Japhet

Used to do quite a few. Glad I don't any more. For me the 'cons' outweigh the 'pros'. Money is good but there can be loads of travelling, hanging around for hours horrible music to play. You can often be expected to be a human juke box and people often have no idea that you have to know/learn a song before you can play it. Did a wedding once which turned out to be for travellers which was an absolute nightmare.

Fender all day long. I'd also go for something loud enough to gig properly with or you'll be losing more money when you need to change up than the upgrade would cost you now (if that makes sense).

I bought one a while back as a back up to my Tecamp head. I've gigged it quite a bit because I love it, but also love the Tecamp. Sounds great through Tecamp cabs as well.

I'm so cool I don't even know I'm cool, and neither does anyone else.

I've always thought of covers as interpretations of other people's songs. I don't try to replicate what somebody else has done and don't listen to songs much before we try them out. I play what I think fits and then have a proper listen to the original. Guitarist does the same and we sometimes prefer what we have come up with. Some bits have t be spot on of course. I once played in a band where the guitarist (who was a complete control freak) once said to me "The bass part doesn't go like that" to which I replied " It f***ing does when I'm playing it". I think tribute bands need to be as close as possible to the original, but covers? Would be bored stupid trying to get everything note for note.

I used to have a Peavey Mk VI head which would run 2 ohms. Built like a tank and as reliable as gravity. For £400 there won't be much to choose from though.

Could check out some lesser known stuff too. Try The Buddaheads (some great stuff) and The Boneshakers who play blues with a touch of funk.

Check out Paul Rodgers - Muddy Water Blues. There's some quite heavy interpretations of some classic blues numbers on there.

Probably quite a bit of snobbery involved I'd say. The vast majority of punters wouldn't notice the difference at all - in fact most of them hardly know what the bass does. Bass players however like to have nice gear that they like the sound of which is absolutely fine.

I'd check out Government Mule if you don't know them or Warren Haynes solo stuff. You might like the Tedeschi Trucks band also.

2 band for me. Everything flat out and roll off a bit of treble.

Great band. Country Soul Blues Rock with more than a hint of New Orleans Funk Boogie. Richie Hayward was a beast.

If you mess up, tell people you play a lot of jazz.

Turn the gain down and the master up. If you're already running the master flat out it must be a pretty loud band.

I doubt very much you'd want to be anywhere near that set up if it was running loud enough to damage it.

Have a look in the For Sale section. There's an EBS Session 60 in there that fits your budget and I would think it fits your requirements. With the auxiliary input you can play music from an external source and jam along on bass which is great if you're starting out. I have no connection to the seller by the way.

As said before, no pedal will compensate for dodgy technique. Slap is as much about muting as it is about thumping and popping the strings. Also try practicing some rudimentary drum patterns like paradiddles (use your hands to tap on your legs) to get the left and right hands working alternately.

Fire him. Doesn't sound like it would be hard.

Miss my old SMX.

That's a great looking cab.

Guessed the whole lot using clichéd answers and got 5. Very disappointed - was hoping for 0.

Had a Diago patch cable kit off them a few weeks back. Best price I could get and got it straight away.

Reliced - a perfectly good instrument that has been left in the outside lane of the M25 for a couple of days to make it appear that it, and its' handler, have got plenty of miles on the clock.