BigRedX

If you are going to have a volume control, and especially if you are going to have a DI pass-through socket, it needs to be on the front of the cab, or somewhere that is more easily accessible than the back panel.

Saw Renaissance in 1979 using stand-mounted acoustic guitars, so they could swap from electric to acoustic mid-song.

Fantastic thanks! The Scarlet 18i20 appears to do what I need and is the cheapest of the three. Regarding point 5, I meant something that does not require a wall-wart PSU but simply uses an IEU cable between the mains sockets and the device. I'm not a fan of external PSUs for live use. In this case it would mean another item to secure inside the rack and a less reliable connection between the low voltage side of the PSU and the device being powered. For the same reason I'm not keen on connection adaptors unless they are a single cable with the required plugs at either end that goes between the computer and the device. IME every additional connection is a potential point of failure that will happen at the most inconvenient time at a gig and normally require disassembling the rack to fix.

@Sharkfinger Thanks. I must have been too distracted by photos of what looked like the solution to my rack problem to read all the text.

I have finally had to admit defeat in my efforts to securely mount my half-width Focusrite Saffire Pro24 interface in my live use rack and have decided that the only way to achieve what I want in a reliable way is to get an interface that is properly rack mountable - ideally with rack ears that are part of the casing. The Saffire Pro24 does everything I need in terms of connectivity, it is currently being used with a 13" MacBook Pro 2012 model (running El Capitan) which has 1x FW800, 1 x Thunderbolt (1?), 2 x USB 3. What I definitely need: 1. Must interface and work with my current MacBook Pro with El Capitan and Logic 9, and any other Mac made between 2012 and the current line up, and with all versions of Mac OS from El Capitan to Mojave, and Logic X. 2. Must be designed to fit into 1U of rack space and come with all the required fixings either as part of the unit's case, or as a rack mounting kit designed specifically for the device in question that will hold it securely and safely in the rack while being transported. IME rack trays and and other DIY bodges simply aren't reliable enough. 3. Must have at least six line-level balanced outputs. 4. Must have MIDI In and Out on DIN or XLR sockets. 5. Must have an internal PSU or be capable of being powered directly from its connection to the Mac. Any other features are a bonus but are not necessary. TBH as the interface I already have is fine apart from the fact it can't be securely rack-mounted, I don't really want to spent lots of money on a new interface that has lots of stuff I don't need on it just so I can properly rack mount it. maybe @Sibob would care to make some suggestions?

I had been looking for something similar to properly secure my Focusrite Saffire Audio interface in the rack case I use for live work, and therefore ordered the 1U version. However because of the lip under the rack tray, when the interface is mounted the complete assembly is greater than 1U in height and therefore does not fit in the rack space I have available. It looks as though the 2U unit you have has the same construction. I have emailed the seller asking them if there is a version of the tray available without the lip so that any device mounted in it does not exceed the 1U height. In the mean time I thought I should point out this short-coming to anyone else who might be interested in buying one of these trays so they don't suffer the same disappointment I did.

Personally I would wind the saddles at least three quarters of their travel forwards before placing the bridge to give the most useful adjustment. You will never need to shorten the string from the scale length to get your intonation right (if you do there is something wrong with the string and you should replace it), but you will need to lengthen it and the lower pitched the string the more you will need to increase the length. Therefore the more "backwards" travel you have on the saddles the better.

Ian Curtis of Joy Division. Only musician producing music that I still liked at the time of his passing.

It's dead boring looking though isn't it? 😉

Which X2 wireless system?

IME really hard picks can sound great on their own, but mean that the bass guitar gets lost in the mix when I play with a guitarist who favours a clean tone.

To the OP, does the bass go through the PA system when you gig, or is your rig the sole source of bass guitar for FoH?

The reason you want your cabs off the ground is either so you can hear them better, or because you need to physically decouple them from a hollow resonant stage. On the whole the boundary effect is something that you want because if your cabs are placed correctly it helps project the sound out from the stage area. Bill Fitzmaurice has expanded on the subject several times you want to do a search.

Is the FRFR version going to be a standard rectangular cab design or will it be configured to use a wedge as well like most commercial FRFRs? Also what do you consider to be inputs needed by bass players? Unbalanced Jack? Balanced XLR? Both?

My understanding is that the boundary effect is far more important than the physical coupling of the cab to the floor, and you have to lift the cab several feet up to break this.

I buy mine 100 at a time. That lasts me about 10 years.

Just go to your local musical instrument shop and buy yourself a selection of picks of different thicknesses, sizes, and materials. If you are having trouble keeping hold of your pick look mostly at those with textured surfaces where you grip them. However you should also bear in mind that the different sizes, thicknesses and materials will all produce different sounds from your bass, so you may have to do some experimentation to find the right pick for you in terms of both tone and playing comfort. FWIW I use Herco Flex 75s. They are a reasonably heavy nylon pick with a textured surface where you grip them.

Yes. To get an accurate reading you need to de-solder the pickup from the rest of the electrics, otherwise they will influence the reading.

A and if you removed it, the pickup wouldn’t work.

Remember that "equal" tension and "balanced" tension are not by any means the same thing. Equal tension sets should be exactly what they say. When the strings are tuned to the required notes the tensions in all the strings are the same. However this is not always what you want as it does not take into account compliance (which is a factor in how stiff a string feels) and is dependant on (amongst other things) how the string is fitted to the bass and what happens to the string in the non-speaking lengths - between the nut and machine heads and between the bridge saddles and the ball end string anchor. This where "balanced" tension come into play. The string tensions rather than being equal take into account the compliance of each string to produce a set where the stiffness of each string feels the same even though the individual tensions may be different. Unfortunately since compliance is very much dependent upon things like the break angle over the nut and bridge as well as the length of non-speaking string, a set that feels balanced on one design of bass may feel completely wrong on another. And BTW I'm another happy Newtone customer, although IME they can sometimes take a day or so to reply to emails depending on how busy they are.

To the OP, you have got it mostly right, but there are a couple of variables you need to consider, plus you have under-estimated costs in one place and missed one potentially very important item. Variables: 1. Import duty and VAT are calculated on the DECLARED value of the item plus shipping and insurance. If the neck was reduced in price in a sale or otherwise discounted, the declared value may well be the original higher price. Some sellers will also inflate the price just in case they need to make an insurance claim. Insurance is usually worked out in value bands so it often possible to declare a higher value and still pay the same insurance. If you can prove that what you actually paid is less than the value declared on the customs form it is possible to claim back the excess duty and VAT from Customs, but it is a long and complicated process. 2. Import duty. Sometimes Customs simply get it wrong and put your item in the wrong duty category and consequently charge you too much (or too little). Again it is possible to claim any excess back if you can be bothered to go through the process. Under Estimated Costs: 1. USPS release charge. It might cost the equivalent of £10 for this in the US, but here in the UK as others have said the handling charge for doing the customs paperwork and paying your VAT and duty in advance is going to be somewhere between £15 and £25 depending on which company does the UK part of the delivery. My general rule of thumb is to add together the cost of the item, shipping and insurance and then add 25% and on top of that another £25. Unless the value of the item has wildly over-declared (as has happened to me once) you won't have any nasty surprises. My other general rule rule of thumb is that I must be saving at least 25% after all shipping, insurance, duty, VAT and handling charges have been added on what the item would cost me to buy in the UK to make it worthwhile. Finally the potentially important thing you have missed: CITES. If the neck has any CITES restricted materials in it, such as rosewood (fingerboard) or abalone (inlays) you will need licences for both export (arranged by the seller who will no doubt pass the cost on to you) and import (to be arranged by yourself) before the item can be sent. Without these licences the neck will be sized by customs and probably destroyed. IIRC the import licence for the UK is approximately £75 and although I can't find any prices for a US export licence, but I imagine it will be about the same. If you need CITES licences it will add another 50% to the cost of the neck. For this reason alone I would be extremely reluctant to buy any wooden item form the US right now.

If you haven't got the space to do some simple cutting of plastic with a Dremel then you certainly haven't got the space to be doing any spray painting. Also IME even if you clear coat over the top, the new paint wears off pretty quickly in any areas where your fingers and pick come in contact.

But most of the time they are only superficially like the instruments they are supposed to be copying. The Japanese in the 70s were more accurate. This is the problem I have with Eastwood. If you want a decently made modern instrument that looks vaguely like something out of the ordinary from the 60s and 70s they do a pretty good job. However since they are mostly made with standard Gibson and Fender style parts you end up with an instrument that is essentially a standard Gibson or Fender with a different body shape, and none of the features that gave the original instrument Eastwood are trying to copy its real character.

If you don't have the skills to make one up yourself, OBBM of this forum will make one for you at a very reasonable cost.

On the whole Eastwood are pretty poor with supplying information. Even on their web chat, when I was looking at their various Bass VIs much of what I was told contradicted what was on the site.