mcnach

If you fancy something different then the D'Addario, for sure. I have an ETB92 set (50-105) which I find very comfy (flexible, but not quite as much as similar gauge white nylons). I have a couple of sets of white nylons, the standard ones and the copper ones, that I would use on a bass for a while, then remove etc. I was concerned that the nylon coating would degrade but it seems to be pretty durable.

Yeah, I like simplicity too. The Wilkinsons have great reviews, not a bad choice. I would not go for a quarter pounder myself... they're a bit... not sure what to call them: best to try a bass with them first. They are aggressive alright but not in a good way, for me. I would rather choose a DiMarzio Model P instead. They're not expensive and they do aggressive very well, but not just that. They're very musical.

aha! well, that's a GREAT bass too... some argue that it's even better!

Yeah, if you're buying *right now* you're going to have to just order. The good news is that both of your choices are decent instruments

Indeed. It's like Fender calling the tremolo effect in their old amps "vibrato" and calling the vibrato system on their Stratocaster guitars a "tremolo"... in the end you have to follow the common nomenclature even if they're wrong.

Not in my experience. Passive pickups in every bass I have encountered with active EQ are just standard passive pickups that work just fine with a passive tone circuit, or nothing at all if that's what one wants. The preamps on these basses *can* boost the signal a lot if the controls are set to boost, but generally they're pretty reasonable and compatible with everything else (what would be the point of making something that only works with a few pickups). Some even contain internal trim pots to set the basic level. Active pickups, however, are extremely low output until they're amplified by their built-in preamp, which is why you may get some signal out of some active pickups, but too low to be usable. OP: The DP126 set (Model P and bridge of Model J set) are pretty hot pickups, but not crazy. I don't have a lot experience with adding preamps to these, I only added a John East MMSR preamp (designed for Stingrays) to a Model P in a Precision and it worked beautifully. I don't see a reason why the DP126 won't work on yours. The DP126 pickups are a bit thicker than most standard PJ pickups, which may or not be an issue on your bass. If it's got a thin body (I am not familiar with your TR200, I've only played SR series ones, which were a little thin) you may not have a lot of room to adjust the pickup heights. Still, all this is easy to try and if it doesn't work, all you've lost is some time, as it's fully reversible.

I think he is implying (and I agree) that the effort is not worth it. Too much hassle for a short lived result. Best just buy a fresh set. edit: I just saw the fingerboard. Maybe buy a new neck while we're at it

True, one step higher in gauge might be the thing, if you really want to keep that sound. Don't be afraid by the nominal gauge, they're still very very flexible.

On fretless I really like the D'Addario black nylons. They're darker than the Labella Whites that you're using and higher tension too, but pretty flexible and nice to play. When I want to go really 'woody', I choose Rotosound TruBass, they're the closest to an acoustic bass sound although as far as I recall their gauge was a little thicker than most and I had to slightly widen the E string slot on my bass. I would try the D'Addario first, they can do woody but also retain enough top end (not as much as the white nylons 'though, which are rounds covered with nylon).

Yes, those pickups are pretty thick. The good news is they sound even better once they're not so close to the strings. You can buy a small chisel for not much money and... with a little care, you can remove a bit of wood from the cavity. It's easier than it sounds, and I am far from being a DIY wizard: If I can do it, anybody can.

Most pickups have the smaller ears, so it's not surprising that most pickguards have the smaller ear cutouts too. But you can find them with the bigger ears if you look. AliExpress is a good source of all kinds of pickguard designs for not much money at all.

They're both decent instruments. I think the choice comes down to personal preference... ideally by trying them personally in shops until you find THE ONE. REgardless of what you go for, I would budget a little extra money (i.e.: don't spend it all on the bass yet) to take it to someone who can set it up nicely for you, ensure all frets are levelled and the nut is cut correctly etc, to ensure it plays the best it can play.

+1 It's something I noticed very early on about guitarists that could play really fast (I grew up during the 80s guitar hero period): their fingers seemed to glide and not move that much compared to mine, who, as a beginner, was flapping my fingers all over the place.

I'm not sure that hand size is much of an issue for this. I don't have big hands, but I prefer wide fingerboards. When I started on bass, after years playing guitar, I preferred thin necks and my two favourite basses were a Jazz and an Ibanez SR300. It didn't take long to get used to it, and I started preferring chunkier necks. Especially for 5 string basses: I like to keep the inter-string spacing the same so that I can switch back and forth more easily (but I can manage on thinner necks too, I just like bigger ones more).

Same here. I found some 5 string basses that were really nice, especially that Lakland 55-02, I really liked that one. The thing is I never found a situation where I absolutely needed a 5 string. Yeah, occasionally I wanted the additional lower note, but it was never a deal breaker that I couldn't do without. Yeah, some songs were a lot easier to play being able to move across strings... but not impossible to play otherwise. Then I find myself not using specific basses just because they are 4-string, despite the fact that they sounded better, to me. So no... eventually I went back to 4-strings, several times. Maybe one day I'll find a 5-string bass that I like better than anything else and that will be it, but until then I don't feel like choosing an instrument based on the number of strings.

Thank you, it was an interesting video (I do love my octavers) but it was hard to hear how clean or otherwise the LPF effect is. He seems to be using it mostly as an envelope filter 'wah' kind of effect.

I thought it had a LPF and you could set the controls so that it doesn't "quack"? I tried to find a definitive answer but failed. It does seem to be an excellent envelope filter 'though.

I did consider it, it does a few additional things that I would definitely enjoy, but I could not find examples of it being used purely as a LPF, but my understanding is that you can, can't you?

Well, it's happening. I'm getting an adjustable LPF, switchable ranges 44-490 or 175-1600 Hz (I could not decide which would be better for me, so... both just in case), gain control and fixed HPF at 30 Hz (I didn't really need that, but it won't hurt, it was part of the design and I'll just go with it). From SFX, UK-based business. It's essentally a Thumpinator HPF plus dual range adjustable LPF.

No, I haven't, good call! I have contacted a couple of other people and I *may* have found something really cool from a UK builder... watch this space. If that doesn't work out the Bright Onion guy is a good call, I completely forgot about him, thank you!

Oh that's pretty cool. Good to know, thank you!

Yeah, but that's the LPF *plus* HPF and the price he's asking is... pretty high. The LPF only pedal is $95 new, which even with shipping and duty etc comes out substantially lower than what that guy is asking for the LPF+HPF ($165 new from the builder vs £215 used from that guy above...).

Oh I see, I missed that. For the longest time I thought Sandberg were Swedish (???), not sure why, so I was wondering whether you had a similar scandinavian confusion.

Are you talking about Sandberg? I'm pretty sure they're German.

But I bet you'll hear it growl, so you can locate it that way