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What does it mean to have "Pro gear"?

"Pro gear" means nothing to me. I had the good fortune to play in a band with a cat named Sam. Dude showed up with a beater Squier Strat and a little Boss Katana amp. Literally about $300 worth of gear. And he blew the crowd away every place we played. This was an outlaw country outfit but Sam could play all styles expertly. Any gear snob notions I had went out the window.

Sam:

Sam's got the jams!
 
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To me and most of the acts I’ve played with it means “gear that sounds good to both the bassist and the sound of the band in whole, looks the part within the city text of music and image we currently have and is reliable to where we don’t have to worry about canceling shows because a band member’s gear goes down and they can’t find a replacement.”

For a certain contingent of hiring bands and artists it seems to mean “only Fender basses and Ampeg or GK amps need apply here”.
 
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I used to gig an $80 dollar used Squire through a beat up tech21 fly rig straight out to house. I started playing a Sadowsky after that and though I noticed and loved it, I’m not sure any of my employers did or at least they never said anything.

I’m just echoing so many previous posts, but to me as long as it sounds like a bass and doesn’t short out it’s pro.
 
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I see this phrase a lot in "bassist wanted" ads, and I know what I think that means, but I'm curious how others interpret it.

What is proffesional gear to you?

Three things:
  • Reliable
  • Consistent
  • Prepared
For me, my goal when gigging is that I can be set up with minimal fuss and minimal problems. My gear isn't the most expensive, and I don't have a lot of stuff with a heavy pedigree, but what I do use is reliable and consistent. Most of this comes down to preparation. I trust what I have and I specifically buy gear that will simplify my loadout or avoid stupid problems. If I have to be tweaking during a performance, then I've done something wrong.

Basically, "professional gear" just comes down to having your poopie together so that you (and your bandmates) can focus on the performance, not the gear. That's what's important.
 
I don't give a crap what is pro or not in one's opinion. I play what i play. If someone doesn't like, it's not my problem.

And it's not even about the gear being pro or not, but how the gear looks. I've definetily got some poopie about how my gear looks. I bet one of my band members got an allergic reaction of my candy apple red fiver.

But like i said... I don't give a crap. It that really is a big problem for someone, then i probably don't even want to play with them.
 
To me, «pro gear» means gear with the features and quality for the job in hand. Exactly what that is will vary quite a lot, but doesn’t necessarily mean the most expensive stuff.

I got a reality check when I was a youngster studying to be a designer in the 1980’s. My class was on a study trip to the Letraset studios in London (for those too young to remember, Letraset produced transfer sheets of letters in different fonts, and before computers were common it was the only way to get quality type without expensive typesetting). The original letters for a sheet were cut out singly, by hand, from a 10x10cm sheet of red plastic film, and I watched the Type Director cut out one letter, a lovely swirly script, with…a razor blade taped to a battered old wooden ruler.

If it produces the desired result consistently and reliably over time, then it’s pro enough. No need to overthink it.
 
It that really is a big problem for someone, then i probably don't even want to play with them.
I would be put off answering it, thinking they would say 'Nah, not professional enough' to whatever gear I had.
Trust me, if you answered an ad that said that, whatever you bring would be better than what they are expecting. Because people who say that in ads are young and inexperienced and probably have never gigged.

Not that there's anything wrong with that per se, we were all there once. But I don't want to be there again.