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Was it a one-off bad gig? Why do you have to say anything? He was a friend before you knew how bad this band was, so just continue being a friend and ignore the band thing.

I’d be curious to mess with a 4 string if they’re bothering.

We played at a village hall last night. It was a ticketed beer and cider festival. We had great fun. Everything went well. We set up quickly, got the sound right, played really tight and we performed really well. It was a good confidence booster as we've had a couple of wobbles lately, but we were on it last night. I'm absolutely done in though 🤣

It does! Or a Minecraft bass but it's still kind of cool!

Looks like an 8-Bit Status Streamliner.

To a certain extent it depends on how friendly you are with the singer. 'Best mates' friendly and you could probably, with some tact, tell the truth to him/her over a coffee or a pint. 'Acquaintance' friendly and it would be much harder and probably better to stick to some generalisms (needs some work, not tight etc) or just walk away. It also depends on how your credibility is with your friend and the band. I'm not questioning your credibility but if they see you as an experienced player and are willing to listen you could say more than if they just see you as 'the singer's friend'. I was in a band once that was a bit like the one you described. From within at rehearsals it was hard to spot the problems but once we started to record the sessions, it became painfully obvious that the singer couldn't sing and the the two guitarists weren't working together and by backing vocals were dire. Maybe suggesting they record rehearsals or gigs might allow them to spot the problems themselves? I was briefly in another band where, despite basic errors in tempo and timing, every song ended with one of the band saying a variation of 'that was special'. It made me smile as my interpretation of 'special' was different to his. But the serious point is that it can be hard to be objective, particularly if you are within the music, inexperienced r lacking in confidence and so concentrating hard on your own bit. The trick, as has been said above, is to ensure any comments you make are not taken personally. Easier said than done and a lesson I learnt over time.

I really don't get what is bad about the headstock, I never saw it. It itsn't objectively bad like the sire or James Tyler, or bite(?) or even the moderne (which I like as it is so stupid).

Of course you can, they sound different. Put two 63 jazz basses next to each other and they will sound different to each other. Get another newer jazz bass with a pickup made to sound vintage and it will sound different. The difference is whether there is something totally unique to them then you can play 10 basses blindfold and say say 'yes those 5 are vintage, and these 5 arent'. But you can't, I am sure that noone can. Because they love that bass and they can afford it, they are players not collectors, but I think that will tail off with the current prices, the players will start selling off their old basses and just taking cheaper, less nickable instruments on the road, because that makes sense. Many people stopped taking expensive instruments out, as mentioned, david gilmour sold his rare strats for charity and plays new ones, he still sounds exactly the same. Even if you 100% believed that a vintage fender came up with a totally unique sound that nothing else could make, you can't possibly beleive you could hear that when it was gigging when half the time you can't tell if it is a bass or not!

Ok so couldn’t resist! Managed to get a XS-100 it’s turning up on Monday!! Hopefully able to have a bit of a play at practice!!!

Eat more fruit.

That’s not the reasons I have them or anyone I know, I just like the whole vibe about them and enjoy playing them ,but I do agree that some just buy them simply for their value