Happy Jack

I thought about writing something witty, but that shirt/kilt combo has left me speechless. Next up, MacDaddy in a onesie ...

For me, the answer to the actual question being asked is, it depends on the band. In a 4/5-piece covers band with either two guitars or guitar + keys I prefer to stay well away from that sonic territory. I use flats to supply the underpinning for the band. In a 3-piece rock'n'roll outfit I need to be period-correct so it's flats all the way. In a 3-piece covers band where there's a lot of sonic territory to be filled I find that flats just don't cut it, so I use a Rickenbacker 5-string with rounds. I've heard plenty of bands over the years solve that last conundrum (sonic territory to be filled) by just cranking the amps up to 11 and/or adding loads of FX but I have no interest in being in that sort of band.

And here's proof of exactly that ... if proof were ever actually needed. My gig on Saturday night, a section of the set where the DB isn't even being played but it's still front & centre, making a statement.

IIRC we were at that gig. Is that one of @Silvia Bluejay's videos?

It's never too late to grow up, Si. As a double bassist (and yes, I know you have an EUB) my main task at any moment is to be the coolest guy on stage. If I was 19 and in great shape then I suppose I could do all sorts of tricks. If I had learned to do all those tricks when I was 19 then maybe I could still do them today (I'm looking at you, @PaulKing). But seeing as neither of those apply, I just concentrate on pretending that I know what I'm doing while looking cool - though still wondering why I don't look as cool as @tayste_2000 when he plays.

Troo dat, and this would include the legendary "You'll never get that under your chin".

Solutions exist.

I recently spent the best part of a year trying to recruit a competent bass player for my soul band. I play keys in that band, so I can't do the job myself. Not looking for Jamerson. Not even Duck Dunn. Just someone who would play the iconic basslines we all grew up listening to. Not in an obscure, difficult-to-reach part of the country. Not even somewhere just outside Birmingham, like the OP. I'm talking NW London. I was genuinely astonished at the parade of flakes and fantasists who passed through my rehearsal space. I have absolutely no delusions about my own playing ability and I wouldn't even guess that I'm "above average", but I could play all of those iconic basslines way better than any of these people and I'm talking a lot of them. There are bands out there that need a competent, reliable, non-showy bassist. The trick is to find them. The 'obvious' routes like Join My Band, Gumtree and Facebook all come with so many drawbacks that I wonder why I bother. As others have already pointed out, the trick seems to be to get yourself out there, get yourself known, entice someone to invite you to join their band. Go looking for all the well-run jam sessions within driving distance and start attending them regularly. Turning up once is no answer - you need to become one of the regulars, there every week, showing what you can do, available for informal chats. Alternatively you can take the DEEP DIVE and try starting your own band. You want rabbit holes, I'll give you rabbit holes ...

I should prolly point out that "the junkyard" is my home studio/rehearsal space ... The Final Junkyard.

I have played a number of Zeller DBs (both 3/4 and 4/4) and found them all to be great-sounding and completely consistent. A decent pre-owned model would be easily within your price range. I'm sure the Stentors are great, too, but I've not owned one so can't comment.

I'm beginning to think that it's any venue with "White" in it. The worst gigs I've played were at The White Hart, The White Bear, and The White Swan. If Trump wins again and wants to book me, I'm not answering my phone ...

Most of the stuff I play is dance music; most of what isn't dance music is singalong stuff. For me a really good gig is one where everything goes well technically and musically, AND where there's an enthusiastic audience who 'get' what we're doing and join in. Doesn't have to be a crowd of thousands - I've played gigs that made me very happy in pubs that were no larger than the 1930s semi I live in. Conversely, dull or ropey involves small audiences of ageing punters who have forgotten why they even bother to go out any more, or Club Members sitting lined up on the banquette seating with their arms folded and a grim "Entertain Me" expression on their faces, or a mass brawl breaking out on the dancefloor, or a bunch of pikeys invading the stage so that they can sing inappropriate songs about how everybody wishes they were back in wherever (including the band). The really memorable gigs tend to be either exotic and interesting venues (e.g. playing a national car show with the stage alongside an active airport runway) or utter disasters (e.g. playing to a large, completely empty field during a rainstorm of Biblical proportions).

Can't you use the existing white p/g as the template?

Since Covid I've averaged 80/90 gigs a year, playing in two/three main bands plus various side projects and dep gigs. As others have mentioned, there's been a lot of venue closure and gig cancellation this year and I'm currently standing at 78 for 2024. Gigging is what I do. It's my main hobby, activity and interest. It's also a shared passion with my wonderful wife, @Silvia Bluejay I entirely agree about preferring quality gigs to mere quantity, but that reminds me of something I first heard when I joined an advertising agency in the mid-70s: "We know that half the money we spend on advertising is wasted. We just don't know which half." If I knew in advance which gigs were going to be a triumph and which a waste of time & energy then I'd be a very happy bunny. Sadly, my crystal ball is no better than anyone else's. In order to play a dozen truly wonderful, memorable gigs each year, I accept that I'll also have to play 70 dull or ropey gigs. I'd like to improve those odds, but for the moment I'll take what I can get.

Some very expensive hi-end brands being recommended here (above) and - while I'm sure they're all absolute killer devices - I'm competely unconvinced that they're the best route forward. All rechargeable batteries will fade away and (eventually) die, so spending £458 on that Shure outfit seems like an awful lot of money for something that you'll be chucking in a skip sometime around 2027. If you've not used wireless before then I'd strongly suggest you experiment first with the really cheap stuff (Joyo, Lekato, etc.) which my reasonably extensive experience suggests is at least 90% as good as the top-end stuff whilst costing 90% less. I started out with https://www.gak.co.uk/en/xvive-xu2-wireless-instrument-system-black When the batteries started to fade, I experimented with https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/305814068759 and with https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/186311571177 Following a recommendation from @stewblack I also bought https://www.amazon.co.uk/JOYO-Wireless-Transmitter-Receiver-Instruments/dp/B0CRKS96NS And my experience? They all work. They work just fine, and if there's any difference between the performance of the Joyo and the XVive systems then I've never been able to spot it. I play pubs and clubs, beer gardens and festival stages. I use passive and active basses, 4-string and 5-string. The only basses I own that have any trouble with wireless systems are double basses - all of them - and I don't understand why. It seems to make no difference whether I'm using piezo or magnetic pickups, full-sized DBs or my Kolstein Busetto, even whether the bass is plywood or aluminium. The strength of the string vibration seems occasionally to overpower the wireless signal producing a juddering sound that reminds me of the ABS cutting in when doing an emergency stop. Incidentally, the combined cost of ALL FOUR units referenced above was roughly HALF the cost of a single Shure GLXD16. I love Shure kit and I own a fair amount of it, but £458 for a wireless system? Your 'avin' a giraffe.

I'm guessing it comes with a free pool table.

Can't comment on the workmanship, but alarmed by the price! You can buy a helluva lot of gear for >£3k and you can get a very decent DB for rockabilly for less than a third of that price. 7.5-8.5Kg is deffo lightweight and I like that (a typical 3/4 plywood DB will likely be around 10Kg) but whether a 2Kg reduction warrants such a premium on the price is pretty debatable. The Thomann listing stating "Rockabilly string action - not suitable for jazz and classical music" is an immediate red flag, too. The fact that they felt it necessary to put that implies that people have bought these basses for rockabilly and other uses and been disappointed. Personally, I'm not convinced that there is such a thing as a pre-determined rockabilly action. I play in a similar band to yours using one of four DBs (or similar - one is a KK BabyBass), each with a different action, different strings, different pickups. I'd be hard put to tell you which of mine has a "rockabilly action". IME playing in a rock'n'roll outfit makes it unlikely that your bass will be cosseted and kept wrapped up in tissue paper. Buying a brand new DB and taking that instant depreciation hit seems quite unnecessary, which is why I've never yet bought a brand new DB. I'd second both @Burns-bass and @Beedster ... stick with plywood and buy pre-loved. If you really need to blow the rest of the dosh in a DB-related sort of way, then there are appropriate rabbit holes for you to fall into ... specialist DB amplification and selecting gut strings both spring to mind.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/296728986785?_skw=hagstrom+h8&itmmeta=01J9RQ4BT2SYAP9P9MTEAMY0TC&hash=item45166d04a1:g:DJAAAOSw4vhm~qB~&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA0HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKkSsm2d1shKfuwuOrIOriLfkDc9QWLgmJUve7y6DC32CZz5Tf0NMcTYai96Z4W8tNiFn2g1%2F9mHBoghAcI7tem5yUntGc8AvGgd8TXu4%2BUbLQAgeyXEUW86p1dvPTA3F2nD%2B25mYIOsyxSlFMKcD0xXw6Zl78y9NiPeL96EkhizpDQWBcCZ19kdM3onRcLNvt2oowEpAawvdSEOgzWN30Wcu048Wk%2BGXpL2EZPim7PYXPveI5ezsZpyI9kD1PbBmSw%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR5C9kZfOZA

Sadly, you have made a tyro's mistake and completely forgotten to mention your budget. You just know that this will come back to bite you in the bum. 🙄 @Silvia Bluejay and I bought a pristine pair of pre-loved HK-Audio PR:O 12 passive tops a year ago, and they've been a revelation. https://www.thomann.co.uk/hk_audio_premium_pro_12.htm You'd probably do just fine with a single cab. If 18Kg is more than you fancy putting on a pole (I'm 67 and I do two at every gig; no I don't lift weights) then at just 13Kg there's https://www.thomann.co.uk/hk_audio_premium_pro_10_x.htm If you like your powered mixer and it still works, why change it?

We routinely play 2x45 plus 1x60, which seems to be rather more than the bunch of skivers majority of posters (above) do, but before anyone feels sorry for me you'd best wait to hear from @Bluewine about the hours played by American bar bands ...