u/Scabe

Help us name our band, suggestions are going into a double-elimination bracket

We’re a 5-piece band looking for more name ideas. Every decent suggestion will go into a double-elimination tournament, with the band voting through each matchup until one name survives.

We play a mix of funk, soul, R&B, groove-based rock/pop and jazz-funk, influenced by artists like Vulfpeck, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, RHCP, The Beatles, Bill Withers, Earth Wind & Fire, Tom Misch, Herbie Hancock and Khruangbin.

Some current ideas:

Notecluster, Figaro, Fugue State, Velour, Velvet Pulse, Velvet Club, Clusterfunk, Velvet Crumble, Fugue Dream, Club Fugue, Doze State, Fugue Fate, Fancy Juicy, Planet Janet, Daze State.

Some are serious, some definitely aren’t.

Looking for something memorable, easy to say, not too try-hard, and suited to a groovy/soulful band.

Drop your best ideas. Good ones enter the bracket.

I’m in Australia, so prices are AUD, not USD. Main shop I’m looking at is Better Music Canberra: https://www.bettermusic.com.au/

I play mostly clean / slightly edge-of-breakup Strat stuff: funk, pop, R&B, Hendrix/Frusciante-ish tones, and cover band rhythm guitar. I use pedals for gain, mainly a Tube Screamer-style pedal and Suhr Riot Mini, so I don’t need a high-gain amp.

Needs:
giggable
clean pedal platform
good with Strat volume knob
under about 18 kg / 40 lb
simple / plug-and-play
reliable long term
ideally around $2,000 AUD or less

I used to have a Vox AC15. It was loud enough for gigs and I was never maxed, but the weight annoyed me.
I used to worry about tube maintenance, but I’m less scared now. Weight and simplicity matter more.

Options I’m considering:

Used Roland JC-40, $900 AUD Marketplace
Simple, clean, reliable, pedal-friendly, no tubes. Worry is it might be too clean/stiff.

Fender Tone Master Deluxe Reverb, around $1,500 to $1,700 AUD
Light, Fender-ish, simple, no tubes. Worry is it’s digital and not cheap.

Fender Blues Junior IV, around $1,179 AUD
Tube, light-ish, common, serviceable. Worry is clean headroom.

Victory V40 head + Suhr Bella 1x12 cab
Used head around $1,399 AUD, cab around $1,050 AUD, so probably over budget unless I find a deal. Seems like the most future-proof setup, but I’ve never owned head/cab before.

Boss Katana 100 Gen 3, $698 AUD
Great value and practical, but it doesn’t really excite me. I think I want something more plug-and-play and less feature-heavy.

My brother thinks I should just get a combo because it’s simpler. I get that. But head/cab appeals because each piece is lighter and I could keep a good cab long term.