PaulKing

RUN AWAY!!!

Yeh Prestos are quite boingy.

Snap ... I've got that exact bass too. A cracker - early 60s. In fact I just noticed I'm playing it in my avatar pic ... a rarity, as I barely ever play it. Sadly it's number 4 in the family.

I have these on all my basses and have no problem generating festival shaking volumes that cut right through the mix. I love 'em. Plenty of people get perfectly good roots tone out of Spiros but I find them much to mid-rangey. But yeh for jazz, you'll probably be better off with Spiros. If you do swap them out, how much do you want for the cast-off EP's?!

It can be a nightmare working out where odd noises come from, as there are so many potential sources. Often the sound is acoustic, but lacking any obvious direction making it hard to pinpoint on the bass. But it could be an amplification thing in your chain. Is the pick up tight, or buzzing in the slot? Is there a trim pot on the Rockabilly Pro - maybe you need to roll it off a bit to avoid clipping? (I just checked - I see there's a bridge channel filter and gain - presume you've tried adjusting them??) If not then it still could be acoustic: Is there a cable somewhere rattling against the front, or tailpiece? Are you certain the bass-bar is intact, or that the seams are all solid? Are the tuning plates tightly screwed in place? Do any of the tuners rattle? Are any windings loosening on a string (if so the buzz will be at all frequencies but only on that string ... all the above tend to happen only at certain frequencies, but on all strings).

For roots / blues / Americana / pop: Always found Underwood simple to fit (if you do it slowly and carefully), very forgiving, secure for gigging, easy to dial good tone from. That's my go to. Shadow is a good second best - almost indistinguishable and has advantage of single paddle. KNA DB-1 is surprisingly good for the price (although it used to be even cheaper than £60...). Yes pre-amp is important, esp if you have standard low-impedance inputs. With Markbass or Fender Rumble you get a perfectly good tone plugging Underwood straight in. Feedback is barely an issue with some EQ and a pair of f-hole plugs.

boom

Add B&H to that list. They often come up, Aria Excelsior mainly. Czech (Luby). Their Hungarian Golden Strad is a good bass too, if rarer (check Ian Jennings).

Definitely. Or a touch of wax crayon. On a related note, also keep a close eye on the bridge as you're tensioning each string. The graphite / wax will help prevent this, but lookout in case there's enough friction for your tightening string to pull on the bridge and make it lean upwards towards the fingerboard. If it starts to move give it a sharp tap back into place (safe ONLY if your notches are nicely cut with rounded leading/trailing edges and lubricated with graphite so the bridge doesn't yank back the other strings as you tap it, potentially damaging the winding. The strings should all glide freely over the bridge as you tap it back into place - hence the graphite).

Yes indeed, though I've never suffered the ultimate cruel fate of broken string. There's rarely much advice on how to wind the string round the peg. That can make a big difference and save a lot of bother, especially for big fat A and E. Also depends where the hole sits on the peg. What order to replace? ... how far to pull the string through the hole? ... whether to trim the excess (pretty much never - except gut!)? ... whether to wind all in one direction (if there's room for the coil between hole and edge of box), once round behind the excess then switch direction (ideal, if there's room?), or risk coiling one way then crossing over the coil to continue in other direction (not advised, looks shitty, but widely done)?

"... it's been very inspiring to have to approach my playing from a different angle (well, my hands are at a 90 degree angle from their usual position at any rate)" Well... your right hand probably shouldn't be at 90deg to your normal position. It's a classic bass-guitarist thing to start with your hand perpendicular to the strings like it is on a bg. But conventional technique has your right hand much more relaxed, more like 45-60deg diagonally across the strings. Its more comfy, and it means you're pulling the strings with a much longer section of finger than just the tip. "As for the dusty end of the instrument.......... Past around the 9th "fret" where I need to change hand position (is it called thumb position up there?)..." (not quite, that's up above 12th, when you use your thumb as a kinda octave capo/nut) "... is an absolute shitshow, in terms of tone, intonation (it's more like random tone generation at the mo - past the octave I considering it quite succesful if Im within a semitone of my target note) and hand strength ..." I've been playing for 30 years and still barely getting by up there! IMHO there's no shame leaving that to the serious Jazzers and Orchestral guys. I wish I could but ... meh. "edit: is playing harmonics on an upright a common thing? I often use them when playing bass guitar but am struggling to play even the stronger harmonics cleanly on this." For sure. Octave is easy enough and cuts through when playing. That's enough for me. 5th and 7th are harder to get to register unless you're Stanley Clarke or Adam Ben Ezra ... but they can certainly make them sing. Helps if you've got an amazing bass and bright strings.

I'm glued to this. Jealous, that's a nice little project....

Yeah the difference between natural and synthetic gets more pronounced towards the bass end. So a synthetic E might stand out against a natural A. If you're hearing it now (acoustically) I suspect it'll bug you enough to want to change in the long run. What is the synthetic string, out of interest?

Nothing wrong with that, and you'll soon know if it feels or sounds weird. I've seen players with 4 completely different strings on one bass. If it sounds good, and the tension is a good match, go for it. After years of experimenting, I've settled on a go-to / affordable mix of Evah Pirazzi Slap E-A-D, with Gut-a-like Swingmaster (synthetic) G. (I've used so many different synthetic strings. G is always the easiest to replicate natural gut, and while I was a big fan of the old Cordes Lamberts, the Gut-a-Likes really have something ... I actually prefer them to cheaper natural gut like Lenzner. I bought 4 and put them on all my basses).

How much money have you got? If you're on a budget, or just playing occasionally, you might wanna go for a synthetic string. Evah Pirazzi Slap are a good match for gut D & G. Otherwise you're talking Pirastro Chorda or similar (there are several similar options). But ....EUR200-300 EACH STRING.