BigRedX

Why would anyone buy strings from eBay? As far as I am concerned eBay is for buying second hand items only, and I wouldn't want to buy used strings.

I've had a quick look at a few of my most recent PMs and I can't edit any of my contributions. However as the most recent one is 3 months old there may be a point earlier in time when this is possible. I know another forum I use has a time limit on being able to edit anything. If it's a mistake you have made, it's probably simpler to send a new corrected message. If you are worried about some sending you a message and then editing it, the simplest thing to do is the quote their message in your reply as this can't be subsequently edited by them.

Even before the UK left the EU I found this to be the case. No mater when in the week I placed the order or what it was for, I wouldn't get a shipping notification until the Friday. Item(s) would be delivered on the Wednesday of the following week. The only difference now is that delivery/customs adds an extra day or two onto the delivery time.

Great stuff, but re-enforces the fact that once you stick any stringed instrument through a distortion pedal or overdriven amp it just sounds like an electric guitar.

Will the orchestral versions include brass instruments? If so the weird keys/tunings are probably to accommodate them. Brass instruments often struggle with standard "rock" keys.

I would agree. The fewer cables and the fewer joins in cables in a gigging situation to better. I've gone one further and now have a Mac that is only used for live playback of our backing track. It lives permanently in a 3U rack case and the only connections using consumer-grade cables and connectors are made within the case. Connections to the outside world are on XLRs and Powercon. Even then 6 months of humping the case in an out of venues and rehearsal rooms caused the IEC mains cable to work loose from the audio/MIDI interface. That has now been replaced with a cable with a locking IEC connector - I never realised such a thing existed or it would have been fitted from day one.

Yes

If the sound the audience get is from your rig then they should be mic'ing it up and not bother with DI.

Which is why I have asked the OP how long it has been since the problem first occurred and what the actual symptoms are. Given also that Mooer should be receiving OS updates for testing their products in advance of them being released for the public there is no excuse IMO for an update to take more than a week to be made available after the problem is discovered. The usual reason why what appears to be a minor OS update has caused an app to fail is because it wasn't written with 100% compliance in the first place probably because the developers think they know better. Spoiler: most of the time they don't. The lack of a timely update to me suggests that the product has already been abandoned. It is also in the retailer's interests to at least be seen to be doing something about this, as otherwise they have potentially unsellable stock or unhappy new customers whose guitar won't work properly from day one of getting it.

It appears that the current solution is to buy another device with the appropriate OS soles for the purposes of using it with the guitar, which IMO is very poor. The way I see it, is that the app is an integral part of this particular guitar, and since it only works on mobile devices it is unreasonable to expect users not to update the OS on these due to security concerns. Without a functioning app the OP could have bought a better guitar for the same price or something cheaper if they just wanted a guitar. The additional functionality is part of the USP of this particular guitar.

How long has it been since the app stopped functioning properly? Does it fail in that it won't even load, will load but won't connect to the guitar, or that just some functions not longer work? A detailed look through the tech specs of the guitar on those websites selling it and looking at the manuals available on the GTRS website, there is absolutely no mention of which versions of Android (or iOS) are required for app compatibility. Therefore IMO it is not unreasonable to assume that the device OS version doesn't matter for the app to work. Also given that most people's mobile devices are used for lots of far more security conscious apps which often rely on the OS being updated, it is (again IMO) unreasonable to expect people not to update the OS on their device, especially since for security reasons most have their set to install automatic updates.

This is the problem with using a phone which normally has several other more important uses which require it to be kept up to date for running other software. Does the guitar support control form a proper computer perhaps using a web browser interface?

Both the Fractal and Valeton fail the BRX gig worthiness test by having horrible mini-jacks for MIDI (unforgivable on the Valeton where there appears to be plenty of room for DIN sockets) and a non-locking connector for the external PSU. I would also hope that both come with a decent computer-based editor as the displays look very small.

What else was in the lot?

Except that about the only thing it has in common with the bass in the OP is the name on the scratch plate. It's not been hand made by Tony Zemaitis and the metal work hasn't been engraved by Danny O'Brien - in fact the metalwork is all acid etched rather than hand-engraved. It's essentially a parts-bin bass with a Les Paul body shape and Jazz Bass pickups and electrics and a fancy bit of metal slapped on the front. I've played a modern MiJ "Zemaitis" guitar and while it's nice sounding and playing instrument, apart from the metal front there's nothing to set it aside from any other half-way decent Les Paul shaped guitar and certainly not worth the £2k+ price tag. Of course that doesn't mean the bass in the OP is worth £14k unless it actually sells for that price, but anyone owning it will have a completely unique instrument unlike the modern copies.

Tasty and rare. If I had that kind of money, and wanted a fretless 4-string bass I'd be seriously interested.

You didn't say there was a case too.

Would the buyer be OK with you taking the neck off for shipping? That would get the parcel down to a more affordable size.

Be aware that Warwick Red Label strings don't appear to be available with a taper-wound B and their ball-end wraps tend to be quite "chunky", so depending on the bass you intend to use them with they may not fit the bridge. It is possible to get the more expensive Warwick Black Label strings with a taper-wound B.

For me a 120 B-string is far too low tension. For standard 4th tuning, string tension is highest in the D string and then drops off as the strings get thicker or thinner. As others have said it very much depends and how you play what sort of feel/sound you want and ultimately there is no overall correct answer just one that works for you.

Who was making fakers in the UK other than John Birch? IMO they are only fakers in very loosest sense of the word since only the rough body shape and occasionally the headstock were anything like a Rickenbacker.

IME strings either break when they are brand new due to manufacturing defects, or when they are very old because they are badly worn and have lost much of their elasticity. I try and make sure I replace my strings every 3 months and have 2 rehearsals before using them at a gig.

IME the scale length on its own has little bearing on the how good the low B is until your hit 36" over. There are plenty of luthiers capable of making 34" scale basses with excellent low Bs. It's mostly about neck construction, especially stiffness, and how the neck is attached to the body. If your bass has a bolt-on neck you could try the following: Slacken of the strings and then very slightly loosen the neck screws (no more than 1 turn). Then tune back up to pitch and following than tighten up the neck screws. This has the effect of pulling the neck as tightly into the pocket as possible which should help with clarity. You can also try lowering the pickup(s) a couple of millimetres away from the B string which will reduce the magnetic pull on the string and allow it to vibrate more freely.

My understanding is, that from a historical perspective, the factory that made these basses is more important than whatever logo they chose to stick on the TRC before selling them.

If you only have one keyboard to connect and don't plan on getting anymore MIDI devices then the SubZero interface is going to be overkill for your needs. I'd get the cable recommended by @moley6knipe from Amazon as you'll be able to return it without quibble if it doesn't work. Cable only solutions don have a brilliant reputation but so long as as you are only intending to send note and controller data from the keyboard to the computer it should be fine. It's only when you want to also use esoteric MIDI data like Polyphonic Aftertouch, MTC and SysEx that they tend to fall down. If you just want to get MIDI data from the keyboard to the computer and don't intend to use it to have the computer playing the keyboard's sounds just connect the MIDI out socket otherwise you'll get a MIDI loop which leads to all kinds of nastiness. If you do want to have the computer controlling the piano you'll need to look for the "local off" setting on your keyboard and connect both the MIDI In and Out.