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Here is a more direct aplet that you plug in the colors: http://www.quinnviolins.com/qv_stringidsearch.shtml

If you want to stay with tapewounds, but want higher tension than the Fenders, then: 1) La Bella Regular Gauge 60-115 - good round tone, similar sustain to conventional strings; 2) Rotosound Trubass 65-115, made to emulate the bloom and lesser sustain of a double bass. All tapewounds will be slightly lighter in tension than their flatwound counterparts, because the nylon tape does not add significant mass to the strings, so the underlying string will be lesser diameter, therefore less mass, therefore less tension, compounded by usually being roundwound instead of flatwound, so even less mass, even less tension, than what you are used to in a comparable flatwound. A new flat wound that is advertising flat feel and round sound are the new Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats. There are YouTube videos demonstrating them. I have the Fender tapewounds on my custom half-fanned P/J, and the La Bella's on my 5-string. I understand what you mean. I have to use a bit lighter touch on the Fender tapewounds with their lesser tension.

Yes, I mis-typed. Tension and feel are two completely different concepts. Compliance, or flexibility is something that probably has to be done on a progressive basis (pun intended). The larger the string, usually the larger diameter of the coil. The larger diameter of the coil, then the less flexible the string is. Some manufacturers try to counter this by different means, two of them being multiple wraps to lessen the coil diameter, and (especially on flatwound strings) narrow the width of the ribbon wrap, especially on the E string, to help it maintain flexibility, which promotes overtones, and therefore approaching a consistent tone string-to-string, as well as tension and compliance, or flexibility.

I have changed pickups in guitars and basses for over thirty-five years. The EMG system is a godsend: straightforward, well documented, and that great no-noise EMG reliability. The only two issues are getting a battery to fit in the control channel and one or two wiring quirks for some of the modules.

On TalkBass.com , there is a thread about Geezer pickups with over 1500 posts. The general consensus is they are the definitive rock P or P/J pickups.

Here is an article to see which strings you will need, because it depends on the type of bridge and the length from the anchor to the saddle, not just scale length: [url="http://www.bassstringsonline.com/Finding-the-correct-string-length-for-your-electric-bass_ep_46-1.html"]http://www.bassstringsonline.com/Finding-the-correct-string-length-for-your-electric-bass_ep_46-1.html[/url] For example, a Hofner 501 is a short scale bass, but needs medium scale strings because of the extra length from the tailpiece to the bridge. Once you have determined the critical length, you can find which manufactures strings to fit your bass here. If a manufacturer is not listed, contact the manufacturer to directly to see if they manufacture a string to fit: [url="http://www.bassstringsonline.com/Bass-String-Lengths-by-Manufacturer_ep_47-1.html"]http://www.bassstringsonline.com/Bass-String-Lengths-by-Manufacturer_ep_47-1.html[/url]

Nut slot and nut compensation. First, check the nut slot to see if it is as low as it will go without buzzing with your normal playing style, and has a good leading edge witness point and a smooth slope back to the tuner. It will pull sharp otherwise. If it doesn't do it at standard tuning, I would bet if you put it on a tuner, it does pull sharp in standard tuning, just not enough to be noticeable. Second, your nut may need compensation like mine did: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/174777-and-now-for-something-completely-different-in-a-pj/page__p__1633365__hl__different__fromsearch__1#entry1633365"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/174777-and-now-for-something-completely-different-in-a-pj/page__p__1633365__hl__different__fromsearch__1#entry1633365[/url] It is more thoroughly explained here: [url="http://www.mimf.com/nutcomp/"]http://www.mimf.com/nutcomp/[/url]

Yes, try a good passive wiring loom first with 250 kohm audio taper pots and a .047 capacitor with your existing pickups. Then you can make a more educated analysis of what you do or don't like about the pickups and go from there.

Balanced means exactly that: balanced. Within the practical limits of manufacturing, the actual tension nut to bridge for each string at pitch is as close to the same as can be made. D'Addario and Kalium (fka CircleK) publish these figures. Now, balance and feel are two completely different concepts. Depending on setup, break angles over bridge an nut, action height, the flexibility of the string, one may feel completely different from the other. This can be demonstrated on a single bass: set up with low action and proper relief, a given string will feel good. Raise the bridge and loosen the truss rod, and even though the same string will have the same tension between the nut and the bridge, the latter will feel much stiffer.

Another reason it was called a mudbucker is that the original Gibson EB-0's had a more complicated tone circuit that shunted off even more top end. Wiring the pickup with a conventional control circuit with 500kohm pots and a .033 capacitor instead of the stock 250 kohm pots and .047 capacitor will bring out all the top end there is to be had.

Yes, a tight sqeeze but, they barely do fit. This is the same as they did 30 years ago. Good to see they are still the same.

I'm not far behind you. My left hand is developing arthritis, and I'm considering selling my double bass as well. No electric bass will sound like a double bass. That said, there are several models that get close. The Fender Precision bass was invented for this exact reason. A hollow body electric bass, or one of the so-called acoustic-electric basses (they look like an acoustic guitar with a longer neck and usually a piezo pickup under the bridge saddle) can also sound more "woody." Fender accentuated the double bass emulation by putting foam rubber under the bridge cover so it would damp down the string sustain. Finally, Rotosound Tru-Bass nylon tape wound strings were invented to emulate double bass articulation and sustain. So you can get close. Just don't expect it to be exactly the same.

Living in the USA, I drove a Chevrolet Aveo for years and could fit the double bass in a gig bag, amplifier, accessories, stands, etc., all in. The European version was called the Daewoo Kalos. Very efficient interior space for the small size. I would fold the rear seat down, put the bass in from the rear hatch on the driver side, direct the neck between the front bucket seats to the passenger side of the gear shift, and go. I don't know what the current version is called.

Pure nickel can be softer than conventional nickel plated steel roundwounds. So they may not have the life span as conventional strings. Moreover, they may be more expensive going in, so you endure a double hit on shorter life as well as more expensive.

The primary reason strings die: string gunk damping the string and accumulating acids which corrode the string. So if you have a string in a sealed package, it should theoretically last forever. Stainless steel flatwounds have a reputation, deservedly so, of lasting for years or even decades. This is because the wrap is not only corrosion resistant by design, but also because the wraps are tight enough to not let any gunk get into the interior of the strings. This also makes the string less flexible, therefore less overtones and darker tone, but that is for another thread. On the double bass side, for these same reasons, some jazz players have used their sets of Thomastik-Infeld Spirocores for over a quarter century. Decades ago, when coal was used more, and there were more sulphur and other compounds and other pollution in the air, yes, even stainless steel flatwound strings could eventually suffer from corrosion from the London Fog, even if not played. But thankfully those days are over. So we're back full circle - the primary reason strings die is we play them. Every mechanical item wears out eventually.

[quote name='Dan Dare' timestamp='1419267741' post='2638175'] Anyone else get fed up with unbalanced/poorly matched strings? The tension varies enormously across what a manufacturer sells us as a "set". Bought Thomastik Flat wounds for the Jazz. The A, at.70, was so slack as to be impossible to get the intonation correct at the bridge - the saddle fell off the adjuster screw before it was right. Had to replace with a D'Addario in a heavier gauge. Looking at the tension figures on the D'Addario site, they vary across a set by 25-30% in some cases. Appalling. Is it just me who's unhappy with this? [/quote] It's not just you. Thirty years ago. When GHS Progressives were a new string, I custom-ordered 45-60-80-105 for my basses decades before a "balanced" set became "vogue." I had played 45-65-85-105 Boomers, and the D and A strings always felt stiff to me. Good news: more manufacturers now offer "balanced" sets: La Bella, D'Addario, Kalium (formerly CircleK) and maybe a few others. D'Addario makes at least three specifically "balanced" nickel plated roundwound sets in 40, 45 and 50, and Kalium's entire marketing campaign is equal tension throughout every set at every gauge from skinny singles for piccolo bass to sub-bass tunings with strings that get to 6 to 7 mm string diameter. I tried a friend's bass with the T-I's a couple of years ago. Hated them for all the same reasons; plus, they turned my fingers black. Most recently, I've had good luck with the La Bella black nylon tapewounds. They feel balanced and sound balanced. Don't let the strange gauges of the regular set concern you. The thicker gauges are due to the nylon wrap, which does add diameter, but does not add anything to the tension of the string. Finally: a bit of history: most basses have flat top pickups, and the first basses had 7 to 9 inch crown radius fingerboards. So the D and A strings were made thicker than the numbers might otherwise indicate so they would produce the same signal even though being farther from the pickup. Worse, with original flatwound strings, the G string was very heavy so it wouldn't twang, and the E string was very light so it wouldn't thump - 50 to 100 being typical. With modern basses having a flatter crown radius arc, this is not as important as it used to be. Rickenbacker was an exception to this, from the early '70's on, with their arced polepieces in their high gain pickups. So their stock strings had more even progression in diameters. Feel and consistency of tone are more important now. It has just taken the string manufacturers a few decades to catch up to the rest of bass technology.

The thicker the string at pitch, or the lower the pitch for a given string, the more string core stretch there will be, and the more compensation may be required. All commercial basses have the bridges designed and set for the average compensation needed for average conventional string sets at concert pitch. This may be insufficient for drop or low tunings, and/or using what amounts to extra light strings at the lower pitch. Even if the saddle has sufficient travel, the spring may have to be trimmed to get the saddle back far enough to intonate. I have personally trimmed the E and B intonation springs of every bass I have ever owned in the last 39 years. You may have to move your bridge back, or get something like a BadAss bridge that has more compensation travel.

[quote name='KiOgon' timestamp='1419543279' post='2640835'] Take a P-bass, any P-bass, string it with Flats, get a set of Duck Dunn fingers & you're there [/quote] +1!

[quote name='Telebass' timestamp='1418976050' post='2635312'] Similarly, I see no grand reason to move from the 1/2 size I'm learning on. The actual difference is negligible. In fact, the only downside so far is the lesser availability of strings... [/quote] I respectfully disagree. The added heft, tone and sustain from a full 3/4 bass, including both the body size and the longer mensure is the definition of supporting an ensemble. There is quite a significant difference in resonance in the added @ 5 cm of lower bout width and 5 to 8 cm of mensure. Here's the deal: true bass fundamental frequencies need more room to propagate. The player will not hear the difference standing next to the bass. But as I have demonstrated to other players who say they didn't really hear me on stage, when they would take turns and go out front of the stage or stage area a few meters, they were surprised how much bigger the bass sounded.

[quote name='TPJ' timestamp='1417643129' post='2622668'] I was going to try this as I liked the sound of mitts on my bass but the tension was difficult. I put a set of 3885OW on there, put the action up a turn on the adjusters and am really happy with the tone, volume and playability. The weichs are a nice string for sure. [/quote] Yes, everybody tends to gravitate towards the S42 Weichs on a 3/4 bass for lesser tension, or S42 Mitts to really bring out a bass that has a top that needs them. But the 3885W set is to my ears and fingers the best set and the least appreciated set for a really good combination of tone and tension.

Yes, the lead-free solder is an issue. It needs a higher temperature to melt and more flux to make a secure joint. The problems arise with those companies who have not adjusted their manufacturing techniques to take these issues into account. I don't know who has or has not done this.

It is arguable that the fanned fret concept should never have been the subject of a patent. The idea was incorporated into the opharion and bandora, fanned-fret lutes, in England in the 16th century: http://www.lutesandguitars.co.uk/htm/cat05.htm

[quote name='dudi8' timestamp='1417452583' post='2620472'] Thanks for all the advices eventually i changed to spirocores weich and they are amazing, love the sound and feel! [/quote] Which set? The S42W or the 3885W?

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1417475562' post='2620892'] The E string is nearly always the lowest tension in any standard set (the D is usually the highest). If you are happy with the tension in the rest of the strings why not just go for a heavier E string? [/quote] Exactly. The traditional Fender flats E string is either a 95 or a 100, and as you state, the medium set has a 105. Until Fender discontinued the set, I played the CL set, which is the same as the L set, but with a 105 E string instead of the 100 E string, for the same reasons. Fender does not sell single strings. Rotosound sells a 110 separately; La Bella sells a 109 separately (the 110 is part of the Jamerson set); D'Addario sells a 110 separately; Ernie Ball sells a 110 separately. These are probably your best choices. From my experience, the Ernie Ball has a similar, if a more subdued growl, to the Fender set, and is the best match for this purpose. If you get too large a diameter, then the string will get too stiff, and ironically, contrary to the conventional wisdom that a heavier string will result in more sustain and tone, which it does to a point, you will go beyond the usable range and start to lose tone, overtones and sustain if the string is too stiff. So 110 is about the limit of a usable flatwound E string. All that said, about the heaviest commercially available set is the La Bella Jamerson set, 52-73-95-110; the Fender medium set is 55-70-90-105. So getting a 110 E string may be the best option. Now, you will only gain about two to three pounds of tension, and that may or may not be significant, depending on your playing style. But that is all there is. Finally, among the 110's, yes, the Rotosound monel has the reputation of being the strongest tension string available for a given gauge, but I don't know how the tone will match.

It is pricey, but I believe Fender Japan makes a 32 inch scale fretless Jazz Bass