HeadlessBassist

Interesting points both, but I agree with EJWW's Music Man point. Personally, I like consistency. I want the same sound every time I plug in. Yes, I often turn the tone control down by 50% when I solo the bridge pickup of my Jazzes or American Performer Mustang, but you can tell where you are in that case, by the angle the white line is pointing on the control.

Agreed re your Stingray, EJWW. The lack of a centre detent on the controls means you can never get the same sound twice. I had the same problem with a piezo Stingray, and even moreso with an ACG Recurve with a Parametric EQ. It was utterly baffling and I could never get a consistent sound that I liked again. Also, different preamp makers choose different frequencies. If you know Status basses well, you know that the frequencies are very well chosen, as you can run the treble and bass full on and it brings the instrument to life with no harshness or boominess. Fenders tend to be a little harsher, so I go more carefully and just boost a little. I did have one of the Mayones Jabba Jazzes for a while and it was quite a nice setup as standard. Again, you needed to be quite measured with how much boost you added. A lot also depends on what kind of music you're playing. In the live shows I do, I often need a lot of subtlety and control for certain numbers, so I can palm mute with no booms and play gently and with great tactility at times, so a passive bass is ideal.

I run both passive and active basses, and I have to say, even after thirty-five years of playing active basses, setting up passive basses has taught me how to eq my sound into an amplifier a lot more. So that's where I start - I set 'my' sound on the amplifier, then adjust the gain between passive and active instruments. On an active bass like my Elite Jazz, I'll only add a smidge of boost above centre on the treble and bass on the preamp, leaving the mids centered. You really only need to play with preamp mids if the mids are missing from your sound. If you've ever played on a Sire bass, the sound is almost too 'scooped', so the cure is to boost the mids just a touch and do the opposite with the mids frequency. Very small adjustments can make a significant difference to your sound. Remember, adding mids can make it easier for you to hear yourself, but the more mids you add, the harsher it sounds to the audience. And as Jolltax mentioned, it's all academic anyway, because once you've added two singers, two acoustic guitars, a digital piano, an electric guitar and drums, your sound is buried anyway, so it really doesn't matter! Also, ask even the most experienced pro performer in your band/show about your sound who's not a bass player and you'll always get the answer, "it sounds like a bass."

Yes, whether I'm carrying a couple of grands worth of Fender Jazz or a now irreplaceable Status, I always use them, no matter what the venue. Otherwise there would be no point owning them. As much as I'd like to save some of them for 'best', they're working tools at the end of the day. I do, however never let them out of my sight at some venues.

I recently created a large playlist of Vulfpeck, Fearless Flyers and Cory Wong tracks. Liking the 'this American life' feel. Also, curiously liking Khruangbin for their light, easy listening (I'm obviously getting old!) ambient feel.

For slap playing, you want the action medium low - around 2mm (pictured) between the 12th fret and the bottom of the E-string. That way you get a little rebound off the strings. If action is too low, it will feel flat and too unresponsive to slap. Also, make sure you look underneath the strings in between the end of the fingerboard and the neck pickup. You should see a graduated curve between the strings. The A-string should be highest, with equal distances downwards to the D & G strings (pictured). You'll know the shape of the curve when you see it. At the end of the day, action is more about personal preference. Some people like hugely thick strings with massive unbendable amounts of string tension with a high action that they can really hit hard, and others like a lighter string, lower action, with lower string tension, so they can readily bend, and most importantly, for the bass to work with them, as opposed to fighting against them. I never thought to ask... What bass do you have, and what string gauge do you use?

We were chatting about this the other week on Brooksy's Bass Corner. Fender basses are a real lucky dip, as they are literally constructed from boxes of necks and bodies, etc. Yours does seem to have had a replacement neck from an AVRI 62. As NJ mentioned, as long as long as it plays and sounds fantastically for you, what does it matter? (Although the history of the bass is always interesting to delve into!) Also, the '88 neck means that you have a few more years' neck reliability in the bass. Some of the older ones have a habit of ejecting their truss rods through the finish eventually, and develop 'humps' in unusual places.

Usually you can tell when they're going, as your signal starts to aurally disappear through several frequencies. Some instruments emit a high pitched whine when the batteries are getting low, but not usually Fenders. How long have they been in the bass / how long on average is it plugged in? I usually habitually change the batteries in my active basses annually, and I never leave the cable plugged in when I'm not using the bass, as I don't want to get caught short on a professional engagement. Nine volt batteries usually stay at 9 for a very long time. I'd say that yes, 12-14V would be the minimum for an 18V preamp to run at maximum efficiency.

Thanks Walshy. I'll look forward to that

Thanks Walshy. That'd be great 😎👍

I've been trying to find a decent video of someone demonstrating a recent non-reverse Thunderbird on clean strings, fingerstyle. But typically, they all seem to play the damned things with a pick! I don't suppose anyone could do me a quick video with their non-reverse T-Bird just some simple fingerstyle playing..? (No pick, no fuzz or drive. Just the bass with clean strings, please?) Thanks in advance 😎👍

There were a couple on the marketplace here very recently. Try a search in the 'basses for sale' section. https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/501548-fender-precision-lyte-198788-metallic-red-reduced-to-£650/#comment-5333024

Before you start major plumbing adventures changing pickups, did you change the strings yet? I only ask, as the original OEM Fender strings are always terrible. First port of call for me on any new bass (new or used) is to slap on a set of Elixirs. The tone, response and sustain always changes significantly. Just a thought