"It's hard to believe those are now worth some serious coin and Gibson is making them again."

LOL Mike, the things we have sold that are worth big bucks now!

I have a pretty modern Music Man bass. I also have a P bass which I think is a 1967 Fender. I have no idea what it is worth.

I play through an older RB800 Gallien-Krueger amp through four tens (Gallien-Krueger) and one fifteen (Sun) or DI and use mostly Trillian for a sim.

All the bass guitars I own will sound different depending on what amps are used and, even more, what speaker cabinets. Tube bass amps have a different sound than transistor amps. I build tube bass amps for clients as a hobby. A 200-watt tube bass amp is pretty pricey.

The last studio experiences were generally DI. In times past we would have used a Neumann u47 in a pro studio if it were available to mic the bass cab. Any large diaphragm condenser mic would work. Every engineer has their own ideas, depending on the type of sound/music one wants.

Custom wound pickups are also common now as in the past.

One of my complaints about BIAB bass is the synchronization with the drums. It is not a studio engineer's job to tell the drummer and the bass player how to play or fix their mistakes for that matter.

This is one of the main issues with Real Tracks. There is a limit to what can be changed.

Most people nowadays want convenience and care little for quality. Why carry an Ampeg bass head and a ton of cabinets around when you can play through a Lap Top and an amp sim?

I don't think major studios have to worry about being run out of business by BIAB...lol I also don't think BIAB has to worry about competition from pro recording studios.

The days of taking three years and a couple of million dollars to produce "Exile On Main Street" are over, even for the Stones.

Most industry people would say a modern album costs 150K to a million.
People are not recording in Abbey Road Studios because they like the tea. There are and have been a few good high-quality albums produced in the last few years for 10K to 15K.

I have said it a thousand times. BIAB is a great product. Don't expect it to do something it was never designed to do.

Billy

“Amazing! I’ll be working with Jaco Pastorius, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, and Buddy Rich, and you’re telling me it’s not that great of a gig?
“Well…” Saint Peter, hesitated, “God’s got this girlfriend who thinks she can sing…”