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I have been using "balanced" sets of strings for over 25 years, custom ordering singles in the complimentary gauges, way before there were "balanced" sets offered by the manufacturers. I find them to have much better consistency in feel and tone.

Welcome to the wonderful world of bolt-on necks! Seriously, tweak the truss rod a shade tighter, not really enough to change the relief, but to change the tension slightly, and see if it helps. For stability's sake, I wouldn't go back and loosen the neck bolts. Yes, any change in any detail of a bolt-on bass can change the resonance.

The key word here to get the proper adaptor is "discrete": stereo to discrete L+R.

And as above, please consider HipShot UltraLites, as they are very fine tuners, lightweight, smooth, precise, and you flip them with an allen key on the worm.

The best magnetic pickup in the USA is the Krivo. It is made internally similar to a Precision Bass pickup, so it is noise reducing, and is specifically made to mount at the end of the fingerboard: [url="https://www.facebook.com/KrivoPickups/"]https://www.facebook.com/KrivoPickups/[/url] [url="http://www.gollihurmusic.com/product/2435-KRIVO_HUMBUCKING_MAGNETIC_UPRIGHT_BASS_PICKUP_INCLUDES_FREE_JACK_MOUNT.html"]http://www.gollihurmusic.com/product/2435-KRIVO_HUMBUCKING_MAGNETIC_UPRIGHT_BASS_PICKUP_INCLUDES_FREE_JACK_MOUNT.html[/url] Of course, it does not work with gut, synthetic or non-ferrous wrap strings. Depending on the setup, it may need additional earthing.

Does the OP run the strings through the body? If so, bassstringsonline.com has a technical article that sets forth the various manufacturer's various winding lengths so a proper string can be mounted. Mount a string on the bass and tune it up to pitch. Then take a marker and make a mark on the tuner side of the nut. Remove the string and measure from the ball to the mark. That is the length of winding needed, and can be cross-referenced against the chart.

I have played a U-Bass. Very interesting instrument. It was fantastic at the gig I was asked to play: a ukulele ensemble club gig. I would encourage surfing the internet. Since the original U-Bass became commercially available, the company has other models, and there are other companies making similar instruments of anywhere from 21 inch to 34 inch scale and in all body sizes.

I have one installed on my custom half-fanned P/J. Tuning is as set forth above in the first post after the OP. Yes, when the tuning is dropped, unless the neck is absolutely rock stable, the inherent compression that is why the truss rod works will cause the neck to react and the other strings to slightly go sharp. Because of this, I usually don't drop below Eb, only occasionally to D, and then at the end of a song. When dropping to Eb, I usually don't notice it.

A few years ago Fender made a "55" split-coil humbucker J pickup. That is what I would use, to keep the humbucking to go with the P-pickup. You can find new old stock or used ones here and there.

Is the reticence to drill holes due to cosmetic concerns, or because of the screw holes possibly wearing after several string changes? If the latter, I used small threaded inserts that I installed in the same position as the screw holes would be, and then used small machine screws to secure the bridge cover. Over the last fifteen years they have been quick, easy, and no wear.

[quote name='Bigwan' timestamp='1445673958' post='2893224'] I have no idea what this means... And I'm a bit afraid to ask! [/quote] The Lace Helix series of basses had exactly that - a helix neck, which rotated on the long axis away from the player at the nut. This was supposed to help players play better by lessening the amount of wrist pronation necessary to fret the lower notes next to the nut. Like anything else, it worked for some players and not for others. A bass luthier in Texas, Jerome Little, does essentially the same thing with his basses, which he calls a "Torzal" neck: littleguitarworks.com

I also play regularly with a big band that plays traditional repertoire. Because this music was recorded before Thomastik-Infeld invented the Spirocore string, I use Bel Canto Orch. ADG with a Spirocore 3885,5W. This combination has somewhat less "growl" than a full set of Spiros, but I get numerous compliments on my tone and call backs for subsequent gigs.

Relax your hand. Try pickig more off the side of the finger rather than the tip, possibly tilting the hand a little over the thumb, more like a classical pizzicato technique.

I use an old-fashioned passive A/B box that I purchased at least twenty years ago. If one instrument is active or has a preamp separately, like the double bass, then it probably wouldn't hurt to run the passive instrument through an adjustable gain buffer to match levels when switching between instruments.

String up the bass. Wire up the pickup outside of the instrument. While playing, have a friend hold the pickup close to the strings and move it along the length of the strings, from closer to the neck to closer to the bridge, until you find a spot where you like the tone. I used to have a cheap ceramic J-pickup that I used as a test pickup to do just that when figuring out where I wanted the pickups on my custom half-fanned P/J.

If the pickup is passive and is controlled before the signal enters the preamp, then sometimes the higher value pots are used, as the pickups are essentially functioning in passive mode. By not wiring the bass exactly according to the schematic, you may have introduced a loop that caused the preamp to become unstable and induced oscillation.

The larger value potentiometer on the volume control will provide less loading to the circuit, which results in a marginally raised resonant peak, which we perceive as "brighter." And it does function the same to a lesser degree on the tone control. BUT...increasing the tone capacitor value only lowers the cutoff frequency. It does not "compensate" for anything. All it does is make more mud. In a typical passive tone circuit, using a 250kohm pot with a standard tone cap will be the same as using a 500 kohm audio taper pot with the control turned down to the same resistance, which is about "8" on the knob.

If he is used to 45-105 rounds, the 45-105 flats or the Jamerson set will seem too heavy. I would recommend the La Bella 760FL 43-104. They will have only slightly more tension than what he is used to, and will get the tone he is after. As always, when changing make, model and gauge of strings, he may need his setup adjusted accordingly.

Yes, I really enjoy my bespoke P/J also: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/174777-and-now-for-something-completely-different-in-a-pj"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/174777-and-now-for-something-completely-different-in-a-pj[/url]

For bass, for those instruments that need nut compensation, I have found Stephen Delft's individual shims more accurate on bass. I have incorporated them on my custom half-fanned P/J. Remember that if shims are needed to bring the notes on the first three frets into line, then the action needs to be raised so that the down force and resulting core stretch on the string to fret notes on the 7th through 10th frets is increased to keep those notes from being flat. [url="http://www.mimf.com/nutcomp/"]http://www.mimf.com/nutcomp/[/url]

Lighter tuners: USA Hipshot Ultra Lites are the most commonly used tuners to lighten the load on the headstock. I use them on all my electric basses that don't already have OEM lightweight tuners.

For adding a J pickup to a P, it has been my experience to place it either in the closer '70's position to the bridge in order to bring out a tad more contrast with the P pickup, or a least slightly closer to the bridge than the '60's position. The strings will also align to the poles of the J pickup better. Since you don't want to refinish the bass, I would consult a qualified luthier who will use a proper template and router, since the J pickup will not have any pickguard to hide anything routed out of profile to the pickup. This is what I did for my custom half-fanned fret P/J, where the pickups also needed to be rotated to match the fanning of the frets. I have a thread about the build somewhere on the forum.

Have you tried a pencil eraser? That is the easiest. I do NOT recommend steel wool, because the filings that drop off can work into the coil and abrade it. Otherwise, the best thing to do is just leave it be. If the rust comes off with a pencil eraser, then you can coat the tops of the magnet poles with clear (or colors, for that matter - George Harrison's "Rocky" Strat) fingernail enamel to preserve them.

In addition to the possibility of a bad string and a nut slot that needs dressing to keep the lower frets from pulling sharp, the inherent nature of the E string is such a large diameter on a small scale may cause the overtones to be out of tune with themselves.

Very growly tone compared to other flats. They have great longitivity and intonation. The now-discontinued "CL" set (45-60-80-105) was my favourite flat set ever after 40 years of playing. Now you can only get the "L" set (45-60-80-100), but Fender does not sell singles, so I can't get a 105, so I went to tapewounds instead to get the feel I wanted.