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Get some classical lessons with a teacher who teaches Simandl, and start learning positions and developing "muscle memory" to always be able to come back to the same place every time both with each finger 1-2-4, and in each position as you shift up and down the neck.

Good strings. Value-for-money. I used to own a 1935 Gibson L-00. Especially using a .049 low E as a substitute for the E on other light tension sets, it had great tone, feel, tuning stability and longitivity. I preferred it, on that guitar, to other named sets, including DR "Rare" phosphor bronze, even though I used the A, D & G strings of that set on that guitar. It is really phosphor bronze. If it has a light colour, like a steel guitar string, it's because that the phosphor and tin used in the alloy for the wrap wire will lighten the colour.

OK, why? If string length is the consideration, then with the Gibson 3-point top-load bridge, the ball anchor is actually closer to the saddle than on Fender-style bridges, so most conventional strings should work. If it is a reach problem, the difference in the scale at the first fret is less than 1/32 inch or 0.7mm, so it should not be a problem, either. I think "official" scaling is 34 3/8 inches.

[quote name='richrips' timestamp='1273409193' post='832179'] If the truss rod were routed in to the back of the neck, rather than just below the fingerboard, it could be between 1.5 and 2 times farther away from the strings than it currently is. The distance from the point at which the truss rod acts and the pivot (which would be the position within the neck at the mid point of the 2 opposing forces- string tension and truss rod tension) would then be increased. This would mean less tensile force would be needed in the truss rod to produce the same neck-straightening force (moment) as a truss rod located nearer to the strings (such as a traditional position directly beneath the fingerboard. Less tension in truss rod = less overall force acting on neck.[/quote] This is how Leo Fender installed his first truss rods.

[quote name='jaydentaku' timestamp='1351261044' post='1849399'] I have some from the Lower Palaeolithic Age [/quote] Alright, then. Like Spike, my main strap is not quite that old, but it was used when I got it with another instrument in 1978. Yes, that's right: same strap for going on thirty-five years. I use it with standard strap buttons, no strap locks.

[quote name='sixdegrees' timestamp='1351548812' post='1852595'] The Fender flats have a few fans on here, and are about 15 quid a set. [/quote] That includes me, the 9050CL set, which are the best value-for-money of any set of bass strings I've ever played in over 36 years of playing bass. I put a set on my main bass over two years ago, and they have at least that much life left in them.

If the OP really wants a 4000, then purchase a 4003, take off the pickguard, neck pickup, switch and neck volume and tone, and purchase a 4000 pickguard from pickguardian.com. Or just use the bridge pickup alone without the in-line .0047 capacitor.

[quote name='Wil' timestamp='1351069056' post='1846803'] Not fond of positions 2 & 4 on my Strat. It's a bit of an 80s sound, innit? [/quote] Well, it can be. But as I posted above, the first major exponent of the "in between" settings was Eric Clapton. [url="http://www.guitartoneoverload.com/2011/01/16/the-tone-of-eric-clapton-part-2-the-fender-years/"]http://www.guitartoneoverload.com/2011/01/16/the-tone-of-eric-clapton-part-2-the-fender-years/[/url]

[quote name='Shaggy' timestamp='1351020617' post='1846357'] The biggest and baddest of neck 'buckers..... Ovation Magnum [/quote] The Ovation Magnum pickup is actually four discrete coils, one for each string, wired together.

pickguardian.com

Well, to get the best magnetic field, the bar magnet does need to contact the steel poles. Any disconnect weakens the magnetic field. The problem is that if these pickups are bar magnet & slug, then the bar magnet will be glued to the bottom, and much care needs to be taken to separate it to see if the slugs are not contacting the magnet.

Since you're in Germany, have you considered the M4 Mini-Schallers, which the Gotohs are copies of, and are the tuners Hipshot uses (or used to) make their D-tuners?

Most famously Eric Clapton, and therefore the reason we all have 5-way switches.

Oh, good Lord -- has noone bothered to mention the obvious yet: Hofner basses, especially the 500/1? Harmony also has one.

One last thought: does the pickup have alnico slugs or a ceramic bar and steel slugs? If the slugs under the e string have lost their magnetism, if alnico, or if they may not have good contact with the bar magnet underneath the pickup, then this will happen. I had a Pickup that had bar magnet and steel slugs in another guitar. The bar magnet cracked. The half that retained good contact with the steel poles sounded fine on half the strings, and the other half of the magnet that did not retain good contact with the steel poles sounded weak on the other half of the strings until I pulled the pickup apart and rebuilt the magnet.

Remember that if you go with a piezo, you will need a buffer amp of some sort. This will raise your budget, in fact, double it.

A single coil early '50's P-bass is in the 5th harmonic position. A J-bass neck pickup is between the 5th and 6th harmonic position. The E-A segment of a dual P-bass pickup is in the 6th harmonic position. the D-G segment of a dual P-bass pickup is in the 7th harmonic position. A Rickenbacker neck pickup in the "1/2" inch position (right next to the neck, old 4001) is just north of the 2nd harmonic position. A Rickenbacker neck pickup on a 4003 in the "1-inch" position is in the 2nd harmonic position. A Rickenbacker bridge pickup is in the 8th harmonic position. A 60's J-bass bridge pickup is 1/16 scale length harmonic position. A '70's J-bass is just a hair towards the bridge from the same position. A Stingray pickup is so broad, the poles traverse between several harmonic positions, kind of like if it was nestled between J-bass pickups. A Gibson EB-3 bridge pickup is shoved up against the neck north of the 2nd harmonic position. (I don't know where the bridge pickup is, proportionally).

The pickup may have an open winding. When a pickup is open, the inductance can still give a weak signal. Unsolder the hot lead of the pickup from its volume control and see what the dc resistance is. I don't know what kind of pickup it has, but if the pickup is good, being a jazz bass-style instrument it should read something steady between 5kohms and 10kohms. If the needle or digital display of the ohmmeter won't give a stable reading, or rises towards infinity, then the coil is open, the pickup is bad and needs to be replaced.

Do you want the same humbucking as the model J? If so, the DiMarzio UltraJazz are like a cross between your Model J and a vintage single coil and I've had one in the bridge position of my P-J for years. Fralin and Aguilar make end-to-end humbucking pickups that go after their version of a "vintage-with-no-noise" tone. Bartolini have made them for years with various tonalities, but they do tend to work better with a preamp.

[quote name='4StringFortress' timestamp='1350713420' post='1842522'] Ahh ok cool thanks for the advice. Has anyone tried the nickle with alloy 52 strings? They are meant to be more durable and because they have a more magnetic property are meant to give more of an attacking edge and stuff. Has anyone used them? [/quote] I have used GHS Progressives in custom gauges 45-60-80-105 on my Rickenbacker 4002 since @1993. My body chemistry eats nickel, so for me nickel plated rounds go dead after one gig and stainless goes clunky after only a short time as well. The higher iron content keeps the strings from going dead, and the tone is between conventional nickel plated rounds (like GHS Boomers or D'Addario XL) and stainless (like Rotosound Swingbass). Since I don't use my 4002 on a regular basis (pun intended) any more (see my thread about my custom fanned fret P-style bass due to my old elbow, wrist and thumb injuries coming back to haunt me), I haven't changed the Progressives on my 4002 in so long that I truly cannot remember when. But it has been years. As far as the tone of nickel plated rounds, I find the D'Addario XL's sound more "scooped" to me than the GHS Boomers. The current strings I'm getting the most out of is a set of Fender 9050CL flats. They have switched me over. They growl when you want them to; they are mellow when you need them to; they are absolutely consistent string-to-string and up the neck; they last almost forever - I'm still gigging with the same set two years on; and they are great value-for-money pricewise.

I'm not going to suggest a brand, rather, I'm going to suggest some design features to look for: 1) as with any bass, good overall construction with reputable quality 2) neutral pickups (neither scooped, which will keep the B string overtones from contributing to the overall tone, or overwound, which would cause too much midrange and blur the fundamental 3) soapbar style to cover the tonal range and physical range 4) placement: "neck" pickup placed the same, proportionally, as where the D-G segment of a P-bass pickup is for a good blend of fundamental and overtones to help the strings speak, or possibly just a hair closer to the bridge. Too close to the neck, and you lose overtones and the bass gets thuddy in the lowest register. Too close to the bridge, and you lose fundamental. The bridge pickup where a '60's J-bass pickup is placed for a good contrast.

I prefer tung oil. It takes multiple coats. It is sticky to start. You have to give a full day between each coat. But after the multiple coats and buffing between each one, and letting it cure for a couple of weeks afterwards, it is smooth and easy, and if you're into "vintage," it looks "vintage" from the start.

Yes, the added low notes can be fun. They do extend the range of the bass down to the low pedal C, which is the same note as most moderate sized pipe organs. BUT...the real reason to have five strings is for technical faculty so that scales, leaps, runs, motifs, etc., can be played more efficiently across the fretboard rather than up and down the fretboard. In the end, it's what a person is most comfortable with, along with the demands of the music. I'm now playing with a group that perform a few songs that have obvious 5-string motifs in the bass part. So after avoiding getting a 5-string for over 36 years, I finally had to get one for these songs.

OK, there are subtle differences between brands of tubes, but if you're getting a significant volume drop, either something is wrong with a tube (worn out, internal short, etc.) or you have something going on in the chassis that needs sorting out. If it's the #1 tube going in from the jack, look for a low-noise version of your preferred tube. I prefer the Electro-Harmonix, if it can fit into the tube socket (it has a wider base and won't fit every socket). Otherwise, they don't make that much difference. Some, yes. Slight, yes. Clean - yes, a trained ear can tell the difference. But they all sound the same (albeit with just the slightest bit of background hiss difference) when cranked. For further reading about different brands of tubes and their respective performance levels: [url="http://thetubestore.com/12ax7review.html"]http://thetubestore....2ax7review.html[/url]

I'd like Jerome Little to make me a bass from English Sycamore with a natural-to-blueburst, torzal 9-degree nut and 3-degree bridge, half-fanned from a square nut to a 34 1/4 inch B string to a 33 1/4 inch G string, the rest of the details would take up too much bandwidth if I set forth everything I would prefer, but with a fairly straightforward wiring to keep it simple for stage use. littleguitarworks.com A GUS bass would be nice as well.