BigRedX

I'm pretty certain my Wesley purple acrylic bass was just under 10lb. It did have a very small body and wooden rather than acrylic headstock. It was definitely more comfortable on the strap than the Squier VMJ that was supposed to replace it.

I assume you are thinking of fitting a J-Retro? The only thing you need to watch is that some of the cheaper Fender basses, savings have been made by reducing the body thickness, and the control cavity may need an extra mm or 2 carefully routing out to accommodate the depth of the pre-amp.

I don't know about the vintage ones being better than the modern ones, but I can definitely say that in 1979 anything with an Ibanez logo on it was vastly superior to any thing coming out of the Fender US factory.

I expect it is the same everywhere in the EU. The problem seems to stem from the fact that after many years of not having to pay VAT and import duty on items from the UK, some EU-based buyers have still not realised that things have changed, hence the number of parcels I've had refused and returned because they don't want to pay any additional charges. Hopefully in a few more years it won't come as quite a surprise and I can start thinking about selling outside of the UK again.

The bass sound in the video is hardly "transparent".

Bill Fitzmaurice has already given you the correct answer: Unless you rig is for personal monitoring only, in which case pretty much any modern cab will be fine.

While the tiny USB drive that comes with the Helix should contain a version of the manual, it will be the one that was current when your Helix was originally made. There is a new revision of the manual with each firmware update, so log in to your Line6 account and download the latest one, and update the firmware while you are at it.

All you need to do is read the manual. Most of it is fairly straight-forward.

Thanks. However as you say in the past the carrier used to do all of this for you based on your description of the contents of the parcel. Now not so much. This all appears to have started at the beginning of 2021, and for anyone coming across it, it can be a serious put off. There are also problems with VAT for private sales. If you sell through one of the big sites like Amazon or eBay, this appears to be handled for you. Last time I posted a Bandcamp sale to the EU, it cause no end of problems at the Post Office because Bandcamp wasn't on their list. The record ended up being refused by the buyer because they didn't want to pay the VAT on it and was eventually returned to me in a condition that made it impossible to resell. I assume that the postal service goes to the expense of returning items like this because it is cheaper than having to pay out insurance on it, if it was "lost". However for sellers it means that we loose out in both postage and item cost. As a result I won't be sending anything outside of the UK until I know for sure that the situation has significantly improved.

Boiling strings is a waste of time and energy.

It's a tube pre-amp with a class D power amp in "retro" styling with minimal controls. Tiny photos on the web site don't show any details, video demonstrates just one muffled farty sound which I supposed some people might like, but not me.

With the Helix you have the option to record both the effected and direct sound of whatever you put through it via the USB interface. This along with the Helix Native plug-in allows you to make changes to the sound of what you have recorded should the mix need it.

There are plenty of "tone woods" whose sawdust can be a serious irritant, and some where it is actually toxic. Just because it's "natural" doesn't necessarily mean it's better for you. And there are plenty of other luthier websites that are equally bad if not worse in failing to have moved with the times.

I don't have a problem with import taxes and VAT. IT's been an accepted part of buying from outside of the EU in the past, and I have probably bought more musical instruments from the US and Japan than I had from the EU. From my PoV I just have to accept that everything I buy from abroad will incur VAT (and import duty depending on the price). What I do have a problem with is the increased unreliability of shipping for anything coming into or leaving the UK and the increased administration/paperwork for anyone sending stuff abroad. @Steve Browning who hopefully has the relevant information: Are all these import/export item codes and EORI numbers something that was in the pipeline anyway for international shipping, or was it specifically triggered by the UK's leaving the EU? Even the mighty Thomann aren't immune from these problems, because while they may have sorted out the calculation and payment of VAT and import charges at source they are still insisting on using DHL for UK deliveries and returns, when it has been proven numerous times that the UK part of the organisation are simply not up to the job.

I'm only 5'6" and I can always find somewhere to stand where I have a decent view of the stage. Unlike at "seated" gigs where if everyone stands up and the person in front of me is taller, there is no possibility of moving to somewhere else.

Which reminds me that I missed Les Paul from my list of seated gigs. I went to see him at Iridium in NYC about 6 months before he died. Mr Paul was a great raconteur, despite arthritis of the hands he was still a better guitarist then I'll ever be, and his band were great, but everything else about the gig was horrible. We were packed in so tightly at the tables that it was almost impossible to eat your mandatory burger without assaulting the people sitting either side of you (and being assaulted in return). Standing other than to visit the "rest room" was forbidden. As soon as the "show" had finished we were ushered out so the next sitting could take our places. TBH the sorts of bands I want to go and see do not suit sitting down to watch them. I'm happy to carry on going to standing gigs until I reach the point when I can't do it any more by which time I'll probably also be too deaf to hear the music anyway. Similarly with the playing. I'll do it until I physically can't (despite being the oldest in both my bands I'm probably in better physical shape than any of my bandmates) and then I'll record at home and release the results on-line.

After "Commercial Enterprises" had taken their cut what was left over would have to be split between the 5 members of the band and their road crew. I doubt whether each member of the band actually received vey much of the £125

I think in 45 years of going to gigs I've been to 5 where only seats were available. Three of those bands I have also seen in standing venues and the experience there was far superior. Having to sit down for most the bands I would want to see is definitely less attractive, and it would have to be someone very special where there was absolutely no chance of getting a non-seated ticket. If I wanted to sit down to see a band I'd do it at home watching them on TV, where I'm not going to be disturbed by people pushing past to get a drink or go for a fosters, where there is no chance of being stuck behind someone who is tall enough to block my view and where the drinks are better and cheaper.

The Pretty Things for £125.00 when they were at their (IMO) creative peak.

When I get that that stage I'll stop going to gigs.

This. I spent the best part of what should have been one of my days off at the weekend sorting out the various product codes, getting my EORI code, so I could send a large box full of specialised printed items to my client's distributor in Belgium. This was a job that had previously taken about 5 minutes of my time to book a collection on line and print out the label. However now no courier service would touch the parcel without all the relevant codes. Even after all that the parcel still managed to disappear somewhere in transit, and it took 6 weeks before the various delivery and customs services would admit it was lost and I could put in my insurance claim. During this time I had to field almost daily calls from both my client and the distributor asking where their labels were. Quite frankly it was an embarrassing mess. My client found another printer who were local to their EU distribution centre who did a less good job for quite a bit more money but at least the items didn't get lost. I had similar problems with sending my band's CDs and records to EU countries, where roughly 50% of everything I sent out would either disappear or the customs charges would be refused by the recipient resulting in the parcel eventually returning to me in a very second hand condition that was not suitable for sale again. After a year of this I changed all the merch pages so that I would only accept orders from the UK.

You probably want to have a read of this thread and be prepared to be disappointed.

In over 40 years of gigging I've only come across just a few originals bands who owned their own PA, and it was either because they used to be a covers band or because they had their own permanent rehearsal room and needed one for that. Since the mid 90s it's been in-house PAs everywhere no matter how small the venue, and before that there were several local small PA hire companies who were geared up specifically for the originals bands circuit.

There's increased paper work for senders, customs and shipping delays, and unexpected charges for EU customers who haven't realised the implications of now buying from the UK. After having several items (not musical instruments but part of my day job business activities) go astray in customs or be refused by the recipients (not necessarily the customer depending on circumstances) because they didn't want to pay import and customs charges, I had to suspend a rather lucrative part of my business because it was no longer cost effective for me to produce the items here in the UK and then ship them to an EU country for distribution; and that decision ultimately cost me all business from one of my better clients. I'm sure that if your business is of a sufficient size you can get around these problems but for smaller concerns and private sellers it has turned out to be far more trouble then it is worth.

The whole point of having a web site with a buy now button next to items for sale is so you don't have to deal with humans and can purchase something with a few clicks. And their email service should be completely separate and not at all affected by any changes to the web site.