BigRedX

I don't really get on with bolt-on necks. I tolerate them on my Bass VIs because there are no alternatives. However if I was going to splash the sort of money required for an Industrial Radio MIDI bass I'd want something that was more tailored to my requirements rather than the one size (doesn't) fit all instruments they currently make.

Yes everything that isn't vocals, keyboards or drums was done on the Barracuda. There are some overdubs in the middle section where I'm doing both high and low register parts simultaneously. We compromise with some extra keyboard bass at those points when we do the song live.

Have you asked any of the relevant Government agencies? Unfortunately, last time I looked, the language on the .gov.uk web site was very noncommittal full of phrases like "you may need to..." and I doubt it has got any better since then. TBH I don't think anyone will know until the UK actually leaves the EU and what agreement if any is in place at that time.

And there is an equally valid argument that the sorts of people who are after a properly functioning MIDI guitars and basses are after something a bit more interesting looking. I certainly wouldn't want to be seen on stage with a "normal" looking instrument no matter how fantastic the sound creating facilities are. And while I am familiar with the sorts of sounds that other musicians are able to get out of a Jazz bass, most of them aren't ones I am after, and when I did own a Squier Jazz one of the biggest disappointments for me was that no matter what I did with it and what modifications I made it always sounded "weedy" to me when compared with the Overwater and Gus basses I was also using.

When I played in a band where some songs required fretless and other fretted basses I used to swap between the two, although we would try and arrange the set so that I wasn't switching between them every song. We also had a guitarist who played keys on some songs so organising the set to suit both of us was sometimes "interesting". These days I play 5-string bass and Bass VI, but in different bands. I just have back-up bass for each. I'd only swap basses during a gig if I was doing the fretted/fretless thing again or if I needed instruments with different tunings.

I found it quite easy. There are plenty of great songs, but albums where ideally every track is a winner are a lot harder to come by.

You would need to take a feed from both to get any benefit from using both, especially if they sounded different and the point of using two amps was to get the blend between the two. If there is no PA support for the bass then I suggest to the OP that they get a long lead or a wireless system and go around the the venue and check just how much tonal variation there is in different parts. What you probably find is that one amp/cab combination projects far more efficiently than the other, and while the tonal balance between the two is perfect where you are stood on stage, it will be completely different out in the audience.

Only three?

How will it be connected to the PA?

Why do you want to have two bass amps? Is this for live or studio use?

Most bands that use a click also use lots a pre-recorded backing so they are using the click as means of keeping the live musicians in sync. Also the songs have a definite structure so the click runs at the right tempo for the song. Even if there are tempo or changes in the time signature they will always happen in the same place, so the musicians know when they are going to happen. To me it sounds as though your band want to use the click in a more free-form way and as a means of ensuring that when the samples and effects are triggered the band is playing at the correct tempo. For this, the simplest way I can think of is to use a drum machine or DAW plug-in that allows you to program a specific tempo as part of a pattern and also allows you to select patterns using MIDI program change commands. Program up your click track - rim shot quarter notes with an accent on the first beat of the bar is generally a favourite - run each pattern on repeat, and then use a MIDI foot pedal to change patterns to give you the new tempo. The problem will come if you want to change tempos MIDI mid-song as the click will suddenly switch to the new tempo, and unless you are all expecting it, it might cause some timing problems until all the musicians have locked onto the new tempo. I suspect that this system will be one that you will have to experiment with as a band, and adapt as you figure out what works and what doesn't.

Thanks Ped! Is there any way to find out the cost of insurance above €200 without actually having a shipping address?

Here are mine at the moment:

No. I don't always play particularly well, but my bass sound is always exactly what is need for the song.

And technically it's not a MIDI port. Roland have been using multiway cables with considerably less robust connectors in their MIDI guitars fro decades. There should now be the technology available to create a decent stage-worthy flexible 15-way plus screen cable to go with that plug. Van-Damme make a flexible/coilable Cat5e that is significantly more durable than your average office networking cable. It's all do-able. On the other hand the connector used isn't particularly elegant looking. And the bass itself is hardly the most innovative of designs.

Here’s the debut single from Hurtsfall using the Burns Barracuda:

A locking D connector? A good deal more robust than your typical modern computer grade connector.

Will there be tempo changes within the songs?

I'm trying to get my head around what you need. Normally musicians need MIDI clicks because they are playing along to a pre-programmed backing track. This doesn't appear to be the case for you. What exactly do you need to clicks for? For tempo? For cues? Do you need to clicks all the time to keep in time, or just to set an initial tempo?

On mine the nut width is 40mm and the distance from the centre of the low E to that of the high E is 35mm. According to the latest specifications on the Fender web site the nut width is now 42mm although I haven't been able to confirm this from an actual instrument, and no string spacing figure is given. What I have found from trying lots of Bass VIs is that the strings tend to be set in quite a way from the edges of the neck compared with most of the guitars and basses I play. Whether this is because I am comparing a factory mass-produced instrument like the Squier and Burns with the rest of my guitars and basses which are all custom/luthier built, or if that is just that standard for Bass VIs, I don't know. At the bridge on the Squier it is 55mm between the E string centres.

What are you using to generate the rest of your MIDI data?

Thanks. Too narrow at the nut for me to take a punt on.

If it's this set most people with Bass VIs find the E and A strings a bit too slack (I certainly did on my Squier Bass VI). When you restring have a look at either LaBella or Newtone Axions.

The band I was in during the 80s took out insurance for our gear only to cancel it straight away when the actual policy document with all the small print turned up and by the time we had gone through all the exclusion clauses it appeared the equipment was only covered while we actually using it on-stage. We couldn't even get cover for it in our rehearsal room which was on the 3rd floor of a private residence unless we had bars fitted to the (very small) window first.

Fantastic, thanks! As I said in a previous post IMO it's a combination of strings fitted and pickup type and placement that makes an instrument either an A-tuned Baritone or a Bass VI. This one is an oddity since it appears to have Bass VI strings but Baritone style pickups and placement.