EUROSONIC STRINGS

[yanto]

Fitted a new set of Eurosonic lights to my also new(to me) Bassix Multitech.It comes with magnetic pups at end of fretboard and a piezo in the body and bridge,which is all blended through a 2 channel K&K preamp.
My problem is that I'm getting a lot of string noise from my fingers and the fretboard,and although this isn't really a major problem when playing with the whole band,it is annoying me a bit.
The body piezo does seem to be quite "hot" and I think it could be the main problem,although the nylon covering on the strings tends to get a bit sticky after playing.
Any suggestions?Change of strings to Spiros or similar?

Cheers
Iain

[BassBod]

I've only got finger noise with one pickup (Fishman) and I actually like it in some circumstances, but I know what you mean when you hear it in isolation. My experience is that strings don't make an enourmous difference, but some brighter metal strings are really really squeeky for the first week or two, then settle down to be the same as others (like Innovations, with a "nylon" core, or the plastic Labellas).

My Clifton bass was built with a small rubber pad under each bridge foot, and I think Mo Clifton said this was to lesson the finger noise with the Fishman pickup (he used them or the Wilson a lot before the Realist was made). I've no idea if it works, as I've never removed them to see if its worse...

If you can blend the pickups, that's the best solution with various different pickups. I think you can also reduce the output of a hot pickup with a small resistor...but I'm not the person to ask. Its also worth checking if each pickup is supposed to feed a particular channel of the preamp (or just swap them to see what happens?)

Orchid Electronics are worth a look - John can make all sorts of custom blenders and preamp/DI boxes that may be more versatile than the K&K (although they seem well thought of in the acoustic world).

BB