BigRedX

I'm not surprised that the G doesn't fit. IME 5 a side headstocks are cumbersome enough, I can't imagine one attached to a 36" scale bass. My Overwaters were all 4+1 layout, and the headstock was still slightly compressed from the standard Fender size, to make everything a comfortable reach.

Not helped by the fact that on any of the songs with piano, the keys left hand is doing the standard solid bass line, leaving the bass guitar the noodle about in the space between the keyboards and guitars. Unless your band is replicating the keyboard parts exactly, I've found the best way to get the song sounding even close to the recording is start by emulating the keys left hand and then add as many of the bass guitar licks as you can while still keeping it solid at the bottom end.

Surely it's all sequenced synth - probably done on something simple like a Roland Bassline?

But that's the way it always is with high tech musical devices. If you want to be at the cutting edge you have to pay a comparative fortune. If you are content to wait and just be a "me too" you can buy in for next to nothing. Of course by then unless you happen to be a complete genius or happen to stumble upon some brand new way of using it that no-one else has exported so far, you'll have been left behind creatively. I had a look at the App Store page for the CMI. I can't say that it impressed me in the same way that the E&MM review of the Fairlight CMI in the early 80s did.

What's the machine head arrangement of your bass?

Do I need to download the new version of the HX Edit software separately? EDIT: sorted. I did need to download the most recent version of the editor, and finally managed to work out where it was in the big list of updates for the Helix.

Intersteing interview with Kim Ryrie and Peter Vogel founders of Fairlight Instruments, talking about the development of the Fairlight CMI and other projects they have been involved with. Over 90 minutes long but well worth the time to listen (you don't really need to watch the video, it's all static headshots).

Thanks! All sorted now. Now I know what to do it's easy, but IMO Line6 really don't make it very intuitive. I just searched for Helix software and downloaded the latest version. There's nothing on the page to tell you that you need the Line 6 Updater application as well. That should be at the top of the Helix (and any other product that requires it) downloads page, so newbie like me know what to do. I didn't need to back anything up because I've not made any changes to any of the programs yet. I thought I'd make sure that the software was up to date first.

As you have revealed the results would you care to "disclose my thoughts on the “tonewood” subject" now?

Just been able to find the time do to some serious Helix programming, but I thought I run the updates first as I'm still on 2.21 which is what mine came with. So I go to the Helix site and download the latest version - 2.53 - but it's a .hxf file and my Mac doesn't know what to do with it. I thought the updaters were stand-alone programs? Have I got the right file? If so what should I do with it? If not what should I be downloading? Why is the process so unintuitive?

The 745 is lighter than the 735 too.

Two and a half grand for a Strat? With the wrong headstock and a missing vibrato spring cover. PRS are having a laugh.

Unfortunately the retailer had gone out of business quite a while before the mixer started playing up. I'm just glad I hadn't paid the full list price of £7k. In the end I think it lasted for about 15 years before it packed in altogether, but it had been developing various niggles on top of the incomplete software for about 3 years before that. My analog mixer it was bought to replace is still going strong after almost 30 years.

I hate to be a party pooper, but even though you are not selling the track you are still on dodgy ground having this track available on Bandcamp. Part of the terms and conditions you agreed to when uploading your recordings to Bandcamp (you did read all the terms and conditions didn't you?) is that you own all the relevant rights to the recordings. So unless you have obtained the appropriate PRS/MCPS licence for these covers you are in breach of your Bandcamp agreement.

Having sprayed stuff with rattle cans before, I would get anything new I wanted doing sprayed professionally. By the time I'd organised a suitable dust-free space to do the spraying in, bought the paint and ancillary equipment like masks/ventilators etc. and spent the time spraying and sanding many times before I got I even close to a finish that I would be happy with, I might as well have paid for a proper professional job. Martin Sims has done the finish on 2 of my basses, and I wouldn't hesitate to use him again.

But unless your instrument is made from non-traditional materials (not wood) or has a generally unusual design, those "options" such as fancy woods and electronics are the USP. Otherwise again we might as well all be buying and playing Squiers.

I doubt I'll ever buy another TASCAM product again. My very expensive digital mixer never got most the promised software updates, so many of the functions remained inoperative. When it started behaving erratically TASCAM wanted an inordinate amount of money to just look at it while simultaneously saying that they would be unlikely to be able to fix it. They wouldn't even give me a hint as to where the memory backup battery might be located so I could have a go at eking a few more years of life out of it. Getting a full set of schematics was completely out of the question - even though I was prepared to pay for them.

The only reason to be using flats is because you prefer the sound of them over round wounds for the music that you are playing. I've used flats on some of my basses in the past, but none of my current basses or the music I am playing with them would suit flat wound strings right now.

With regard to many well known UK bass brands being absent from the show, I imagine that having a stand there isn't cheap. As a graphic designer I've been involved with creating show stands for other specialist markets and judging by the amount of money some exhibitors are prepared to spend just on the graphical elements, it has got to be expensive. Would either the organisers or one of the exhibitors care to let us know how much a stand cost and what you got in terms of floor space etc for that price? And of course if you already have a full order book and a waiting time for new instruments that is measured in years rather than months, why would you want to be at the show? You are going to loose several days when you could be working preparing for and being at the show, and what do you take to show? Do you even have demonstration instruments when you are completely busy with work for paying customers? As a customer I would not be very happy if I found out that my supposedly brand new bass had been thrashed to death over the weekend by hundreds of slap-happy bassists... I also know from several friends who have worked for the bigger musical instrument companies that events like this can be very hard work. You are constantly watching the instruments to make sure they don't get damaged and no-one wants to buy anything without getting a "special show discount". Maybe for a lot of the more established luthiers too much cost and additional work for too little extra reward?

Is there really a lot of interest in flats these days? Maybe on here from a vocal minority, but Basschat only really represents a small number of bassists in the UK and the flats users are a tiny percentage of that. If flats were seriously coming back into popularity you'd be able to buy them form your local music store off the shelf without need to get them on special order and we'd probably even start seeing some mainstream brands fitting them as standard to their basses. But we're not; and for now flats will remain a speciality string for those of us who show a bit more interest in our gear than the average bassist for whom a bass and amp with a recognised brand name will be sufficient.

All it really shows is that when it comes to developing bass amplification, Marshall haven't been able to keep up with the competition.

If, like most luthiers your USP is making unique hand-crafted instruments with meticulous attention to detail, why would you want to dilute that with a budget line? Like it or not if you are a one-man operation making something that doesn't owe a large part of its inspiration to the designs of Leo Fender and you want to do it absolutely right, then you are going to find it difficult to come in under £3000 these days. Otherwise you are basically saying that the instrument doesn't matter and then we'd all be fine playing £200 Squiers.

Everything I've ever ordered from them has taken exactly a week from the day I ordered it.

Thanks for the clarification. The fact that the necks are bolt-on opens up an interesting second test. Would it be possible for you to swap the necks and do the recordings again? That way we could see if the slight change in sound moves with the neck, remains with body or if you end up with 2 brand new tonal variations. The problem still remains with the sample size (as it does with all similar tests). Until someone has the time and money to do this properly, at best all we are every going to be able to say is that one bass sounds different to another, and we are never going to be able to say EXACTLY what is causing those differences in sound. Which of course we all know already!

I'd say for most musicians, most of the time the Luminlayr system will be fine. However it's not without it's own set of problems. Firstly it's nowhere near as bright as an LED or fibre system and secondly if you lose the recharging torch they aren't going to be any use at all, and you can guarantee you won't realise you've lost the torch (or left it at home) until 5 minutes before your are due to go on stage for an important gig.