Welcome !!

If you can find one, an early 1970s Fender Bassman head with matching 2x12 cab would really get you going in a good way, as it's got a bass and normal channel both completely independent of one another, the head is hand wired, which means it can be serviced should something go wrong, and you can always go from there if you want to add things like effects, etc... but those old school Fenders from the early 70s to me are the best !!

Regarding the SVT, I got a rectangular one that's also early 1970s - it does not tilt back like the more modern ones, and I have not used it since I cooked my early 1970s Ampeg V-4 guitar head [which worked very well for electric bass, but...] anyhow - I like my 2 Hartke 4x10s even better, one cab is an original Guild Hartke from the 1980s, the other is newer from the early 1990s.
Amps - either 2 GK RB-400s from the late 1980s or a newer [1993] GK RB-800

I have a much bigger rig, but my back won't allow me to use it - it's in storage in the garage these days - two Ampeg SVT-400TH's in a single rack, [those were very cheap not that long ago and sound tremendous !!] into two Trace Elliot 1x15 cabs, this was/is a very clean dynamic sounding system but again, you need a roadie unless your back is in good shape to set this stack up.

To me, there's nothing like simplicity... and my days of agonizing over pick up styles is long over.

Sometimes it's nice when the choice is made for you, as in the case with an 8 string Railboard I've had on order for quite sometime, an EMG pick up was presented to me as an option and I jumped right on that !!

Good luck in your Stick adventures, there's a whole ton of great people here who will bend over backwards in anyway they can to help you out.

Cheers !!

First post here too, and I too also just ordered my first Stick: rosewood, white glitter dot inlays, Stickup, matched reciprocal tuning.

I've wanted (perhaps *needed*) one for so long. I've played bass and guitar for decades (primarily a bass player) and I've done a fair bit of tapping on bass so it won't be an entirely new experience.

I first became aware of this instrument waaaay back when before I started playing anything really, and noticed Tony Levin being credited with playing something enigmatically called the "Stick" on various albums and wondering just what the heck that was. But as I started playing I eventually found out what it actually was and it's been kind of whispering and calling to me for many years.

I first became aware of this instrument waaaay back when before I started playing anything really, and noticed Tony Levin being credited with playing something enigmatically called the "Stick" on various albums and wondering just what the heck that was. But as I started playing I eventually found out what it actually was and it's been kind of whispering and calling to me for many years.

Hey Big George, if I ever come thru CT, I'm looking you up and both of us with bad backs are pulling ALL you amps out and we're doing Knitting Factory Stick Bass Doom

Man, that sounds great !!
We just gotta get this virus thing under control as my main gig is helping my elderly parents out and me getting sick is not an option, but yeah... it would be interesting to see what actually still works since most of my amps are 1970s and 80s era.

It seems that Tony Levin/King Crimson seem to be the "gateway drug" for many of us into stick-land (I'm also awaiting my first stick - a blue Railboard).

Hey, I'm a Steve S from Detroit with a blue Railboard! And I'm Stickist Steve #9, and that was 5 year ago or more, so that must mean we're getting at peak Stickist Steve! There's already three of us in the Detroit metro area: Steve Balogh, Steve Osburn, and some Steve Sink guy.

But now there'll be two Detroit Steves with a blue Railboard. Sweeeeeet.