JoeEvans

If it was much darker than expected with a pickup you know, then as you say it sounds like it's just a very dark bass. In my very limited experience the matching of pickups and mics to basses is very much on a case by case (or rather bass by bass) basis - every instrument needs something different and it's a matter of trial and error. You could try both though, could work well by the sound of it. Ideally you'd want to be able to EQ each pickup differently, to bring out their best characteristics, so maybe using a very small mixer with decent channel EQ, or an elaborate preamp of some sort, but that's another gear rabbit hole and it might be easier to try sone other mics and pickups.

When I saw the thread title I Iiterally thought "what, for your drummer, hurr hurr hurr".

It would be wireless from your guitar to the pedal chain. The pedals will still be running off mains. So no help with the buzz but might stop you from getting electrocuted! Personally I would look at an RCD socket adapter instead, to deal with any safety risk. For the hum, hopefully someone more knowledgeable can step in but I believe there are filtered four-ways available to protect IT gear against dodgy mains that might be worth a look.

I feel a bit bad about the amount of self-promotion my friends and family get exposed to via my social media. I'm forever pushing some project via my own social media accounts in a desperate attempt to fill a venue or whatever, and it must get repetitive.

I use an ART Tube preamp with double bass; I have a gig coming up for bass guitar and I'm planning to just take the ART for that, no amp. I'm pretty confident that it will sound ok.

No idea but F and B flat are more common keys for bands with lots of brass, big band type arrangements. You could always sit down with an instrument and go through YouTube or Spotify playing along with all the available versions.

If the desk has a low cut button (<50hz) on each channel, which they often do, you could do worse than just hitting that on every channel. I find that for double bass the real action is up around 100 to 200hz, and you can roll everything below this right back on your own amp (or with a low cut pedal).

A discussion about tuning that rapidly escalates into a fist fight - definitely takes me back to a couple of past studio sessions...

It's also possible that the singer's mic is picking up the bass and sending it through the PA, then the body of the bass resonates with the PA output, that comes out of your amp and back into the singer's mic, and you have a feedback loop. You could ask the sound engineer to roll off the bass on the vocal mic - you could probably wipe off everything below 150hz without it doing much harm for a female vocalist.

You could always buy my Ibanez Axstar, which is different in all kinds of ways but very 80s and also taking up space in my tiny office room.

The fourth dimension is indeed time. It's best left set to the present moment though, I accidentally gave mine a tweak and I'm not going to see it again until next June.

Jean-Luc has it right. Reverb will charge VAT on the fees then send it to HMRC whether you have a VAT number or not. If you had one, you could reclaim that VAT, but the customer's VAT status is immaterial to the supplier. Tell them you're a private seller and not registered for VAT, and to hurry up and pay out or you'll report them to HMRC.

As an aside, if anyone can think of a good name for a bluegrass band playing covers of 80s pop hits, that would be great.

I had a job once in which I had to sit in on loads of job interviews as part of the panel, but I wasn't really the key player in making the decisions - I was there more to ensure consistent and correct process. It was a fascinating experience. What jumped out is that there's always a specific situation going on for the employer that the new person will have to step into, so that the employer always has a strong idea of the kind of person they need, but the interviewee doesn't and can't know any of that. It made me much more relaxed about getting interviewed myself. You can't know what they're after, so you just need to present who you are and what you can do in a clear and friendly way, and if it lines up with what they need then great, and if not then there's nothing you can do about that. We turned down loads of great people because they weren't quite what was needed - no reflection on them at all.

How about this, from an amazing bassist too? https://youtu.be/PBg-ukRUJuQ

I use an ART Tube MP preamp for double bass, which has no EQ but somehow makes the bass sound a bit warmer and fatter. I just go straight to PA from there, and any EQ needed is done on the desk, or in small venues into my own Turbosound ip300 active speaker, which has basic EQ. It's the best sound I've ever had on db and I've come to the conclusion that the less there is in the chain, the better, for my bass and my taste. Whether that would work for EUB I can't say, depends how good the clean sound of the instrument is.

You only have to carry one upstairs to get a vivid insight into the invention of the electric bass.

The OP's teal strap would look great on a fairly pale natural wood finish. What's that you say? Why yes, I suppose my ACG would be a good example of that kind of finish, since you mention it.

Well that's a wholesome and heart-warming story.

I guess what I mean is more that in my limited experience, basses tend to get priced reasonably accurately according to the level of magic - how easily they speak, how rich the tone is. I suppose that's because you don't really get basses with amazing tone and sensitivity that are made of low quality materials by a poor luthier - to get a bass that's amazing to play requires all the other ingredients of high value to be in place. So the magic is a pretty reliable indicator of the quality of a bass as measured in more tangible ways. In more practical terms, if you spend £5k on an older bass and it's got a nicely flamed maple neck, ribs and back; swell back; ebony fingerboard in good condition; closely-spaced, straight grain on the front; no gaps, cracks or rattles; no slumping or distortion of the front; the right action high up the neck for your style of playing; AND it sounds and feels lively and delicious when played side by side with a good selection of other basses at similar prices, then you're not being ripped off. [I know there are loads of amazing basses that don't have all those features but for confidence in valuation they are helpful] I would strongly recommend a visit to the Double Bass Room to play a whole load of basses one after another and get a feel for the differences. If you work your way around 15-20 instruments you can get a real feel for what you're paying for, and what you have to pay for what you want. His prices are reasonable too although you might need to do some set-up work if you bought one there. When I bought my bass there he just brought me the odd cup of tea and let me get on with it for a couple of hours, and it was an invaluable learning experience. Many years ago when I was just playing bass guitar I wondered about buying a double bass, and went into a shop to try a few. The first one I tried was about £10k. I twanged a note, the whole thing resonated sweetly in my arms, the room seemed to fill with rich, beautiful possibilities, the sun came out and the angels sang. Then I tried a £1k one, which was what I could actually afford, and it went 'thunk', and I walked out of the shop and went back to playing electric for a decade or two.

Or to short cut all of the above, pick it up, pluck an open A, rate the magic from 0 to 10 and value accordingly...