Good evening - noob here.

First post. Just ordered my first Stick. Bamboo with turquoise linear inlays, PASV4 (though mentally still fight over the sound of the Stickup) and the midi on the melody. Thanks to all the comments that I have stalked over the past few days to weigh options. Now for the 6-8 month wait. Played guitar and bass for so many years, one would thing that I would be better than I am... can’t wait to begin a new journey. If anyone has a favorite pedal or amp/sound system recommendation to use, I would love to hear it. Thanks in advance.

Well big congrats. Our Sticks might be siblings as I too just ordered a new Bamboo 10-string (w/ Stickup, black open tuners and Blue polypearl linears).

This is not my first Stick, but my 3rd in 25 years. But it is the first I've ever custom ordered.

Amp? Everyone on here will have a completely different answer. Mine: I've been a sucker for acoustic guitar amps. Especially the Fishman Loudbox series. Although I'm thinking of exploring different amplification in the near future.

All the best on your journey. You'll love it!

I'm on my second Grand with a Pasv4. Also a bamboo with linear turquoise markers. I love the Pasv4. I had another one - a paduak with pearl dots and a Pasv4 which I wish I'd kept. I have another bamboo Grand - identical in every detail to my other one but it has a Stickup. The Stickup has the quintessential Stick tone and is quite versatile in spite of it's simplicity. The Pasv4 has a big bold sound and a bit more twang to my ear and is more tweakable. My favorite 2 stock Stick pickups. Not necessarily in any particular order. I'm glad I have both.

Congratulations on your new axe Mr. Death! - Spoken in Monty Python voice.

Awesome news about ordering a new stick. I just got mine a few short months ago. I use a fishman loudbox like the one Brian has. It’s his videos that got me looking at them. I also have a QSC K12.2 which I use as a piano amp now. I’ll use it on stick gigs when I need more sound. I’m curious what Brian gets next.

Bamboo is a great "wood" Stick choice and stays in tune forever - very stable. Waiting is the same no matter WHAT Stick you order. But it's a STICK. So tell all your envious musician friends and gloat...
I use a PODX3 (ancient technology) thru headphones, near-field monitors, or JBLEON515's (WHICH I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND). If I ever need to do a live gig again I might look into a back-line-type bass combo, then again, might just check out IEM's, what Tony Levin & Marcus Reuter were using when I saw them BEFORE the plague.
Lately I've been really interested in hearing what my 12-string DBR would sound like thru an SVT w/ 8x10's. Although I haven't seen one in real-life in a music store in a LONG time...

Wow. Thanks Rob. I plan to keep the Fishman as I still love it. Especially its portability. But recently during recording I have decided it would be better to have some kind of amplification that separates the bass and melody for better recording control. That, and possibly having "bigger" tone, which may come from a speaker/horn larger than the Fishman Loudbox Artist model.

I can't stand the thought of hauling around more/bigger gear. But the tone may be worth it for recording and/or performing. I'm thinking of exploring the Step-A-Bout pedal as a starting point. From there, I don't know yet. Suggestions appreciated.

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 !!

Thanks to all for the welcome, encouragement and advice. The more I dive into the research, the more it seems like a great instrument/palette to create from. Can’t wait to get started - but I’ll have to learn to play first. Thanks again.

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