ikay

I get the benefit of raised pole pieces, just not sure that a plain washer will have the same effect. Surely any magnetic flux transmitted through the washer would be much weaker than the pole magnet itself? I've heard of small neo magnets being used to boost pickups (sometimes placed on the bottom of the pickup). Could also be placed on top of the pole but the neo mags might then overpower the G and E. They might also have noticeably different tonal characteristics to alnico.

Does this really work? I'm not dissing the idea, just interested in the physics.

My HCT Club has a very comfortable medium/low action and still has some downward adjustment at the bridge. I've had older Hofners with a much higher action (manly due to neck set issues) but I think most HCTs come with a pretty good range of adjustment.

The body 'waist' is much closer to the bridge on the A4 which also pushes the neck further away when seated.

What makes the Godin feel longer is the position of the top strap button which is opposite frets 14-15 (compared with fret 12 on a P bass) and the position of the bridge which is some distance in from the end pin (on a P the bridge is closer to the end pin). The effect of both of these is that the neck sticks out further from the body and from the top strap button. The resulting hanging position on a strap means you have to reach further for the low frets.

Some on ebay here - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pair-of-PICKUP-COVERS-in-BLACK-CREAM-WHITE-to-fit-USA-Precision-P-Bass-guitar/190980490847

Google throws up quite a few results on Markbass amps blowing fuses. Generally outcome seems to be sending it to Proel for repair. There's a thread on BC here:

Well it could easily be kitted out as an outside convenience ...

As a last resort you could get an RF shielding enclosure like this. It has the added advantage that you can camp out in it at gigs. https://www.vtechtextiles.com/rf-emi-shielding-enclosures-tents/

Very tempting indeed. I wonder why they made the pickup on the Squier a tiny bit smaller than a regular Mustang pup? To make upgrades less straightforward I guess lol! Or are they in the same sized casing but just spaced slightly differently? Comparison pic below (Fender Vintera on the left and Squier on the right).

The compensated nut is much wider than the old SR nut so it definitely wouldn't be a drop-in replacement.

If you're up for building it yourself here's a circuit for a mid control. This has sweepable freq (160 - 1kHz) but, as ITU says, you could replace the dual gang pot (P2A / P2B in the schematic) with a switch and two trimmers (or perhaps two dual gang mini pots in this case) to select your chosen mid frequencies. http://www.redcircuits.com/Page168.htm It might be simpler to just swap out the existing preamp for a three-band with switchable mids! Eg. Aguilar OBP-3, Bartolini HR 2.4 AP/918 and others.

John East does a mid control (with variable freq sweep) that functions as a stand alone unit. I don't see why that couldn't be run either before or after your existing 2-band using the same power supply. Have a chat with John and I'm sure he'll sort you out.

Afraid not, the lack of open notes dampened my enthusiasm a bit! A retrofit takes them about 6-8 weeks to turn round from what I understand but I'm not exactly sure what it involves.

I contacted FretTrax last year about the open note issue (I asked I if it would work with a zero fret), here's their reply: "Thanks for getting in touch and for your question. I get that question a lot but unfortunately the answer is 'no' - a zero fret doesn't help at all. I already know, without a zero fret, when a string is open - a string is open if it's not fretted (that's how I turn off a previously fretted note). So, I could turn on open notes easily without a zero fret - the issue is knowing when NOT to turn them on and when to turn them off. Otherwise, every open string would ring all the time unless you have a mechanism to SELECTIVELY turn on/off open notes. And, that mechanism is 'pluck detect' where a right hand pluck triggers a note - and that note can be open or fretted. That feature is in the works and then FretTraX will have opens, velocity, etc. All the videos were done with fretted notes only. Some pretty wild things can be accomplished. But, when we add pluck detect (still quite a ways away), things will get even wilder!"

The pickup is attached to the pickguard using two machine screws which screw into the flatwork of the pup with a spring in between (like a Strat). The screws are not the same as regular P or J screws which tap into the bodywork. Here's a pic of my old Musicmaster which had the later pickguard shape, same as yours.