In my gigging years in the 70s-90s I had crapola gear, cheap basses, cheaper Peavey amps.
Now I have started again, I have 3 Fender basses, 2 others, a Hartke amp, a MarkBass amp and two Hartke 210 cabs. Very happy with the quality of my gear now. I have no excuses now, if I sound like crap it means I AM crap hehe