TheLowDown

There's plenty to choose from, but it depends what you mean by reasonably priced. Maybe Akai mini plus? If you want to connect using USB then you'll need a MIDI host which is kinda like an adaptor.

Well the first thing anyone wants to do is play their favourite songs, but I don't think just learning songs is the best way. I would learn some basic theory such as intervals and chords, proper fretting and plucking and holding the bass(including minimising injuries), learn the fretboard well, learn notation(not tabs). This way puts more meaning to the songs that you want to learn, and you can understand why a song is played the way it is. Being able to transcribe is also a massive plus.

I wouldn't think so because you're still learning the same instrument and the same techniques. If anything it will probably make you more flexible in being able to adjust.

I had a dead spot on one of my Sires, 7th fret on the G string, that seemed to have just.....disappeared. I'm pretty sure I put flats on it long after that, but other than that I can't account for any change.

I think they're awesome and can't be beaten for price. All my basses use only HB strings now, i don't see the point in spending silly money on other brands when the HB strings do their job well enough for me.

If you already have the M2, I would suggest an entirely different 5 string to give some variation tbh.

Sire M5 is decent. very lightweight, lots of tonal options, active/passive, 35 inch scale(I don't think it matters but some people do), and 2 attractive finishes.

I'm sure he's a lovely guy in real life, but his YouTube persona and especially his voice is very grating!

I've never had any interest in drugs even when young. I don't even have a paracetamol on the rare occasion when I've had a headache. And I don't think that any drugs enhance creativity in any way. They did some research recently which largely threw water on the myth. The hardest drug I take is 80%+ sugar-free dark chocolate.

I like the HB B550 progressive series. I rather like the tone of it, and it has both active/passive(on mine there isn't much difference), although I rarely use it. I'm not entirely sure but I think string spacing is about 16.5 or 17mm and it's very lightweight.

I don't think I would adopt that approach being suitably risk averse. Maybe your hearing is so shot that the only way one can judge quality sound is from the price tag where you're only going to hear what you want to hear anyway (an inexpensive bass will, quite naturally, sound poor to your ears). If you've got that kind of easy money, then as long as you're enjoying yourself and you think it makes the difference then that's all that matters, eh. I wouldn't want to be so dependent on the gear making me sound good.

RIP Mani. Far too young. They were one of my fave bands during the Madchester years.

When using short scale strings, the E string always sounds somewhat dead and disconnected from the sound of the other 3 strings on my U5. Yesterday I used an old long scale E string strung-thru the body, and what a massive improvement!

I gave up FB over a decade ago after a brief period of trying it out, and I don't know anyone who actively uses it. The overall and overwhelming impression I get from others that have left, about to leave, and occasional visitors is that nowadays it's just a cesspit of ads, spammers, and scammers.

I bought a 5 string multiscale from Gear 4 music and found that I really do not gel with them at all. I only kept it past the return date in the hope that I would warm to it, but after a few weeks it remains unplayed in its box.