Happy Jack

The US won't charge you anything for taking a bass out of their country (unless it takes your suitcase over-weight and into excess baggage). UK Customs will charge you Import Duty on the cost of the bass, and then VAT on the cost of the bass PLUS the Import Duty. That said, I brought a bass through Heathrow earlier this year, declared it on arrival, and they were quite helpful on the assessment, especially since the UK£/US$ rate had moved sharply against me over the period.

I remember the days when I was an important customer ... that was quite fun. Didn't last long, mind.

There was an old man of St. Bees, Who was stung in the arm by a wasp. When asked "Does it hurt?" He replied "No, it doesn't, I'm so glad it wasn't a hornet."

Two bars, then ...

OK, that's War And Peace, now let's see you summarise A La Recherche De Temps Perdu ...

I don't think so. I really don't.

Do you actually need both?

Totally agree with the comments about the relative volume of bass & drums. If you say that Macca was playing double stops then I believe you ... but I still can't hear it myself. Am I the only one who found Clapton's guitar is now too loud and too harsh?

Like MacDaddy says, don't overthink it. Write a whole bunch of stuff, and you'll realise that there are lyrical hooks there if you look for them. Musical theory? What's that got to do with the lyrics? Caesar's Palace, Morning Glory, silly human race.

Doesn't matter whether you're a novelist or a songwriter, you always start with vaguely autobiographical stuff. This is a bit like singing and playing bass at the same time. Get the bassline sorted first, then worry about singing. Write about what you know until you're comfortable with writing. Once you're happy with the writing bit, engage your imagination and make things up.

It's all keys, mate, I'm telling ya ...

How bizarre - I just listened to them both and reached exactly the opposite conclusion! On the Woolley version, that guitar sound and the signature lick he plays at the end of each phrase are totally late 70s ... that sound and that lick were everywhere in the music of the time, and to me that version sounds really dated. On t'other hand, the Buggles version was uber-modern in 1979 partly because there was no guitar at all, and it still sounds strong today.

I do like that Thrash Comp button ...

Not sure I've seen a BBOT bridge in such agony before.

Bastard! When I bought my BDDI from them, nobody offered to teach me anything!

Just for balance, I moved to London in July 1974. I cannot imagine living anywhere else.

Christ! I hadn't spotted that ...

Anyway, back on subject, sometimes mic'ing up the percussion can get a little ... strange.

It just gets harder and harder. If you weren't already aware of ULEZ then you really should be. Phase #1 (the existing Congestion Charge zone) arrives in six months. Phase #2 (all of London inside the North & South Circular) follows in three years. Start here just to see if your current vehicle will be hit by this: https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/ultra-low-emission-zone/vrm-checker-ulez

The guy's got over 2000 in eBay Feedback so I doubt he's either an amateur or a hen-pecked husband. The price looks daft to anyone who knows anything about bass guitars, but he only has to attract one stupid or ill-informed buyer and he's done his job.

Add to Chris's comment the fact that your old Trace 15" speaker will have been very thoroughly worn-in and probably be capable of a great deal of excursion, whereas your brand-new 2x10 will be (temporarily) very stiff and reluctant to move as much as it will in due course. You're changing too many things at once. Do you have a separate power amp somewhere, or a friend with one? Try taking a feed from the FX Send on the Trace head to an external power amp (preferably 500W or greater), then use that power amp to drive the new 2x10 cab. That should tell you where the problem lies.

When did Ed Sheeran start playing a uke bass?

Laurence is, of course, Lawrence's twin brother. Oops!