BigRedX

I think that might be the biggest stumbling block for most people. I can read music in the same way as I can read a few foreign languages, with context and a dictionary I can work my through it. I know what all the notes are and the timing divisions and all the commonly used symbols, but expect me to be able to play faster than a bar a minute and its just not going to happen for anything other than the simplest of pieces.

Whichever EQ module in my Helix that gives the correct sound.

That is fantastic as usual.

Don't know where you got that from - according to Bruce Johnson's page on the Ampeg AEB-1 and AUB-1 there were over a thousand made. They are still pretty rare. The Bass Gallery had one of the Johnson copies in several years ago and very nice it was too. If I had been playing 4-sting basses I might well have bought it.

This. Are there any? I couldn't see them.

The Eastwood is a copy in the very loosest sense only. Essentially (like all Eastwood instruments) it's a parts bin bass with a body designed by someone who saw a blurry photograph of the Ampeg AEB once. Put the two side by side and you can easily see that they have nothing in common and it won't sound anything like the Ampeg either. The Bruce Johnson versions are far more authentic.

Does it have MIDI?

Brilliant. I would great if you could make it. Come and say "Hi" we'll have a range of merch available too including new T-shirts with the forthcoming album cover design.

No it's to do with the Trade Union rather than the Customs Union. If the UK leaves the EU it will become a separate trade market which means that suppliers that have a European distribution agreement with manufacturers will no longer be able to sell products to the UK that have a dedicated UK distributor for them.

Also bear in mind that locking off the vibrato system so that it can't move will change the sound of the guitar.

And if the UK leaves the EU, you won't be able to do that either.

Which will save you the tax on about £18.00 of the total value...

Split frets were used on the Vox Organ Guitar in the 1960s.

Actually there is a reduction in tension. The G string on a bass tends to have the second highest tension (after the D) and the B will have by far the lowest tension, so if you do need to make any truss rod adjustments you will need to slacken it off.

Was it a Music Man bass by any chance?

Sometimes it will depend upon the make of the bass. Many US manufacturers don't want US shops undercutting their official retail channels in the UK, so their agreement to supply outlets like Sweetwater will prohibit them from selling their instruments outside of the US.

Doesn't work with open strings according to the web site (one of the few bits of information it actually does give). So really not an option for me as a lot of my bass style is built around open string drones, and alternating open and fretted string riffs. Also: Quite what counts as an appropriate instrument isn't mentioned, in fact over all the web site is far too light on actual information to tempt me. I have asked for more details but I am yet to receive a reply...

So you play in a band with no guitarist?

Have you linked to the right auction? All I can see is a very battered instrument, possibly home-made by someone who saw a photo of a P-Bass once. 😉

Fender used to make a version of the Stratocaster with a fixed bridge. Is that still an option?

I don't really get on with bolt-on necks. I tolerate them on my Bass VIs because there are no alternatives. However if I was going to splash the sort of money required for an Industrial Radio MIDI bass I'd want something that was more tailored to my requirements rather than the one size (doesn't) fit all instruments they currently make.

Yes everything that isn't vocals, keyboards or drums was done on the Barracuda. There are some overdubs in the middle section where I'm doing both high and low register parts simultaneously. We compromise with some extra keyboard bass at those points when we do the song live.

Have you asked any of the relevant Government agencies? Unfortunately, last time I looked, the language on the .gov.uk web site was very noncommittal full of phrases like "you may need to..." and I doubt it has got any better since then. TBH I don't think anyone will know until the UK actually leaves the EU and what agreement if any is in place at that time.

And there is an equally valid argument that the sorts of people who are after a properly functioning MIDI guitars and basses are after something a bit more interesting looking. I certainly wouldn't want to be seen on stage with a "normal" looking instrument no matter how fantastic the sound creating facilities are. And while I am familiar with the sorts of sounds that other musicians are able to get out of a Jazz bass, most of them aren't ones I am after, and when I did own a Squier Jazz one of the biggest disappointments for me was that no matter what I did with it and what modifications I made it always sounded "weedy" to me when compared with the Overwater and Gus basses I was also using.

When I played in a band where some songs required fretless and other fretted basses I used to swap between the two, although we would try and arrange the set so that I wasn't switching between them every song. We also had a guitarist who played keys on some songs so organising the set to suit both of us was sometimes "interesting". These days I play 5-string bass and Bass VI, but in different bands. I just have back-up bass for each. I'd only swap basses during a gig if I was doing the fretted/fretless thing again or if I needed instruments with different tunings.