Beer of the Bass

Thomastik Superflexible aren't a low tension string, they're a steel core string with fairly high tension. They're one of Thomastik's older designs, named because the core is braided steel rope which is more flexible than a solid steel core, but the standard Superflexible set is still comparable to something like Spirocore mediums. Though there is also a Solo gauge intended to be tuned a whole tone higher, that will be relatively low tension for steels at standard pitch. So I don't know that what your experiencing is a "low tension strings" issue, or that changing to a different steel core string would solve it.

I haven't used them, but some of the newer Aquila strings seem to be designed around similar concepts to the Velvets - relatively low tension, synthetic cores, copper windings etc.

Are you playing French or German? I've found dealers here tend to have fairly slim pickings for German bows, though you may have more luck with French. In addition to the Violin Shop in Glasgow, both Stringers and Gordon Stevenson in Edinburgh might be worth calling to see what they have in (I'd do that before travelling). None of them keep a huge range in for bass, but they may have what you need.

It could still do some screwy things even without stressing the amp. At the frequency where one speaker has an impedance peak, the signal voltage across the other speaker will drop so that it has very little output, which has got to sound weird.

I'm sure I remember seeing specific cautions about running dissimilar speakers in series. I don't recall what the precise issue was, but it would seem to be a quite complex situation with the impedance curves of the different speakers interacting and likely quite hard to anticipate how it will behave.

I have two dots on the face on the fingerboard at the octave and a fourth above (where the 12th and 17th frets aren't). Some people are quite scathing about the idea and it tends to get shot down in online discussions, but then a surprising number of better players than me have dots up in thumb position so I'm not going to feel bad about it. It does help me to feel a little more confident in venturing up there, and I'm using the small side dots from a set of guitar dot stickers, so it's neat looking but easily undone.

Indeed, probably the case with anything that uses vactrols too these days.

I'm guessing Behringer aren't going to do the Lovetone flanger with the question mark on, that thing was nuts, a lot of fun.

A conventional repair would usually involve access from both sides, so a top or back off job, which is either going to be an expensive luthier job or a big DIY one. And it's pretty much in the location where some modern bass makers have put sound ports. The example in the link uses multiple small holes, but one oval just large enough to cover the missing parts would look neat and deliberate. I think I'd want some sort of cross-grain reinforcement on the inside of the hole just for stability and to stop any hairline cracks from spreading https://uptonbass.com/product/arnold-schnitzer-upton-bass-ergo/

Moe Foster did some articles in the 90s Bassist magazine, as far as I can remember his Jazz bass looked fairly conventional. He did say the ebony fingerboard had come from a double bass, but presumably it had had been cut down to normal Jazz bass proportions. edit; OK, in the link it looks to have a somewhat extended fingerboard, but not so much that it only had room for one pickup, maybe 2 octaves or so?

Also Georgie Born with Henry Cow in the 70s, she was coming from cello and I think she hadn't played bass before the band. Though that was on a short scale Dan Armstrong bass which would have been less stretchy for the left hand than a Fender.

I got distracted with various things and missed the date slipping by!

Usually four string sets are labelled I to IV in Roman numerals, with O for Orchestra or S for solo on the other side of the ball. But I've never had a low B or high C, those might be labelled differently.

I know a couple of years ago when I was looking at acoustics in Glasgow, GuitarGuitar were just a little more engaging and able to chat about what I was looking for in a helpful way than the other shops with new guitars were, and I like that they have some used guitars too. I ended up with a used 2020 Gibson G45, not an option that was originally on my shortlist, but playing it in person next to to others I just liked it.

That's a shame, I'd nip in for guitar strings sometimes, though I think my only major purchase from them was the great Ampeg PF50T blowout of 2018 (that one's still serving me well).