BigRedX

If you can't find anyone who will make you up a custom set, I'd look at getting a set of Bass VI strings and discarding the high and low E strings. Newtone do a set for under £20.

Eight for me and that was split between two different bands.

If you are going to be recording with both the mic and the DI you will need some method, either hardware or software, or ensuring that both signals are properly phase-aligned. To get the best out of the mic'd sound you'll also need a decent acoustic space to record you rig in. Even with close-mic'ing the environment will have an influence on the sound. Don't use a kick drum mic for you bass rig. They have an EQ hump designed to enhance the typical kick drum sound, which you will have to EQ out in order to get some separation between the bass guitar and the kick drum. Personally if I wasn't happy with the sound I was getting from the DI, I would be looking at buying some plug-ins rather than a mic. The only advantage a mic will have, is that the right one could be used to record other instruments as well.

Which are both played on the Travis Bean.

I really don't care about your favourite colour, but point me at a track where Mick Karn sounds better than he does on any track off Quiet Life

No, no, no!! IMO he sounded loads better with the Travis Bean, it had all the right weird characteristics but was nicely understated (and the result of more than a bit of studio trickery where, IIRC from an interview, the higher register parts only were double tracked to make them stand out). But contrast the Wal was like a caricature and cliché of his sound. And besides the vast majority of his best known work was done before he acquired the Wal.

Firstly a good bass tone is entirely subjective. There are a couple of examples here that would probably cause me to replace all my gear if I sounded like that because I dislike them so much. Secondly IME it is more about how the bass sound fits in with the rest of the instruments than the actual bass sound itself. If you listened to any of the examples given as a solo'd track you'd be surprised by how different it sounds outside of the context of the arrangement and production, and probably more than a little disappointed with the sound. I discovered long ago that just because a particular instrument sounds great on a record doesn't mean that I was going to be able to use that sound for the same instrument in my band and still have it sound good.

Stranglers?

Kaiser Chiefs?

No they didn't. I haven't chased it up because I've been sidetracked by the Eastwood version of the Shergold Bass VI, and because if they couldn't be bother to reply to me before, they are hardly likely to do it with the current situation. I did spot that Gear 4 Music have one in stock. They give the nut width as 42.86mm which is relatively narrow. Also it comes with Fender/Squier Bass VI gauge strings which to me aims it more in the Baritone Guitar range rather than Bass VI.

01 Ever played a gig sitting down? Yes, only once though, when my band provided improvised "musical" backing for a one-off performance of a play written and produced by Bill Brookman (you may recognise him from Britain's Got Talent). 02 Ever gigged on a different instrument? I've played Bass, Guitar, Synthesiser, Piano, Balalaika, and Percussion in front of paying audiences - so yes. 03 Ever shared a stage with a musical hero of yours? No. 04 Any fan ever had a tatoo of your band's logo? Not that I am aware of. 05 Ever signed an autograph in a dressing room? Yes, on the cover of an album I didn't actually play on (I joined the band after the album was released). 06 Ever cried on stage? No. 07 Ever worn a hat on stage? No. Never. 08 Ever gigged with a band you hadn't met before the gig? Yes. I played guitar on two numbers for Ian Boddy. He had a track on his "Uncertainty Principal" album with sampled guitar, and wanted to play it live as an encore with real guitar, and a mutual friend recommended me. I had a brief meeting with Ian a week before the gig when I played the guitar part along to a backing track for him to check I was playing the right thing, but I didn't actually play with the band until the soundcheck for the gig. 09 Ever been in a relationship with a fellow band member? Yes. 10 Ever played in different bands on the same day? Yes. I used to play in two bands who regularly did gigs together. 11 Ever had anything thrown at you while playing? If I have, I've not been aware of it. 12 Ever crashed on the way to the gig? Broken down several times (once so terminally we never made it to the gig) but never crashed. 13 Ever left a band over the choice of set list? No. 14 Ever slept in the venue despite it not being a hotel? Yes. 15 Ever been supported by a band clearly better than you? No. 16 Ever played a gig suffering from some debilitating medical condition? No. 17 Ever been in a band where the guitarist was your favourite bandmate? Yes, on many occasions. 18 Ever played in the grounds of a stately home? No. 19 Ever injured yourself on stage? Not seriously. 20 Ever been told that your bass isn't loud enough? Yes.

Personally I think that looks great!

Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder. To me the juxtaposition of the blue top with the natural coloured neck and back is just all wrong and rather ugly.

As @Stub Mandrel guessed, Depeche Mode are the 80s synth band I have never seen. They were supposed to have been the support for a gig I went to in 1980, but they were replaced at the last minute by another band off the Some Bizarre Album (Naked Lunch IIRC). I've seen A Flock Of Seagulls more times then any of the other bands on this list, not because I'm a fan (I can't stand them and I always thought their music and image was completely fake) but because they seemed to be the support for every good 80s band I went to see. I saw Duran Duran in early 1981at Rock City on their first proper tour just after the Planet Earth single came out. Erasure also at Rock City just before they they were really famous when Andy Bell was still performing in his latex leotard. I saw Freur at the Marquee in London in 1985 at their only UK gig they did to promote their "Devil & Darkness" single. I didn't get to see The Human League until 2014. At the time of the first two albums the gigs closest to where I was living were all cancelled because the albums weren't selling well enough. They got kicked off the Talking Heads support slot. I was going to see them at Rock City for the tour they did immediately after the Human League/Heaven 17 split, but that was also cancelled because Rock City was still under construction. By the time of the next tour they were massively famous and it was impossible to get tickets. I've seen Kraftwerk twice. The first time in 1981 at Rock City which is up there as one of the best gigs I have ever been to. The sound was crystal clear and they had films or computer graphics for almost every song they played. For the encore they came down to the front of the stage and allowed the audience to "play a little melody" on Pocket Calculator. Being at the front I was one of the lucky ones to have a go. The second time a saw them was 10 years later when the show was almost exactly the same except the computer graphics were a bit slicker and the static dummies they used on "We Are The Robots" had been replaced by actual robots. I saw Soft Cell at Rock City at a Futurist Night where they were the mystery special guests. The rumour was that it was going to be Spandau Ballet, so most of the audience were more than a little disappointed to see two weirdos with a keyboard and backing tape on stage. This was before they released "Tainted Love" so I imagine most of them didn't know who they were. The tape machine broke down during the fifth song and they left to a hail of (plastic) glasses. I saw The Thompson Twins in 1980 at Trent Poly when they were still a 4-piece guitar pop band. I saw Ultravox also in 1980 at The Theatre Royal in Nottingham on the first tour they did with Midge Ure in the band.

We have a winner! explanations to follow when I’m not trying to type on my iPad.

No-one's right so far...

Ten 80s synth bands in alphabetical order. Which one haven't I seen live? A Flock Of Seagulls Depeche Mode Duran Duran Erasure Freur The Human League Kraftwerk Soft Cell The Thompson Twins Ultravox And as a little clue - One of the bands listed I didn't get to see until well after the 80s. And I saw one of the bands before they discovered synths. Bonus points if you can guess those two as well!

I'll do one - give me a minute...

Manic Street Preachers?

So? Whose go is it next?

While splitting a single signal into two works fine passively, I've never had any success with combining 2 signals together without some form of active level matching.

Belinda Carlisle?

Camel?

Edit since Cream had already been suggested: P-A-U-L

Steve Hackett?