NickA

Get a Wal (or two) ... two lovely fat humbuckers each with their own tone control. Available in 4, 5 & 6 strings, with and without frets. The only downside is the price .... and they don't slap very well.

That circuit will do some combinations ( not series and parallel of individual pickups though) and should be hum free as it single coils both pickups. You want tone as well?! There's no pleasing some people 😂. Before the volume pot, put a pot in series with a cap with the cap connected to ground. Trouble with passive tone controls is that they depend on the impedance of the pickups, which will be different with every combination.

Series or parallel the coils in either or both pickups is an option ( that's two switches) series or parallel the two pickups ( one more switch) also ok. Put volume knobs after the switches for each pickup, then in parallel mode you can blend the pickups. I guess if for each pickup you have a choice of series, parallel or single then series or parallel the two pickups, then some combinations may be a bit noisy ....then again so it is on a standard jazz bass if you don't use both pickups. And changing the switch positions will change the volume. This'll keep me busy during boring teams meetings.

So many lovely basses, so little time! Those two are as good as you'd ever need really. I mean it's nice to own a Wal ( or two ) and good to know they won't lose value too much ... but they're not really miles ahead of the pack. ACG, the Wallish, these two, my mate's Skjold .. all great. ...and yet current pop and rock is full of Fenders. Not so, Jazz happily... just bought Hiromi's Sonic Wonderland with Hadrien Feraud playing a fretless MTD .. sounds great.

If you split the pickups you'll probably get a load of noise pickup. Look at an HH stingray and you'll see there are only certain combinations of coils possible (5), that's to make sure there is always some humbucking going on. Anyway, think what combinations of the four coils you want; that's 24 without series / parallel combinations, but only 5 if you want to minimise hum... and even those won't work perfectly because the two pickups aren't the same. Sort out some combinations and I'll see what can be done with switches and knobs!

Fretless was everywhere in the 80s. Now it's all boring fretted fenders. Do it! You may start a revival.

Second on the right = all he really needs 😉

Realise my favourite bass has a 26mm string spacing at the bridge, though only 10 at the nut. It weighs 10.5kg too.😁

😁. I was trying 5ers out at bass direct ...when the proprietor came up and said "I can tell you're a 4 string player, you're in first position". Hmm yes. It's quite a good thing to go 5th fret... only going back to the nut for those sub E notes... but it still does my head in, and I think using the full length of the string sounds better too.

Cheers. Really useful links.

Absobloodylootely. If you like the sound you just have to.

You can ride a coque horse there even 🙂 Caswells shop is a bit industrial estatey, they're mostly mail order, but nice enough if you just roll up. But of a show room.

I think my 5 string is 18mm at the bridge..same as two of my 4s ....and feels pretty huge. And then my Warwick has the same string spacing as the Wal, but feels much narrower due to the thinner neck, and a jazz bassy fretless I have is 20mm at the bridge but only 10mm at the nut...that one feels really narrow. Can people really tell the difference? Doesn't spacing at the nut and the neck profile also matter? Just interested as to why 19mm at the bridge is so critical compared to eg how the bass sounds ...And all the other dimensions.

"my viol bows" wow! To have one viol bow is quite something; several is impressive. if you're into early music.. wonder if you know how to move on a da gamba ( plus bow) and a baroque cello bow. I have all those looking for new homes. Sorry, topic drift.

The Walish is a nice bass, no doubt. I agree it has a clearer "more open" sound than the Wal. ...a better sound in many ways. The Wals being made today are replicas of those designed in the 80s. Paul Herman isn't rocking the boat by making something different or updated ..if Wal and Pete were around today, to design a MK4, I wonder how that would sound! I guess, eventually Paul will run out of ancient op-amps and then we might find out. I'd love to hear how a fretless Walish would sound too as, to me, fretted Wals are knd of missing the point and a bit ordinary by comparison. I've one of each and it's the fretless that's really special. As for neck through basses ... My all ovangkol neck thro Warwick is a totally different beast. All twang and clarity with endless sustain. Presumably the bolt on neck and its inherent lossiness is part of the Wal sound.

Andrew McGill is in Banbury. Bass bow expert. He won't be cheap, but will do a perfect job. Casswell strings are also in Banbury and do a rehair service..they will be cheaper. I guess it depends how much your bow is worth.

Specific to P&H fibreglass bows with "self change" bow hair system.

Decent bow people are like hens teeth. We have no-one local. Marc Soubeyran sends you a stamped and addressed bow tube, insert bow, hand to courier, bow comes back in a few days, you keep the tube for next time. I drove 60 miles to see Andrew McGill; tho he's also happy to do it by post. Strange thing with black bow hair..everyone in my orchestra ( me included ) uses black, but look at a professional orchestra and they're all using white. go figure. On the cello, dark hair is considered low grade beginners stuff ..everyone else wants white stallion bow hair.

Maybe try a different bow maker? I've used Marc Soubeyran previously and Andrew McGill is doing a bow for me at the moment. I should think if Andrew can't get it no-one can! NB: my spare bow has white hair ...and it's ok. Some people say it doesn't have the same grip but I can't really tell the difference once the Rosin's on. Also I note that the more expensive arcus bows (S6 to S8) have white hair...it's only the "cheap" ones ( ie my arcus S3) that have black.

Call David at Bassbags.co.uk. They have been supplying bass bags for decades I have one from them and it's ... just perfect. Sturdy, well padded, lots of carrying handles (which are in the right places for me!) this one I think; but they have other options https://www.bassbags.co.uk/product/westbury-double-bass-bag-11mm-padding/

Happy ending!!! We twisted the luthiers arm so far up his back, he finally replaced the end pin and put our space 4 string tail piece on. It's being played again. Actually a rather nice little bass ..SO much better than the half size b&h laminate it had been temporarily replaced with. Buzzes on the g. Needs a new bridge really. Probably the fingerboard shooting ( then staining again .,.it's not real ebony). Maybe next year. Ideally it needs a new neck and fingerboard ..being blockless that might be tough; but the body is good enough, that it might be worthwhile. So pleased we didn't scrap it and replace with a Chinese hybrid. 😁

I've put the word out to my own amateur orchestra ( I play bass in it) and a local cello teacher. Keen to cut out the dealers ;-). The Benedict Lang and the fancy Roy Collins bow on musical chairs. Let's see what happens! I don't expect to sell locally really, and Sheffield's not far. 😉

...My local people, bass bags, will sell on commission ( only 10% I think) but not right now, as they're moving premises, and not any of the bows. I'll be talking to bigger dealers about the fancy cello, so can always ask about the bits and bobs.