Killerfridge

Hard pass. Unless the backing track is doing something that requires doubling, I would ask to remove the bass track or I'm not doing it

It's at the top of your budget and doesn't have humbuckers, but I think it would serve your purposes well: https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/508040-xotic-xj-1t-5-sonic-blue-price-drop-£2000/

I am also keen to get an answer on this one. I'm always concerned about the original power supply being the point of failure

I'm glad you got it, the rapid price descent on it got my wallet worried!

Exactly. Stuff designed for lowest-common-denominator listening sells well because that's what it's designed for. Excellent independent music exists and is more varied than ever, and finding it hard never been easier.

With mine, I have one simple "basic good sound" patch that I always start with. This is what I use when I'm practicing or just using it as an interface for recording. This stops me spending hours tweaking when I should be working on something else. The tweaking for me comes when I have a function/wedding set list to get together. For instance, we were asked for Pink Pony Club on a set, and I was able to get pretty close to the original bass synth sound with some funky routing. That just sits on a preset now for whenever I need it, without having to worry about adding/removing pedals or doing some sort of tap dance to get everything in place

If people keep calling you a Nazi, maybe it's time for some introspection...

People seem to forget that USA Spector are a proper boutique, much like F bass, Ken Smith, or Fodera. They've just managed to capitalize on their success much better

Sorry, my dry humour once again appears to have been too dry

That's just a feature of all 5 string MusicMans (MusicMen?). A G string you have to hold on to for dear life to stop it slipping off the frets!

I'm just trying to read it without having a stroke

Every now and again I miss my old Bongo, but I use the Spector so much more than I ever used the Bongo!