BigRedX

IME adding an inch onto the scale length of a bass in order to get a better feeling and sounding low B is a complete red herring. In reality it's all about the right string (which varies depending on the bass) and a decently stiff neck and a great neck joint (ideally neck through). Therefore the problem with cheap 35" scale basses is that money has been spent making the neck longer (and most likely less rigid) rather than on things that might actually make a positive difference. I can't help with any specific models except at that price point he's going to need to be looking at something second-hand and deeply unfashionable in order for it the be cheap and good enough. Get him to try everything he can and then budget another £60 looking for the right strings to down tune it another 2-3 semitones.

[quote name='Barking Spiders' timestamp='1470652864' post='3107303'] Ah but the thread title uses the word 'bassist' to also include upright and Chapman stick players, and not the word 'bass' which could include tuba, church organ, Bryn Terfel.. [/quote] But what exactly is a bassist. The band [url="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chikinki"]Chikinki[/url] have a member who plays the bass parts on synth (and only bass parts and only on synth). Does he count? And would a Chapman Stick player who uses it simply for tapping chords and melodies and never ventures below the low E of a normal guitar count?

It's a studio recording. The problem with that is even if you have the bassist on the recording's actual bass guitar, effects and rig there will also most definitely be extra EQ and compression added in the recording and mixing process to sit the bass nicely into the final mix and this will have a significant impact on the sound of the bass. Also IME it won't sound right without the same mix for instruments supporting the bass. I'd start off with some drive/distortion and a volume boost, play high up on the neck and lower strings, and then play with the EQ and drive settings to fit it in around the rest of your band's sounds.

Go through the "goods to declare" channel and pay the VAT and duties if applicable. There's a good chance that you'll just get waved through anyway and told not to waste the customs time (although don'y count on it). Also remember that if you're buying in the US for export you shouldn't have to pay US sales tax on your purchase.

What the OP is proposing isn't bi-amping but two channel operation. True bi-amping involves splitting the signal by frequency using a cross-over and running each half into a cab designed to accommodate the frequencies being delivered. I used to run a bi-amped system built around a Peavey BassFex which had a crossover module which could be place anywhere in the signal chain with the relevant effects then added to each side of the crossover. That fed a two channel power amp with a 1x15 cab for the bass and a custom-made 2x8 cab for the top end. The Line6 BassPod XT Pro also supports true bi-amping although its effects routing isn't as flexible unless you are using external modules.

In the end, unfortunately, whatever gets decided by this petition is completely irrelevant. If it suits them (and at some point it will) all the airlines need to do will be to cite "security issues" and they can insist that you musical instrument goes in the hold. If you want to fly with a musical instrument, get a decent case for it and put it in the hold. Job done.

[quote name='Painy' timestamp='1470474675' post='3106225'] My dad still has his Nakamichi 1000ZXL Limited (gold front) and it does actually still hold it's own sound wise. Mind you it would have been a very expensive bit of kit back in the day and what they sell for now is astronomical! [/quote] Because it was a properly engineered piece of equipment designed to compensate for as many of the shortcomings of the compact cassette as a music delivery medium as possible.

[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1470470370' post='3106176'] Now hang on a minute. If it weren't for tape (paper tape at that), how else would programmers do their voodoo back in the day? Would you have them revert to cards? [/quote] Surely cards came after punched tape? IME cards (one line of code per card) were far more convenient because if you made a mistake it was reasonably easy to replace the relevant card(s) with updated ones. With punched tape you pretty much had to input the whole program again to correct a mistake, unless your geekiness was so great that you could read the punched holes well enough to be able to identify the problem areas and splice in new tape.

"Digital" and "tape" are two words that should have never gone together ever.

I knew that was going to be a Musicvox before I even clicked the link. And guitar-sized machine heads are perfectly adequate. It doesn't have to be a chunky and clunky as a Fender to work you know.

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1470398772' post='3105734'] I've wondered about that too, at the time I can't remember anyone loving the Juno stuff, they were pretty weedy sounding. [/quote] I know plenty of people who owned them back in the day, but as far as I can recall not a single one of them bought one for any reason other than the fact they were the cheapest polysynth available. The only advantage I could see was the high-pass filter could allow your sounds to cut through a guitar-biased mix by reducing the overall bassiness of the sound. I've never been a fan of single oscillator and envelope generator synths. They are simply not versatile enough. When I bought my first mono synth I compromised on playability and interface options by getting an EDP Wasp simply because the sonic possibilities were far superior over ever other synth in the same price range.

[quote name='Alec' timestamp='1470319034' post='3105074'] If it's a kettle lead, then you'll need a 13A fuse, as most kettles are around 2,500W, and so will draw more or less the full 13A. If, as others have observed, it's an IEC lead (as it will be for supplying kit), then all of the previous posts make it clear that IEC connectors have a 10A rating, but may be fused at 13A. And, in practice, that makes the most sense for a generic set of IEC leads. After all, they will be swapped between different bits of kit, which puts lower fuse ratings at much more risk of being blown. [/quote] /Thread. There you go. That's the definitive answer. If you want to go and do something else based on previous experience that's fair enough, but the above is the correct information.

When I joined a covers band they were doing several Thin Lizzy songs, and the band neglected to tell me that they played them a semitone up to avoid having to retune. I learnt them all by ear from the CDs which meant that the next rehearsal was "interesting". TBH I didn't find any of the songs particularly taxing in it's original recorded pitch on a 5-string bass tuned to standard and at least one of them was actually slightly easier compared with playing it a semitone up.

[quote name='blablas' timestamp='1470259079' post='3104629'] Neither, it says Made in China on the back of the headstock. [/quote] Interesting. Your photo made it look as though it has the Pro Series arched top. IIRC the Rockbass version is supposed to be flat?

[quote name='blablas' timestamp='1470251473' post='3104525'] My new Warwick toy. [/quote] Very nice. Is that one of the old MiK models or a new MiG one?

[quote name='gs_triumph' timestamp='1470242312' post='3104438'] I too was a remain voter but that horse has bolted... One good thing I think can come of it is that home produced goods will become more attractively priced versus their imported (tariffed) counterparts. People might decide to buy a UK produced custom bass over a US built example. [/quote] Unfortunately it will only work out cheaper if all the materials and components are also UK produced. Anything that has to be imported will bump up the price.

Plenty of light controlled opto-compresssors too.

All this talk of whether or not to use compression is fairly pointless because: 1. If you drive any part of your audio chain hard you are compressing the signal. 2. If you use valves in any part of your audio chain you are compressing the signal. 3. If you use any kind of drive/distortion/fuzz in your audio chain you are compressing the signal. 4. And don't forget that at all but the quietest of acoustic gigs the audiences ears will be adding their own compression.

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1470176351' post='3103938'] The set of five videos with (presumably) experienced synth players (eg Neil Davidge) all seemed to indicate it sounded fantastic with comments such as it sounding like a cross between a Juno and an Oberheim. [/quote] Why do musicians now salivate over the Juno sound? Back in the early 80s when these were new no one would have bought a Juno if they could have afforded a Jupiter or a Prophet 5.

Fall in the value of the Pound due to the recent EU referendum vote.

Gus GAS!

Nothing shallow about wanting stuff that looks good as well as being functional.

[quote name='ikay' timestamp='1470126747' post='3103346'] Wonder how the battery-less version works? [/quote] In theory with an appropriately sensitive light source it could be possible to drive it directly from the voltage generated by the pickups. I would imagine that there would still be a power source needed at the receiving end to amplify these signals but that could be provided by a mains PSU.

Gibson did make a long-scale version of the EB3. Have a look at [url=http://www.flyguitars.com/gibson/bass/EB3.php]Fly Guitars[/url] for more details including models with two completely different pickup positions.

[quote name='AndyTravis' timestamp='1469881823' post='3101733'] Microfrets is my thought... [/quote] Even before the reveal I could have told you it's not a Microfrets as it doesn't have the adjustable intonation nut that all their instruments sported.