Dan Dare

If you want real clarity, attack and a super clean sound, you need a lot of headroom/power. You want whatever you use to be working well within itself and not straining in any way - that's when dirt/compression starts to make its presence felt. I'd be looking at a high quality pre' with a serious PA power amp (think something like Lab Gruppen) driving Barefaced, Greenboy or similar cabs. Not cheap, but will do the job properly.

Exactly. They just see another piece of bent metal, together with mic stands, cymbal stands, etc, etc and ignore it if the music's any good. As far as the "learn your parts" comments on here are concerned, that's fine if you play the same 20 songs every night, but if you take requests or have a large repertoire (some items from which you may not have performed for a while), you need parts, words, etc. That's why orchestras, jazz bands, etc, use the dots.

I agree with Phil and others. The most important thing is to get it right and if the singer (or any musician) needs a reminder or even a comfort blanket, that's fair enough. As a matter of interest, I prefer a conventional music stand to an iPad, because it looks a bit naff to see a musician's or singer's face illuminated by the blue glow from the screen.

This. It's spot on. Those the OP refers to as members of a "clique" probably turn up every week come rain or shine to support the jam. As stated, if attendance is sparse and insufficient drink, etc is purchased, It's highly likely that the bar/pub (which is a business and has to make a living) will decide to try something else before too long. When I go to a jam I haven't visited before, I do as suggested - say hello, tell them honestly what I do and don't expect to be given half the night to myself (although the last time I went, there was only one other bassist apart from the house band player and I ended up playing with several sets of people, which was fun).

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the equipment you have. It will do all you ask of it (and well - it's all high quality stuff). You will just be wasting money chopping and changing and will notice little if any difference. Bertbass makes good points (particularly about frequencies reinforcing each other) and I agree with suggestions to route the bass through the FoH rig and lift your rig up so you hear it better.

Not at all. MDF is dead/inert and quite heavy for its size and thickness. Probably worth adding some bracing internally. A lot of high priced hi-fi speaker cabs are made from it. Make sure you wear a dust mask when cutting it - some nasty stuff used to bind it together.

Pink Tour Paedo, surely... (with apologies to Spinal Tap) Some mates of mine - they are all 60+ - have a band called Simply Grey, which I think is a pretty ace name. To answer the original question, I think the name is important. Creates expectations and many do tend to judge a book by its cover. I've agonised over choosing/inventing band names - opening the dictionary at random, picking the Scrabble letters out of the bag, etc, etc - for too much of my time. When you get a good one, it's worth the grief.

Why worry about seeing them? Do you look at your hands all the time and/or spend a lot of time at the dusty end of the fingerboard?

Musical saws used to be popular in music hall/variety days. A number of companies made them (a pal has a Sandvik 'Stradivarius'). They are usually thinner than standard wood working saws, so you can put the slight 'S' bend into them that you need to produce the sound. You play them with a cello bow. See:

Ah, that magic word. "Custom".

Always great when you find a magical combination. A pal uses one of the original Epifani 1x12 cabs and that's similar. Astonishing for it's size. Two would be all you would ever need.

FOUR 15s? Now that's just showing off...

+1 for a separate head and cab. Apart from easier upgrading, if something goes wrong (which will usually be to do with the amp), it's easier to connect another to your cab and carry on, rather than have to take the whole lot to the repair shop and be without a rig. Heads are generally small/light these days, so there is no real "convenience" to having a combo. The separates approach is also scalable. You can take out only what you need for the job.

This. Wedding/function bands are part of the event, along with the flowers, catering, disco, photographer, etc, etc and not the main attraction. This also applies in pubs and clubs and even at ticketed gigs - many are there to be sociable, enjoy themselves with friends and so on. That's their right.

He sounds like fun. What was his day job? Primary school teacher? Traffic warden?

I think that making "affordable instruments" is part of Gibson's problem. In addition to the leisure brand acquisitions referred to above, they appear have spread their core business too thin, trying to appeal to everyone. They make solely in the USA (and fair play to them for that), pay people proper wages and as a result, are never going to compete with far eastern manufacturers who hire children, pay them in bags of gravel, don't have to abide by any workplace or materials regulations, etc, etc. When I was young (a loooong time ago), a Gibson was something you aspired to owning. I saved up for several years to buy my first Gibson instrument. Now, every shop seems stuffed with them and they are trying to sell at all price points. They should go back to making things that are special/desirable and leave the entry-level instruments to the mass producers, even if that means, as it undoubtedly will, that they become smaller (and also leaner and fitter). Just my opinion, of course.

It is frustrating, but not everyone is like that. I'm not dissimilar to you - own a high quality PA and am on the case when it comes to business issues and I've been in that position. There are some who view someone like us as a nurse/nanny/skivvy and try to take advantage. It's the same in most areas of work - there are people who take the lead and those who tag along and do the minimum. I don't think our advice will change anything (it isn't as if the band members are likely to say "The chaps on Basschat agree with you, so we'd better pull up our socks", after all), although I appreciate that you are probably looking for a bit of a confidence boost or confirmation that you are not being unreasonable (if what you say is true, you are being very reasonable). That's fair enough, but you don't have to answer to anyone but yourself in the end. I'd advise telling them exactly what the problems are for you and what you expect them to do to put it right. Don't take no, or even maybe, for an answer. If you go, they'll have no gigs and no equipment, so make that clear to them. Draw up a list of agreed goals/changes to the way things are and make them commit to them. If they won't do that, walk. As others say, with decent equipment and business sense, you will be an asset to plenty of bands (I'm assuming that you can play a bit, too, of course). It may be tough to be without something in the short term, but you'll be glad you did it later. Bon chance.

Whenever I play through 15s, I realise that, whilst modern, compact cabs have a lot going for them - clarity, punch, tonal accuracy, etc - there is something missing. Warmth, heft, feeling the sound, call it what you will, it is very satisfying. I used to run a Bassman 135 and later a Trace AH350 through a 2x15 (with original rubbish Fender speakers replaced by Peavey Black Widows) and you could just lean back on the sound and luxuriate in it. Lovely. I keep thinking I should try a 15 to augment my PJB cabs to give me the best of both worlds.

Too many variables - distance, size of band required, how large a PA, lights needed, duration, catering provided, etc, etc.. We're quite cheap on a Tuesday afternoon, but rather dearer on Saturday night.

It mostly is (pop music, that is), but we love it because it's part of our lives/growing up. No such thing as a subjective opinion, fortunately.

Bitsa = kit car

Dacia Sandero, surely (the Harley Benton, not the car pic')?