dannybuoy

Squier Classic Vibe all the way. 70s / Matt Freeman if you like maple, or 60s if you prefer rosewood (like myself)!

Both! Depending on the bass and/or the tune I'm playing, either one could be best for the job. If I had to choose one, it would be envelope filter.

The Truetone CS-7 looks the better of the two. If everything's 9V then it should run fine off a simple regular OneSpot... but digital pedals can add noise onto a daisy chain, so I would hit google to see if there are any noise issues with people running a G30 without isolated power.

On my Yamaha BB1025X, the bridge J pup is louder than the P, and combined together they sound glorious and full! Perhaps an Entwhistle neo pickup.. only £10 and from what I've heard, just about the loudest you can get? [url="http://www.entwistlepickups.com/pickup.php?puid=JBX"]http://www.entwistle...up.php?puid=JBX[/url] (EDIT: It appears the JBXN is the neo one and seems to no longer be made, not sure how the JBX compares) If not that, then the Seymour Duncan quarter pounder.

They have a fuzz, chorus and looper too it seems...

I'm building my first bitsa P-Bass at the moment Aidan, I am ok with electrics, adjusting the bridge and truss rod but that's about it. You're more than welcome to be let loose upon the nut and frets once I've completed it!

I thought the 410 had a horn and the 115 didn't? If so I would've thought the 115 would sound even muddier.

My Basic has a single MM pickup, is very light and sounds plenty warm (but it is wearing flats and plugged into an Orange Terror Bass!). If your pickup has the massive Delano / Musicman style pole pieces, perhaps a more traditional Precision pickup would help. But if you don't like the sound or the weight, perhaps it's time to move it on and just buy something else?

For octavers, you need to choose between analog and digital first and foremost. All the digital ones track prettying well, but most of them sound like a pure pitch shifted copy of your bass, and sometimes suffer from a noticeable delay between the wet and dry signal, as well as some artifacts that make them stick out as digital. Analog octavers usually track well as long as you stick to single notes and don't play too low. Their tones can vary from a smooth sine wave to a more synthy sounding square wave. But even the synthier sounding ones just sound like fat bass when put into a mix. For me it's analog all the way, they just sound fatter.

What kind of neck are you going for? I think they all have the vintage style truss rod access at the heel by the way, which is a bummer.

Does that amp have a headphone output? If the sound is fine through headphones, then at least you can narrow it down to the power section.

If increased signal quality is the most important thing to you then just install a preamp like a Creation Audio Redeemer, or run a short cable to a buffer box. You can probably buy guitar cables with a built in buffer at one end, never looked but would be surprised if nobody's ever made one before!

They did say it was analogue as guitarists weren't fans of using wireless gear that converted their signal to digital. I'm not sure how they can convert audio to an analogue light transmission and decode it losslessly, but it would certainly require power to do it. There was also a blue led lit on the jack plug. I don't think LEDs/LDRs would be able to respond quick enough to deal with signals in the 20kHz range?

Just watched it too.... So they want to convince people to replace their 'unreliable' copper cables with more expensive optical cables, that not only will probably require batteries to power them that could run out during a gig, but will probably be more fragile than the copper if trodden on. Not to mention signal buffering that might affect guitar tone especially with fuzz pedals. My Planet Waves cable I bought recently has a lifetime warranty. I could just buy two of those and be set for life and have cash to spare!

+1, mine came with LaBellas. Love flats on my P but they did not suit the T-Bird!

Squier Classic Vibe, Sire V7, Sandberg Electra TT4.

I've not tried Rotos sorry. The humbuckers on these basses are dark and meaty though, pretty much impossible for any string to sound bright with them!

If you just want a 5 string bass with a P pickup, rather than a more traditional Precision copy, the Yamaha BB1025X/2025X or the MTD Kingston CRB are worth a look!

Bought a satin finish maple J neck recently. There are a few rough spots on the fingerboard edges and the frets could do with a polish, but overall it's decent for the price!

I thought the pickups were quite dark sounding so went for the brightest steels D'Addario make, FlexSteels in 45-105... and they sound absolutely perfect with this bass! I usually use nickels but thought I'd try something different and glad I did, a perfect match I reckon. Perfect tension for me, not too bright after all, solid low fundamental and plenty of angry piano growl if digging in and slamming the strings against the frets.

[quote name='elephantgrey' timestamp='1469567117' post='3099497'] I don't think 'changing' is the word to describe the state of my board. It just seems to keep expanding, to the point where it's attracting orbiting pedals. Also, I'm a starting to worry that I'm reaching the limit of my gigrig generator, and will have to think about either getting a second one and a current doubler, or set up a second board. [/quote] You must have some serious board if you're approaching the limit of a Generator! I didn't think that would be possible, it puts out 5 amps!

Swapping a preamp valve should be safe enough. Amps can store a lot of charge in their capacitors which you have to be careful of, but you can switch out a valve pretty easily, just pull it out and shove the new one in!

It's a passive EQ which isn't flat with knobs at noon, so start with the mids up full, bass at 9 o'clock, and treble to taste.

It lets you have one less link in your signal chain, and if the tuner output is buffered and always on, will allow you to keep the tuner on permanently whilst you play. Which might be useful for long sustained notes on fretless!