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Interesting question. Delano make two identical looking pickups, the XTender HE and the XTender HE/S. I think the S stands for split coil so should be silent in single coil operation. (UPDATE: This is the wrong way round.) Saying that, the video above is of an HE and I cannot hear any buzz at all. I do not know which one is installed on my bass. Sandberg never replied when I asked, which is a shame but I don't think it changes things much.

Thanks for all the replies to this. After some thought I decided that had there been just one pickup I probably would have gone for it, but two pickups already gives me a wide range of tones, and there's a three band EQ to finesse it further. Two switches would make the front of the bass a little cluttered for my taste, but one switch would do my head in at the lack of symmetry The switches themselves would have been cheap, but I wouldn't have the equipment, the confidence or the skills to install it myself, and that's where the cost would be. I must say I'm bloomin' impressed with the bass. It's making me pick it up every day for a practice. Maybe the odd shape of the XTender is a gimmick, maybe not, I don't know, but it sounds really good to my ears.

My wallet isn't thanking you In all seriousness thanks for the data point. Out of interest which setting would you say takes the lion's share of your playing?

I have a Sandberg Custom with 2 Delano XTender pickups. The pickups are both individually wired in series. Love the instrument, and love the sound. Problem is, this YT vid shows the pups with a switch for parallel/series/single and I love all the sounds on offer, and love the versatility that it brings. I'm taking the bass in for a service and am half thinking about changing from series to parallel, or even asking the tech to add a series/parallel(/single) switch for these pups. What do other people think, listening to the video? The Sandberg sounds like the series-wired samples in the vid. Do you prefer the parallel over the series? Would you add a switch to your own bass in this situation? Am I chasing a dragon?

Great vid. The tone reminds me of a Jess Schmidt, which is understandable given Jeff was playing a piccolo bass.

I played this in a shop, and liked it through certain amps, but others it really brought out the string detail that I don't like, so i'd really recommend trying it before taking the plunge: it's not a silver bullet. I don't know if you've seen it, but there's a different Ibanez with a piezo, but with some traditional Barts in addition so you can have a blend of sounds. It's the SRF700. Haven't played it so cannot compare to the SRH but I would imagine it's a more versatile beast (with a price jump to match). Not hollow body but I'm sceptical if that does anything substantial other than look good, which granted it does!

I own a Bassmax and have ported it across from one bass to another. Based on my experience it really needs to fit well to get a good sound. I've always chosen the G side of the bridge and there the sound has been even across the entire range of the bass. I've had adjustable bridges and I don't think that affected the sound at all, and I agree with @DanOwens in that a double pickup would probably not help, although as a counter-argument I've used the BP-100 which has two piezo elements and didn't notice anything, so it can be done.

I've been trawling through the interwebs for hive mind opinion on this and surprisingly have come back with very little information. I've just swapped strings on my bass. By and large I'm a happy customer, but one thing is really off-putting and I'm not sure if it's my imagination or not. When for example I bow a G on the D string, the G vibrates in sympathy. Now I know this happens on all strings but on these it's really, really sensitive and is very loud, and happens even when I'm playing the G in passing. I've seen posts say this is just a property of the bass, but none saying it's a property of the string. Is it so? It happens on all resonances and harmonics, with the fundamental being really rather obnoxious. It happens when plucking, but with various subconcious muting techniques I can keep it under control. Am I imagining it, or could it be just buyer's remorse? Changing back is a possibility but rather a bigger deal than an electric so I thought I'd ask here for advice. Could a type of strings make it a problem? Can I fix it because other than this I'm happy with the sound? Now you may ask what strings I have on the bass. This is a point of contention as I'm not sure the strings I bought are the ones I received. However I believe the seller sold them in good faith and it's not like I particularly wanted the ones I bought: I'm just messing around trying to find the sound I want. I *think* they are Helicore Hybrids.

Jumping in to say I've just replaced my strings with D'Addario Chromes, basically because of this thread. I'm definitely a fan. When it comes to replace them in 50 years' time I'll definitely buy the same again. Best start saving now. Sheesh they were expensive.

Being the generous soul that I am, I'm willing to take it off your hands if you pay for my petrol or postage fees

I once got a bad back....... from carrying the rest of the band. Aandathankyou I'm here all week.

What are you thinking of doing with a DAW? Recording? If it's multiple instruments or a mic you'll need something like an audio interface, which these days connects to the computer via USB. Choosing one is a whole can of worms but if you're just starting out, take heart that you can get good ones for not much money. Certainly it's a fraction of what you're spending on your new computer above. Reaper is very efficient. I have a computer of similar vintage to your dying one and am able to run Reaper just fine on it. As others have noted, requirements go through the roof if you have virtual instruments or plugin effects HTH

Very good, and very versatile. I own a Sandberg custom so very similar to the supreme range pictured above, except I cannot coil split, yet. Currently musing over adding the requisite switches for that in the new year, but even if I don't I'm happy with the sounds I currently have. I've just looked at the price at Bass Direct and eeek! I bought mine new a few months ago for less than half that. I could do some samples, but there's already a video with these pickups, played by someone who can play better than me. The single coils to my ear get very close to the jazz/p sound

This is an interesting topic as it completely goes against everything I knew about amp/cabinet matching until today. To quote the manual I always thought that this is caused by the impedence being too low rather than the power rating of the cabinet. Also, if you have to back off the volume level, what would have happened if you'd used a cabinet rated at a lower power rating? Confused.

This is an interesting one. The SSL 2+ has a big red button to turn on 4000 series console emulation, but it's just that: one button. There's no granularity and certainly no eq or blending of tones. At $39 I'd be prepared to give the demo a go with a view to purchasing. Thanks for the pointer!

My signal path is about as clean as can be. A cable between bass and either an Acoustic Image Coda or a GSS 06B400MKD. If I'm twiddling with EQ it's because I cannot hear myself rather than I don't like my sound, so I guess it's the room environment that I miss with an audio interface.

I like a clean bass sound as much as anyone, but even I have to say that a cable straight into an audio interface and listening with headphones is just a little too dry for me. The main reason I like doing this is that I can record myself and listen back critically, and I can play along to all manner of things on teh internutz. So just out of curiosity, does anyone else practise through an audio interface? Do you do it dry, or do you spice up your tone with an IR or some EQ? I own Reaper and any workflows involving its included plugins I'd be very interested in hearing. If you wonder what tones I'm interested in, the answer is that I'm not sure. I'm usually very laid back about it, so long as it's not audibly distorted. In other words, this is a very open ended question so I can try others' tips and tricks and maybe steal some ideas 🙂 . Even the dry-as-a-cracker tone I get from the interface is fine, but uninspiring, hence the question. If it helps, the interface is an SSL 2 PS: Spending money is fine for me, so long as it's not too much. Chip in with your experiences anyway even if you have splurged on the Helix Native though!

While not exactly VST, Celestion are offering discounts on some of their IRs. 45% off bass speakers for example https://www.celestionplus.com/products/bass-responses-by-speaker

Not cheap, but there's the GSS bulletpack head which can take an external laptop battery, which they also sell. Head and battery are on their website. You can then pick your cabinet, or cabinets, and get 200W output, for 12 hours if their website is to be believed. The head I've linked to is said to require an external preamp. GSS do make heads with instrument inputs, but their website (or English section thereof) seems to have circular links and I can no longer find it.

How does activation work on the Waves stuff? I'm allergic to iLok.

If you want to convince others that rejoining the EU is a good thing, complaining that your musical instruments and accessories now take longer and are harder to return is perhaps not a compelling place to start. As you say, you don't know what people voted for. I won't comment any furthur on this thread: no good will come of it.

I'm totally with you on the Fishman pickups, I just don't like the sound, even in the hands of people who can definitely play. Barts are much nicer IMHO. Bass looks really nice. Congrats.