Skybone

Maybe a set of vintage flavoured P/J pickups in the Yamaha would be an option? IIRC, the Yamaha's pickups have Ceramic magnets, which tend to sound a bit "colder" than pickups with Alnico magnets. You could spend a fair bit on some hand-wound pickups, or a more reasonable amount for the "known" manufacturer's (Seymour Duncan, DiMarzio, Fender, etc.). Depends on how much you're willing to spend I suppose. Still cheaper than buying a new bass. Keep the old pickups, and swap them back in if you ever decide to sell, then sell the pickups separately.

I would expect that after 6 years, the filter would deteriorate. You should be able to get new filters though. Or just retire them, and get some new ones made.

One of my favourite albums features very prominent basslines... Hawkwind: Space Ritual Lord of Light is a particular highlight.

Really like the shape & build of the Viking, just wish they'd make a passive version. Would like to find a 4 string one to try it out.

Just like Wossie being the best TV Chat Show Host ever...

I would argue that you need to figure out your pedals & pedal order before building a pedal board. Are you going to be using a power supply, or batteries? Where do you place the PSU? Do you want the board to have a slope? Will the PSU connectors reach the pedals? Will you be adding other pedals to your "essential" pedals? What sort of patch leads are you using? How big are your feet, this could determine the space you need between each pedal? How big are your pedals? Will your board have a "lip" on the base, or will the base be flat? Is it worthwhile looking at a commercially available alternative? Etc. I had one custom built for my guitar rig years back, it was 600 x 300mm, I was running 5 pedals from a 5 output PSU. It was big and heavy, but it was sturdy and didn't move on the stage. Before that I used an EHX Pedal Bag, which was actually seriously good (should have kept it!).

Yup, preferably "Try before you buy", but the last few basses I've bought have been unseen off of t'interweb, so don't listen to me. Thankfully, all but 1 were great.

Or..... A reasonably priced amp (Ashdown 300 2x10 combo, for example), and an amp modeling preamp.

The 6550 is an 8 pin base power valve, similar (but not the same as) an EL34.

In reality, it's between A & C. IMO, B is a non-starter, as if no one knows you at that venue, headlining isn't really going to draw too many people in. You would hope it would, but in reality, unless it's a Friday or Saturday, not many people will be out. That leaves A or C. A is the "easy option". You could theoretically do this any time if it's "local", you're known to the venue, and you know you can pull a decent crowd. Excellent stuff, you can use these gigs to build your confidence as a band, and develop stage craft, whilst having the advantage of being in a venue you like near home. However, C is the gig that will build a fanbase outside your area. You know the headline band, so it could be possible that, if they are local to you, both bands can share a van, reducing costs, as well as playing a short set to a crowd who aren't familiar with your band. If you have any merch/demo's/download or website info cards etc., take them along, you'll get some people interested, and develop a fan base outside your area.

I've had a few Love Rock guitars in the past (all MIJ though), and they were excellent, so it's great to see an LR bass.

An old drummer I worked with had a JayDee Flying V, that I set up for him. Gorgeous guitar, seriously well made, and once it was cleaned up and set up, it played and sounded brilliant. Congrats on the new T'bird, if it's anywhere near the V, it'll be ace.

The Rumble 500 combo will be plenty (unless the guitarists insist on bringing their 100w stacks along, and playing them at full volume!). Even something like an Ashdown ABM/MAG 300 will be plenty. But if you're happy with the Rumble 100, then go with the 500, and add the cab at a later date as and when you need it. Definitely check out the second hand market though. You can get some pretty good deals on gear.

Personal favourite of mine is the EHX Small Clone (steel box version) always coupled with a Small Stone (also the steel box version). Uses? Early 80's Alternative Rock/Goth (when the Roland JC120 was the amp to go for!)

Another "somewhere in the middle". Tools, yes. Treasured, yes. Collected? Ish. Been through a good number of basses over the years, but for one reason or another, I've had my main bass for a good 5 years now, and no intention to move it anywhere. In fact, I liked it so much, I bought another one. Then another one! My setup has evolved over the last few years, but I must say that I'm happy where it's at just now. The latest addition was only out of necessity (an Ashdown combo). I do think actually just using the one bass over the last few years has actually made me concentrate more on my playing than on the equipment itself. OK, more than one bass, but they're the same make & model bass. ;) :D

Looks like @Pea Turgh's beaten me to the Kay P bass, in sunburst, though the neck on mine wasn't ply, but it did weigh an absolute ton. I just bought the bass, as I couldn't afford an amp at the time. A few months later, I managed to scrape together enough money to get a Marshall Bass 15. Again, not brilliant, but good enough.

Basically, yes. The 6L6 is capable of producing a more powerful signal than the EL84. There's a lot of technical knowledge required for a better answer than I can give, but basically, a 6L6 is a higher spec valve than an EL84. Possibly why the CTM100/300 uses KT88's.

I remember buying the "special edition" version of Aenima (and then selling it on!?), got the "special edition" copies of Lateralus & 10,000 Days on CD. The artwork is great, but I'm not so much of a fan of the music or the artwork, that I'd spend £80 on gadgets to watch some special effects / video footage etc. as well as a CD & a card to download the songs plus the "download only" songs. Anyway, Killing Joke are confirmed as the support for the US tour. That would be one hell of a gig to see!

Listened to it at work yesterday, and it's rather good. Definitely need to listen to it again a few more times. However... I'm still not going to spend £80 on the "special edition" CD, with all the gubbins that comes with it, how about releasing a "normal" CD as well? I suppose I'll just have to stump up for the download instead.

And isn't it Matt Bellamy's Dad on guitar?

Got an HA4000 here gathering dust.

The Mono GS1 is rather good, and as far as I'm aware, Amazon are doing them at the best price at £35.34. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mono-Cases-Large-Guitar-Strap/dp/B004GR9MOI/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=mono+gs1+long&qid=1567098392&s=gateway&sr=8-1 No leather in that, 3" wide, and pretty darned good.

Yup, I did toy with the idea of going FRFR, but all the rigs that were being recommended here were out of my price range, and the ones I could afford were being slated for their lack of bass response. The solution IMO, was to get a reasonably priced combo with an Effects Loop (preferably on the front panel) and bypass the preamp. Yes, it could potentially colour the sound, running into the combo speakers, but they can certainly handle everything that I throw at them, the amp itself is very capable & proven, and transparent enough to give me the sounds I want out of the combo. Cost effective and sonically effective. For recording, I simply get the engineer to plug into the xlr outs on the HD, job done. Had an odd gig experience where the house engineer took the output from the HD into his DI, then into the amp, where he could just have DI'd from the HD, but I really couldn't be bothered arguing with him, as he obviously wasn't listening.

Don't know how you mean by "preferred way to use Amp Modelling". I assume you mean what do you use & where you plug in to. I use a HD500x, and plug it in to the Effects Return of my Ashdown. Maybe not the "right" way to use it, but it works for me.

I put my old strings in the recycling, but there again, I use stainless steel's, so the only different metal in there would be the ball ends (brass?). I'd assume that nickel plated strings should be OK too, as they're still steel. Guess it might be different for coated strings (like Elixir's for example), and phosphor bronze acoustic strings.