Baloney Balderdash

While it is true that just about any other model in the Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder pickup series scoop mids big time it isn't true at all in this specific case, just exactly the '51 single coil P Quarter Pounder is an exception to this and is actually pretty mids heavy, not scooped in any possible way, and even actually has a more pronounced mids response than most other single coil P pickups out there. And I don't agree that different pickups can't result in a substantial improvement in tone either, though of course however we define substantial is totally objective, as far as I am concerned just about every change in this context will objectively measured be relatively minor changes when looking at plain numbers or a graph, however it is exactly those small changes that can make the whole difference between something just sounding decent and then something sounding amazing when we are talking the tone of a musical instrument.

You are not supposed to hit the pickups with the pick, that is not how playing an electrical guitar or bass works. And least of all if you are playing with a heavy gauge pick. You are only supposed to hit the strings with the very outmost tip of the pick. Not really Fender that is at fault here, as far as I am concerned. Edit!!!: That came off a little more harsh and snarky than really intended. I mean of course it sucks that your dad accidentally damaged his new guitar cosmetically. Just saying that it's not entirely fair to give Fender the full blame, and that your dad definitely is responsible for part of it himself. Which I assume he is fully aware of too, since he didn't just send the guitar back. Some equipment is just inherently more delicate than other, and it is the users responsibility to treat it accordingly.

My new favorite pick is the Dunlop Nylon Max Grip .60mm (I know, I know, this seems in sharp contrast to my last response in this thread, but please read on), which is actually a good deal stiffer for some reason than the regular USA Nylon .60mm pick, but using one of the rounded corners of the pick, which is actually a bit stiffer than the regular USA Nylon .73mm pick, and well, obviously rounded.

My beloved Ibanez GSRM20 neck + GSRM20B body Mikro Bass, with a just 28.6" scale length, the stock pickups ripped out and instead having just a single EMG Geezer Butler P pickup installed, wired directly to the output jack socket, also the stock side mounted barrel type output jack socket has been removed, and instead a regular front mounted jack socket has been installed in one of the redundant pot holes, other than that various visual mods... Without further ado: ...I represent you "Dud Bottomfeeder" ! : Edit/Update!!!: One of the knobs now features red electrical tape on top of it, instead of green, so here's a bit more recent, though far from as great, shot, reflecting that change:

Damn, a shame... But thanks anyway, appreciate.

Harley Benton Beatbass FL VS Vintage Series https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_beatbass_fl_vs_vintage_series.htm It sounds amazing, even when just DI'ed, all dry with nothing addtionally done to the signal, like the first half of this video: And the fretboard is Amaranth (Purpleheart), which is actually almost as hard as Ebony, and very very close to being just as stiff too.

I haven't, but love the looks of these basses and would wish they'd make a short scale version of it.

Where's the fun in that? Also I am pretty sure that a standard PJ bass is not what OP have in mind. Not to speak of the gamble if he loves how his current bass plays, especially considering the inconsistency between individual units of cheaper basses (due to lacking quality control, rather than consistently bad quality).

Those pickups are indeed absolutely amazing. I got one of those in my regular 34" Aria Pro II Laser Electric Classic, which was my very first bass ever, that I still own. Though mine is in the middle position, like the one linked to (as I don't know how to include multiple quotes from different pages of a thread in one single reply). I believe they are actually full regular humbuckers in the sense that the 2 parallel coils, connected in series, go the full length of the pickups, but then only got pole pieces on one half of each coil, arranged opposite to each, that is a pair of of dual pole pieces, one pole piece on each side of each string, on respectively low E and A string for one coil, and high D and G string for the other coil, just like a reverse P pickup. Not 100% sure, but think they are steel pole pieces, with a ceramic bar magnet underneath them, on the bottom of the pickups. It also features larger than standard pole pieces, as well as the top of the pickup is arced, following the fretboard radius for a more even output across strings. I'd wish someone would make a clone of this pickup, it is truly spectacular sounding. Super punchy and muscular, but at the same time really well defined, articulate and clear sounding (and that is all passive, which I actually prefer, even if my bass actually has got a build in active preamp). Kind of like a hi-fi (without for that reason sounding polite or sterile in any possible way, just in the sense of sounding very well balanced, defined, articulate and clear sounding) P pickup on steroids.

Leonard Cohen cover by Jeff Buckley There's a blaze of light in every word It doesn't matter which you heard The holy or the broken Hallelujah And even though it all went wrong I'll stand before the Lord of Song With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

Ah, of course! Thank you! Yeah, I never understood why anyone would have their high D and G string sound even thinner, and the low E and D string to sound even more boomy in comparison. But then again it is a known fact that Leo Fender liked to be contrary and do stuff the complete opposite way of everyone else, P pickup orientation defying logic and common sense, insisting on calling vibrato tremolo and tremolo vibrato e.t.c. And having huge success doing so I guess no one dared to question it and just mindlessly proceeded copying what he did.

Is this some sort of riddle?

Thank you Captain Obvious. Yes, and Coca Cola Light is a scam, it isn't actually any lighter but weights exactly the same as a normal one! Noticed how I put "amp-less" in brackets? This is what you call an "amp-less" setup even if in strictly literal terms it isn't (hence the brackets), and I don't think anyone is mislead here to think it actually is or claiming that it is for that matter. As I stated in my OP the obvious advantage of such a setup, beside usually being a lot lighter and easier/more practical to transport, is that you sound more or less exactly the same whether you are practicing at home with a good set a studio grade (here meaning approximately flat response) headphones, DI'ed on recordings, at band rehearsals through a PA or FRFR cab, or through a given venue's PA live, that is to say consistency of tone, and that you can actually count on the settings you dialed in on eventual additional gear/effects at home wearing headphones, at least largely (that is that there it is not going to be a day and night difference and most likely only relatively minor additional tweaks needs being made to make it work wherever).

I swapped the neck from my Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro Bass to the body of my GSRM20B Mikro Bass, pulled out the stock pickups, and installed just a single EMG Geezer Butler P pickup, wired directly to the output jack socket, filling out the empty bridge J pickup cavity with a folded piece of black cardboard, removed the barrel type side mounted output jack socket, installing a regular front mounted jack socket in one of the redundant pot holes instead, and added some transparent and black lampshade knobs to the 2 remaining pots for shows, though I later cut out pieces of green electrical tape to size and stuck it to the top of those knobs, the pickup top getting red electrical tape applied, as well as I applied some small Sherman Filterbank 2 stickers to the headstock, and a Jack Skellington skull sticker to the upper left (right I guess from the perspective of the bass) corner of the bass body : I do ponder on swapping out the stock bridge for 4 milled out solid brass mono rail bridge pieces as well, maybe in the same instance narrow in the string spacing slightly, from the current standard 19mm, to perhaps 17.5mm. The name is "Bottomfeeder", by the way, "Dud Bottomfeeder", secret agent 666.

So I was thinking if there is a pick that specifically approximate the sound of double thumbing (that specific more sort of somewhat subtle slap/pop -esque and soft click like, if that makes sense, compared to regular finger picking, sound)? I was thinking one of the Wedgie Rubber Picks might get close, but if this assumption is true which of them would then get closest, the soft, medium or hard rubber one, and which gauge, the 3.1mm one or the 5mm one? And if my assumption is not right which pick then, if any, would do this?

EHX Tri Parallel Mixer :

Edit!!!: Original reply deleted. Made a couple of changes in my setup and posted the second incarnation of that setup here, however I revisited the setup once again, which I am pretty certain will be the final one (at least for a foreseeable future), and decided to instead just update the OP.

How about 6 string fretless! : And not just for shows either!

Danish band Monoton :

I can warmly recommend the 28.6" scale Ibanez GSRM20 or GSRM20B Mikro Bass. Truly amazing instrument for the price, though you might want to swap out the pickups for some better higher quality ones to your preferences. And the GSRM20B Mirko Bass in Weathered Black finish looks pretty astonishing too:

Beige Floyd Known from albums such as: "Piper at the Gates of Beige" "A Saucerful Full of Beige" "Obscured by Beige" "Beige Side of the Moon" "Wish You Were Beige" So, so you think you can tell Heaven from beige? Beige skies from pain? Can you tell a beige field From a beige steel rail? A smile from beige? Do you think you can tell? Did they get you to trade Your heroes for beige? Hot ashes for beige? Hot air for a beige breeze? Cold comfort for beige? Did you exchange A walk-on part in beige For a leading role in beige? How I wish, how I wish you were beige We're just two beige souls Swimming in beige Year after year Running over the same old beige What have we found? The same old beige Wish you were beige

Little known, but absolutely true, fact : Cliff Burton recorded the bass track for "Master of Puppets" with finger puppets of respectively James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett, but strangely enough looking remarkably similar to how they did in their "Load" phase, placed on the tuning pegs of his bass, and with the low E string tuning peg being equipped with a finger puppet of the Grim Reaper himself. He was truly prophetic like that. Though the conspiracy theory goes that it was actually really part of a black magic ritual that he performed to place a curse on Metalica, sacrificing his own life as part of the deal, and as an evil ironic stroke of genius using James Hetfield's own words against him, basically having James unknowingly chant the incantation sealing the ritual to the doom of his own, as well as Lars's and Kirk's, creativity :

Maybe a sudden realization that if you don't have sufficient fine motor skills to control how deep your fingers dig into the strings, then you might have some issues, beyond what a ramp attached to the body of your bass under the strings can fix, that needs medical attention.