chris_b

There's a logical solution. Never mind the audience, you have to protect your gear from the rest of the band, mostly the drummer!! Put your bass in the gig bag when you're not playing it. I haven't used my bass stand in over 10 years and my basses are in as good condition as the day I bought them.

I understand why people choose gear depending on their budget, but why would a more expensive (and presumably better sounding and playing) bass be "overkill" on any gig? If anything I'd consider an expensive bass just being played at home as "overkill". If you feel a bass is the best one you've found, why not play it. If I did any gig where I would be worried about my gear being damaged or stolen, I'd worry even more about my own safety!! IMO if you bought the bass you need to gig it.

Nope. I've not owned "cheap/beginner/average" gear since I was in my school band and buying gear from the money I made on Saturday and summer jobs. I believe we should always buy the best gear our budget can afford. IMO the price is the least important part of an instrument. Find a good bass, one that feels and sounds better than your current bass, then if the price is right, buy it. I play all my gigs, whatever the money, with a couple of rrp £2500 - £3000 basses and I don't see anything odd or wrong in doing that. If my budget fell off a cliff I'd carry on with a Sire, Squier etc, but there's no bragging points in cheap or expensive basses. You just need to play the best one for you. The one that makes you sound as good as you can be.

IMO there are three ways to achieve a good gig. So, in my order of importance: you have to put on a good and entertaining show for the audience, work well with the other musicians in the band and you have to feel you played well. You've got to put bums on seats and sell beer, you have to make the guys in the band happy you are there and for you as a player there is the satisfaction that you did a good job, and if it happens, the satisfaction that you played something new or better than last time.

There's always one!!!

I liked that.

Don't worry, it could have been worse. . . . . . . . 4 Gibson's or even (shudder) 4 Rics!!

A few years ago, in a moment of clarity, I sold all the basses I didn't play. Now I only own a Jazz and a Precision and I gig them both. Fortunately I learnt to play before the distraction of the Internet came along. Conversely, many years on, I'm better player thanks to the internet. I never got the idea of "all things in moderation". The internet gets in the way of work, DIY and sleep, but never bass playing.

My Ampeg SVT-3 PRO was a great sounding amp and bombproof. I played mine several times a week for nearly 9 years with no issues, and they can be had pretty cheaply these days.

I didn't mention what I used with my SC. . . . . . . an Aguilar AG700. Damn, I just did!!

If you want a Quilter BB800 I have one for sale. https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/393496-for-sale-quilter-bb800/

My 1997 US Lakland sounded excellent with the original Barts and had it's own sound. IMO this LH3 pickup system video is just marketing faff. Laklands have a great sound on their own, so I don't see why anyone would buy a bass as good as this and try to sound like a totally different bass?!?

Good advice.

The Overwater Expression and Hollowbody series might be worth a look.

I believe the Japanese market demands far higher build quality in their instruments, which is why Fender has different ranges for Japan and the rest of the world. Probably why Roger Sadowsky chose Japan to make his non US basses. Also Lakland had a Shoreline range for sale in Japan.

Excellent bass to start with. I played mine for nearly 14 years. Great sound and super easy to play. Lakland hit the ground running with those basses. Mine wasn't a light weight and, sadly, I had to sell it when my back started playing up.

A lot of people liked the F1, but it's the only amp I didn't like at all. I bought one after my LM2 and I found it thin and lacking warmth. After going through several other D class amps I found the replacement for my LM2, an Aguilar TH500.

Bootsy Collins, Rick James and Robert Wilson of the Gap Band.

Record producing, song writing, sometime lead singing bass player and all around superstar. . . . Willie Dixon

Jack Bruce, Felix Papparladi, Tim Bogert, Rick Danko, Graham Gouldman. . . . . . . . . . . and Paul McCartney.

As I recall, Rosetti were the bass you bought if you couldn't afford anything better.

If you have to EQ to that extreme and the amp still doesn't give you what you want. . . . . . IMO you need a different amp, one that better fits your sound.

My first opinion is that you shouldn't be "sold" on anything until you've tried it. Second opinion, Aguilar makes great bass gear. I have owned a TH500 for about 5 years. It's an excellent amp. These days I tend to use it with my Precision. I like the way they combine to nail the "old skool" sound, but they are more flexible and versatile. You can see videos of many of the modern online educators with a TH500 sitting in the background. I don't know the SL cabs, but a lot of good players use them, so they can't be bad. I had 2 GS112 cabs many years ago, which were OK but very heavy. These days I use Barefaced cabs. The only cab I'd go back to would be a Bergantino. They are something special. Watts are cheap so the extra headroom of the TH500 makes it a better choice for me. Also the TH350 has a reduced feature set, ie no send/return. For 90% of the gigs I do a 112 would not be enough. I usually use 2 112's even when 1 would do because 2 cabs always improves tone, volume and overall sound.

Don't put a price on it. . . . . buy the best.

The OP has obviously found a sound he likes (which is good), but has fallen into the trap many players do, deciding it's better than other gear. . . . . for everyone else. If the thread was about valves then an equal number would be jumping in and decrying non valve gear. People go all "black and white" when they start comparing the old days. Amps didn't sound better when they were all valve or SS. Some sounded good but many didn't and the cabs we had to use with those amps could reduce the quality of their sound significantly. Also, there are a lot of players with fantastic gear that sound very average and even just plain bad. So you've still got to make good gear sound good with your EQ choices and technical ability. I have a Thunderfunk which is SS and sounds magnificent, but I also have a D class Aguilar AG700 which is equally great sounding. The last valve amp I owned was a Mesa 400+. If you put all those amps in front of me I'd chose the Aguilar, because IMO it makes such a great sound. Better than the others? Don't know and don't care. It sounds good enough to be my main amp for the last 3 or so years.