Bolo

This is exactly correct. envelope following effects before the comp, the rest after. My signal chain is bass>gate>comp>tuner>dirt/pre>amp as I don't use reverb/chorus/delay effects.

There's a lot going on but the separate pedal (black, three connectors on the top) absolutely looks like a RAT and sounds like one dialed with a generous amount of highs left in.

Build an acrylic display case around it. Now it's art, not a bass.

If it plays how you like but you want different sound flavours, it's yours to do with as you please. People here have recently said they prefer vol/balance instead of vol/vol. A tone per pup makes sense to me.

Thanks for clearing up this 14,5 year old conundrum!

Why would you not try it? A proper pickup is worth the money they cost. 🤷

I have a 4 string of this. It's seen a lot of action and shows it, but frets, fingerboard, pickups and bridge look barely used. The pretty lights work as intended. Plays great, not heavy, very useable sounds from the passive EQ.

There goes all of Pop music, and a considerable amount of opera.

Here's a thought: how much have you experimented with the amp settings? Options aplenty. Don't scoop the mids but roll off some highs, or use the Magellan's Contour and see how that works for you. Dialing in what you already have is the cheapest way to achieve what you're looking for.

Yamaha is never a gamble at this price bracket, absolutely solid. The squier choir conveniently forget to mention how lucky you have to be to find a good one.

In that case I'd skip a tube pre altogether and invest in a warm compressor: anything from a Cali76 to a Markbass Compressore, crank it and then back it off a smidge to taste.

It really can be just a RAT type pedal. The RAT has three knobs. The first is the drive/crunch/grit keep it between 8 and 10 o'clock, that's where the magic happens. The second knob is a high roll off filter. Anti-clockwise is bright, twelve is still kinda bright but in a nice way, fully clockwise is warm and thick. The third knob is just level or volume. I got a Rat2 this year and it replaces all the boutique tube preamps I have amassed.

Setup or string choice probably . In 20 years of Stingray 5s tuned AEADG (3 in total, currently a 2007 HS) they've been excellent. Spector Euro 5LX is great too. My first vifer was the first MTD Kingston, it sounded warm and chocolatey, not big and tight what I was after.

Camo and black.