The Last Bass Outpost

but I'd like to hear what else that bass can do

Here's something... Still very bright and almost all with a pick, but at least he solos the individual pickups about 10 minutes in... with a very weird attempt at fingerstyle played right on the bridge after that ... and then finally turns the tone down around 12 minutes.

I recently picked up a UniVox Mosrite copy , a HiFlier. And it’s a lot better than I originally expected , aside from one slippy tuner. It sounds really good. But I suppose I’m guilty of playing cheap basses through really nice amps.

I love that approach. Cheap instruments through nice amps is a great way to get cool sounds!

I used to own a Univox Moserite short-scale copy too. It was a great little bass, but I bought it with a specific hacky modification in mind...
I put a cheap guitar bridge and slotted a nut for 6 strings and hacked some guitar tuners onto the headstock, dropped a P90 copy on sale into the bridge pickup, and basically turned it into a baritone (though I strung it and tuned it differently than most).
This was in the 90s when baritone guitars barely existed, and a Fender Bass VI was out of my budget. The Univox cost me maybe $300 USD.
I did a terrible job, but I got a lot of mileage out of that instrument.

How do all the strat-like guitars exist?

Sure, there are minor differences - to me, akin to the visual differences between a Gibson flying V and a Dean V ....
but in my eyes, a PRS Silver Sky or a Suhr Classic S just read as "It's a strat"

Same for innumerable teles, P-basses, J-basses...

Seems like Fender has as much ground as Gibson to go after those, if they are so inclined.

No accounting for taste... I would rather listen to a thousand Slayer parodies than a single minute of anything by (or imitating) the Doors ... your mileage may vary

I have no issues with people doing gigs as long as they like as long as they're having fun doing it and the audience appreciates what they see/hear. Some of Picasso's best work was done shortly before his death - music isn't sports. And if you can't hit the high notes anymore, change the key, so what.

The way The Who's music has changed since first Moon and then Entwistle died, sometimes makes me wonder to how committed Townshend and Daltrey were to having such a rambunctious rhythm section in the first place. My impression is they had outgrown it and wanted everything 'neater'  - both Daltrey's and Townshend's solo albums have run of the mill, subdued rhythm sections.

I think you're right. We see how that played out. Townshend did a lot of damning-with-faint-praise of his bandmates. He was the driving force behind hiring Kenney Jones, who was great in the Faces but never quite fit in playing the old material live. If Roger can be believed, he thought Moon was a genius and hated Kenney Jones, but was overruled by Townshend.
Jones did a good (if not very fiery) job in the studio on the newer-style material, which I quite like some of but disappointed a lot of fans. I think Townshend was tired of the relentless cymbal-bashing and wanted someone steady. And while he expressed some admiration for Entwistle's sonic innovations, he possibly was tired of all that racket from stage right too.

I think the blue is gorgeous.  Can't see the repair you are talking about either.
I am curious what it sounds like in the different settings!

I miss George.  One of my favorites:

it's as futile as posting something from The Sparks, you guys don't "get" them either.

I do! I always liked the few songs I'd heard, and then I watched the Sparks Brothers movie - it's fantastic, highly recommend.