects on at playback.

If that really is the fingerboard of your bass, then there is absolutely no point in trying to clean your strings if you don't clean all that muck off first.

IME the benefits of boiling strings is outweighed by the additional stress you put them under by taking them off the bass and putting them back on. You'll get a week or so before they are back to sounding as crap as they did before you boiled them, and each boiling cycle increases the chances of a string breaking. Personally unless your strings are completely and utterly dead in which case boiling is going to be of little use, I'd stick with them until you are happy to order some new ones.

I think everyone has to make their own decisions as to what they think is the best. However as a buyer, if I can't come and collect I expect the seller to organise shipping and if they are not prepared to do that then I'm not interested in buying. As a seller, I organise the shipping using the most appropriate method for the item being sent along with full insurance to cover the cost of the item plus the any additional costs. The cost of shipping, insurance, and any specialised packaging materials I might need are included in the price of the item. If the buyer doesn't like this they are welcome to come and collect, otherwise they should look else where to buy. Over 10 years buying and selling in excess of £50k worth of musical equipment I have had 3 shipping problems - 2 where parcels were "lost" and one where it was damaged in transit. In all three cases because I had packaged the items properly and had bought the correct insurance, the claims were settled promptly and in full, and I was able to refund the buyer without any issues.

Learn some more instruments.

Useful information on compliance here.

Truss rod?

There are many different factors at play here. It's not just about tension but also about the compliance of the string which is dependent upon the string construction as well as what happens to the non-speaking length of the string - things like break angles over the nut and bridge saddles. You'll notice that string manufacturers don't talk about "equal" tension but "balanced" tension. This is where the compliance factors in with the tension to hopefully make the strings feel roughly the same stiffness. In a normal bass guitar string set the D string is by far the highest tension, and then the tensions reduce as you go higher and lower, with the difference in tension being more pronounced the thicker the string is. So for a standard 4 string set the order of tensions from highest to lowest is D, G, A, E. Remember that an increase in string thickness of 20 thousands of an inch isn't much when you consider that under normal tuning each string is 5 semi-tones apart from its neighbours. Also it seems odd that string length to pitch is a logarithmic function (the frets get closer together as you get higher in pitch) but manufacturers still produce strings with equal differences in thicknesses (linear). Ideally the difference in string thickness should increase from the G string to the E. However, strings generally get less compliant as they get thicker, so the increase in compliance will tend to compensate for the decrease in tension. However this doesn't take into account the other factors that affect compliance such as the break angles which are out of string manufacturers control, so standard "balanced" tension strings sets are only really balanced on a Fender-style bass without through body stringing and a 4-in-line head arrangement with variable break angles over the nut for the E and A strings and for the D and G strings. If your bass doesn't follow this construction you make need to play with the gauges to achieve a "balanced" feel - usually by increasing the gauge of the E string and maybe the A as well depending on how picky you are.