BigRedX

TBH loss of the Sadowsky pre-amp isn't that big a deal. If the rest of your signal path is any good, then it has been my experience that they sound better with the pre-amp turned off.

Wasn't the Mustang originally designed to be a budget model?

Depending on what "standard" J-bass pre-amp you get, you might need to route the control cavity anyway. IME, Squier Jazz basses tend to have slightly thinner bodies than the Fender equivalents. It might only be a few millimetres difference but is enough for something like the East J-Retro pre-amp not to fit without very carefully deepening the control cavity (and hoping the router doesn't come out of the back of the bass!)

How many memory locations does it have? There's only a single digit numeric display but there's also an LED with "Bank" next to it. I did download the press kit file that promised images and a manual but the manual was sadly missing.

Just being realistic. I'd destroy that within a month of serious gigging.

Motorised faders on a pedal? That's not a recipe for disaster at all...

I have learned from experience that once I've taken a set of strings of a bass (or guitar) they are only ever any use for emergencies when I've broken a string and haven't got a replacement.

They all sounded like bass guitars and with the appropriate EQ and compression for each would work fine in the mix of other instruments.

Crimson Guitars in the UK do them too. But only in guitar sizes AFAICS.

Looks like a cross between an Explorer and a Red Special.

I must also be one of the few people who doesn't like autographed records. I can remember being massively disappointed to discover that having waited several weeks to get my (only available by mail order) copy of the Eyes Of Christ 7" single by Vice Versa (who were about to rebrand themselves as ABC and go onto much bigger things) then found that the band had seen fit to deface the cover with their names.

I only started buying band merch in the last 10 years when the band(s) is was in were supporting ones I liked and I had somewhere to safely put my purchases (with my gear) while I enjoyed the gig. Before that from the mid 70s onwards I have nothing other my memories from the gigs I attended. Most of the time after I had scraped together the money for the ticket I rarely had enough left over to buy a drink at the gig let alone a T-shirt or anything else. And TBH I can't remember merch being sold at a lot of the gigs that I went to - especially in the 80s - other than the dodgy T-shirts and posters being hawked outside as I was going home. For me it always the records, which I already had before I went to the gig and the experience of being at the gig, rather than the associated merch and memorabilia that interested me.

Either you aren't that bothered about getting paid, or you are doing it wrong.

Whichever version sounds best to my ears. I like it when the remastered versions of the CDs add non-album singles and b-sides, but then they go and spoil it by also including demos, live versions and previously unreleased songs that would have been better left in the archives. There is usually a good reason why they weren't included on the album in the first place.

And this is why I have almost zero interest in covers bands. I don't think there has been a single song mentioned yet that I would want to have seen/heard being performed by the band that wrote it back in the day when they were still young and sexy, let alone a bunch of middle-aged blokes churring it out in a pub...

Sorry didn't see this before my previous post. Does it really need to be double pole? Can you post your circuit diagram? You might be able to get away with a standard PU sector switch.

What is the switch actually for?

But IME those bassists who say they don't use/need compression, when you look at the signal path from the bass to the audience's ears there is almost always something in there producing compression as a side-effect to whatever else it is doing sonically, or it is being applied post-rig by the PA engineer.

There can also be non-nitro products in the base coats and fillers applied before the nitro top coat(s).

It's all pretty pointless, and it has been said many times on both this thread and others about compression; the only bassists who can guarantee that there is no compression going on in their live bass sound are those who: 1. don't put the bass guitar through the PA 2. don't have any devices with valves in them in the signal path 3. have no devices producing drive or distortion in the signal path 3. can definitely say that they are are not clipping the input circuitry of any device in the the signal path 4. have an amp and speaker with plenty of headroom still available when playing at maximum volume at a gig. Which rules out everyone except those who use a low output passive bass going directly into a non-valve amp with an input level indicator that never comes on, and which is being run well within it's maximum output level and driving speakers rated far in excess of the amps maximum output capabilities.

Are you sure it's Nitro? The symptoms sound very much like a poly finish that is not longer adhering to the underlying wood. There are plenty of recommendations for refinishing (IMO you can't go wrong with Sims Custom) but they do tend to be pricey. If you want to look at cutting the cost, think about stripping the old finish off yourself (that's the nasty time-consuming bit that more refinishing services charge the earth for) although you will need to be careful if it's a blockboard body.

Any venue that puts on or even plays pre-recorded music (jukebox, computer playlist etc.) has to have a PRS licence and therefore will be covered. I think the only gigs I haven't received a pubs and clubs payment for, was a very dodgy squat-style venue in Liverpool and a gig done in someone's house.

That's good to know. It's been a while since I last submitted a set list for the PRS. This is handled by other band members in the two bands I currently play with. I believe that the gig reporting system has changed since I last did it, which may make it easier than before. Previously it was simple to find the songs that you had written, and also if your set list only changed slightly you could start a new submission by copying a previously submitted set list. However as I said, tracking down the correct song when it wasn't written by yourself or another member of your band could be a confusing and time-intensive process.

In the days when I did the PRS gig reporting for The Terrortones I think the only times I had problems with the set list was when it was for some weird venue that didn't actually have a PRS licence. Looking at my PRS royalties breakdowns, the vast majority of gigs that we did we were the only band who supplied a set list and consequently we got the full £6.00. Sad to say, but if I was in a covers band, unless we played pretty much the same set every gig, I don't think I would bother submitting a PRS set list as the time and effort involved in tracking down the right songs from the PRS database is simply too great. I always diligently included the occasional cover that The Terrortones played, but finding some of them (especially any with a common song title) was a massive effort which involved cross-checking the Discogs and Wikipedia to find out who the song writers were so that I could correctly list the right song. Often making sure I had reported the right cover song from our set took much longer than all of the rest of the process.

If the keyboard and MainStage support MIDI program number mapping, then you can assign consecutive MIDI program numbers to the patches you need in set order without needing to actually move any of the patches. For instance your first three songs might require patches 56, 84, and 2 on the keyboard but MIDI program mapping will allow you to assign MIDI program numbers 1, 2 and 3 to these patches so you can simply use the up selector footswitch to move to the next patch.