Happy Jack

Another vote here for Comfort Strapp. If you're anywhere near Harrow, I have a couple of spares if you want to try one out.

Entirely agree with that ... after all, pretty much everyone who starts playing will start by playing their favourite songs. When they first formed, The Beatles were just another covers band. I was just astonished at the notion that 'most Basschatters' play in either a tribute act or a functions band. I've met a helluva lot of Basschatters over the last 15 years, been to see plenty of them play too, and IME there are way more guys doing what I do (pubs & clubs playing covers, dabbling on the side with originals projects) than there are playing in functions bands. As for genuine tribute bands (if that's not a contradiction in terms), those are seriously rare. I can think of half a dozen BCers over the years who have mentioned playing in a tribute band and - sadly - not all of those are still with us. Being a numbers guy, I'd be happy to bet a fiver that the make-up of Basschat is: Tribute band players = 1% Functions band players = 9% Pubs & Clubs players = 20% Originals bands, successful or otherwise = 20% Not gigging bassists = 50%

As you already know, "Yes, I gig in a mostly covers band" doesn't really do justice to what many (perhaps most) bassists actually do. It was the closest available so I ticked it. Unfortunately, that selection makes no distinction between a covers band that plays pubs & clubs, and a covers band that plays functions, so this poll won't even answer the original question. 🙄

Who on earth would make that assertion? And on what basis?

One bass? Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!! No. 😉

Oof! That's a bit of a blow for you. Pretty much every band I know is fully-booked for the Queen's Jubilee weekend, so there won't be a lot of 'spare' bassists wafting about. Good luck.

Doing smack again? 🙄 😉

The original line-up of Bang To Rights at our first-ever rehearsal, Spring 2009. With a variety of line-up changes, three of us (Paul in the middle and Rick at far right) are still gigging regularly as The Junkyard Dogs.

Is that just the pickup, or the whole bass?

Hmmmmm ... Jazz with a paint job, not feeling it I'm afraid. As @NikNik says, perhaps a J-Pop tie-in of some sort. And I wouldn't describe that as Surf Green either. Maybe it's my monitor but that looks pretty bloody minty for Surf Green. Not that it matters a damn, it's still a pretty colour and quite distinctive.

Blimey! A Rick!

Please do me a favour and buy I have been, and remain, very happy with my old Zeller which I have been gigging for the past 10 years, but I'm still very tempted by that Profundo. If you buy it, then temptation will be removed. Thanks in advance ... Just as a matter of interest, why do you want to change after 20 years? And is your old student bass worth much money?

So I'm sitting there thinking, "this is the weirdest cover of Tore Down that I've ever heard ...".

And I bought the other power amp Mike listed. Despite being 15 years old, the amp re-defined "pristine condition" and arrived better-packaged than the last brand new power amp I bought!

Weight, weight, and I say again weight. I own a lot of basses, and I have owned at least another five basses for every one that I own now. I can cope very happily with any scale length, any (sensible) number of strings or string-spacing, any pickup configuration, any control knob switchery, any colour or finish, fretted or fretless, whatever. The only thing I can't abide is a bass that never gets played, and IME the only basses that never get played are the boat anchors.

Like a cow pissing on a flat rock.

For £36.90, this is seriously hard to beat. https://www.dv247.com/en_GB/GBP/Samson-C01-Large-Diaphragm-Condenser-Microphone-/art-REC0004572-000?campaign=GShopping/GB&ProgramUUID=HADAqJarPzAAAAFlea9yjI.G&gclid=CjwKCAjw0a-SBhBkEiwApljU0vdDAHSv_Cd6YJd_uxuG9zpV39TCwyeN5WJAuOMJcwy9Ad4zrwVCiBoC3AMQAvD_BwE

I thought he was in Hanwell?

Oh God ... he's lit the blue touchpaper ...

Not sure what makes "a pair of RCF 312As" a "compact budget PA". You're straight into £650/£700 if you buy new, and that's assuming that you already have the poles, the cables, and of course the mixer. Obviously a lot depends on (1) what you currently use, how big it is (dimensions, not Watts), how much of it could be re-purposed to work with the RCFs, etc. and (2) what makes the new venues you're targeting a challenge, is it because they're very small, or because there are noise limiters, or because access is restricted, etc. @Silvia Bluejay and I have a spare system too, in fact we have enough components to create a variety of different rigs to deal with different challenges. Most of our purchasing is driven by reducing the weight and simplifying the load-in/set-up at the venue. We play far more pubs than clubs, and very few events that you'd call 'functions', and we totally prefer the power amp + passive tops route for most gigs. Passive tops don't need a power supply + XLR cable, just a Speakon, so that's half the pluggery and cable routage and the Speakon cable will be far more robust under pub conditions than a 5M mic cable. Passive tops weigh a great deal less than active so they're much less likely to get knocked over by that drunken woman in a low-cut blouse as she dances sideways into the speaker pole. And if they do get knocked over, they're far less vulnerable to damage and far cheaper to repair or replace. Power amps are available cheap as chips these days and, sitting under the mixer, they take up effectively no space at all. Best of all, assuming that you currently run a top-end functions-stylee PA system with powered subs and tops, bells & whistles everywhere, then going the power amp + passive route will complement the existing rig because you can use it as a top-of-the-range monitoring system if you want.

Not sure I've understood this fully ... do you mean that the bass remains on the stand while you play it?

You need more amplification ...

Life's like a box of chocolates ...