BigRedX

Here WiFi is restricted to devices that have not other way of connecting to the network. When my house finally gets finished (that's another story) there will be wired Gigabit ethernet connections in a variety of locations in every room. Since the vast majority of devices I have are either in a fixed location or require a PSU or both, there seems to be little point in using WiFi. It's just another unnecessary layer of complexity.

It's perfect example of "just because you can doesn't mean that you should". And who is it aimed at? Anyone playing stages big enough to fit something like that on will be going into a massive PA and using in-ears for on-stage monitoring. Even if it was a just for show you'd be better off with a something with something empty that can be built light and foldable so that means you'd need a speaker cloth front.

No. I've barely picked up any instrument, since April last year. Because of my personal situation at the moment, I have little opportunity to play music right now and as neither band are doing anything because of the pandemic I've almost completely stopped playing. If either band starts rehearsing//gigging/recording again then I will make the effort, but without that incentive I find it very hard to get the enthusiasm to play for the sake of it.

Most 8-string basses get around the tuning peg problem by using guitar size tuners for the octave strings.

Looks like height adjusters for the pickups and the bridge.

It was a lot of mucking about on my part (organising posting back the wrong items and then claiming back the money from Bass Direct) to sort out a problem that shouldn't have happened in the first place. A less scrupulous person might have simply kept the pickups and pre-amp and ordered another set of rack ears from different shop, leaving the person who had ordered the items wondering where their electronics were.

Did you buy you Backbeat new? If so where from? UK consumer law states that all electrical appliances must be sold with a UK standard 13A plug or a fused adaptor that fits permanently over the existing plug completely enclosing all the contacts. Supplying a plug-in adaptor is not acceptable. If this was bought new go back to the company you got it from and insist that they either supply a PSU with a UK plug on it, or a legally acceptable locking adaptor for the supplied PSU FoC.

I once ordered some cheap rack ears for my amp from them and was surprised to receive a very expensive set of pickups and pre-amp in return. Inconvenient for both myself and the person who should have had the items I got. All sorted out in the end, but added several days to what should have been a straight-forward order, and TBH in should never have happened in the first place.

Looking very nice. Is the body from a single pice of wood? If not I can't see any obvious joins.

Unfortunately when you apply for your EORI number there is no indication of this. Since IME dealing with HMRC you need to be pretty much spot on or you will run into problems, if not immediately then further down the line, I wanted to be sure that I had the best SIC code to describe what I do and I wanted HMRC to advise me on what that was, so if there did turn out to be problems I could point back that them and say that I had followed their advice on the matter, after specifically asking for their help. The code I got was for "Creative Artist" which is a bit of a stretch for my occupation, and there was at least one other option that was just as "not quite right", but since that was the advice from HMRC, that's the one I've used.

Just had an update regarding my parcel to Belgium which is now in Belgium and awaiting customs clearance at that end. According to the BPost website this could take "up to 24 days"! WTAF...

IME as soon as you drop below B-B tuning, guitar style parts become muddy and indistinct - especially chords, unless you play high up the neck, in which case you might as well use a standard guitar. My HB Baritone (28" scale tuned B-B) was used by The Terrortones guitarist on a couple of tracks on our album, one with it capo'd up to standard E-E guitar tuning. Personally I thought it made the sound overly bright and thin compared with playing the same part on his guitar, but he liked the effect so I didn't argue. If I wasn't so set on not having multiple guitars on stage I'd probably use a Baritone on some of Hurtsfall's songs, but as it is I make do with the Bass VI. And BTW I don't mind the headstock - it's a typical Aria one. It's certainly nicer IMO than the large 70s style Strat one on the Squier Bass VI.

I think it very much depends on what kind of band you are in. Certainly in the last 10 years of playing in originals bands and all over the country (although for some reason never in East Anglia), there has nearly always been a suitable in-house PA that the bass would be put through (that's venues up to 500 capacity). In fact I can't remember the last time I had to rely on my rig for the audience to be able to hear the bass guitar.

Interesting. And weird. 30" scale normally means A-A Baritone tuning but the specs say B-B, although the mentioned string gauges are at the lighter end of Baritone strings so the feel might be OK. Unfortunately the suggested Bass VI strings are the ones which most players get rid of straight away because the E and A are far too light and floppy when tuned E-E. However the important information for my PoV - string spacing at the nut and the bridge are not given, and based on the fact that this appears to be primarily designed as a Baritone guitar and the bridge looks like a standard Strat vibrato unit means it will be guitar spacing, which is too narrow for me. I do have a friend involved with the Aria UK importers so I'll ask him if there is any further info he can find out, which I will share here. However from a playing PoV the Eastwood is the right Bass VI for me. I still haven't been able to try mine out amplified so I can't comment on the sound yet. I'm still interested in the alternatives as the Eastwood is by far the most expensive off-the-shelf option I've come across. Edit: for anyone interested the page it's on is here.

After a week stuck in the UK, my parcel is now in Belgium. However it still has to pass through customs there...

To all those bass players who are using two (or more) different cabs in your rig and are relying on this system to project the bass sound into the audience, without any PA support, have you used a wireless system and gone out into the audience area whilst sound checking and listened to how the bas part of the mix changes in both tone and volume in different parts of the venue? I suspect not. Just because these rigs sound good when you are stood next to them doesn't mean that every audience member is getting the same good sound.

Again, it only matters your rig is supplying the FoH bass sound. Having the drivers next to each other rather than directly above each other will lead to dispersion issues, where the audience will only get to hear what you are hearing if they are stood directly in front of the rig. Everywhere else it will be different in terms of tone and volume. Actually stacking the drivers vertically still leads to dispersion issues, but as they are all in the vertical plane it will only be noticeable if you are playing a venue with multiple levels at very different heights.

Hiscox.

To the OP. Is the bass also going through the PA when you gig? If so, it doesn't matter what you have on stage as it will just be for personal monitoring. However, if you rely on your rig to make the bass audible to the audience, mixing speaker types without using a crossover will result in an inconsistent sound in different parts of the venue.

But are they all written on the bass guitar? I think you'll find that song-writers who play bass as their primary instrument are competent on at least one other that normally lends itself better to songwriting. As a bass-playing song writer myself, most of my songs have the bulk of them written on guitar or keyboard rather than the bass, although I'll use any of them to generate the initial musical ideas.

They look brilliant!

Just had a look at these and apparently the long headstock is to allow you to stick it in the sand while you surf!

Depending on where your basses were made you might need Imperial and metric keys, which is why I recommended a set with both. As a general rule of thumb US-made instruments and anything from the UK up to the mid 70s will be Imperial. Everything else should be metric. Also check if 1.5mm is small enough for your needs.

I'd go for something like this.

But the you can get it refinished in a colour you like without feeling guilty.