Baloney Balderdash

Just like I very much doubt all no name Chinese pickups are the same, I know for certain that all pickups that you call "hi-fi" are not the same. Neither is the tone they respectively reproduces the same.

Jaco only needed 2 strings, yet he played a 4 string bass: And here's the same guy playing a 12 string fretless bass:

Also fun fact, Jaco Pastorius's son, Felix Pastorius, who is also an absolute monster bass player, plays 6 string bass. And if following that tendency statistically Felix's son will play a 9 string bass...

I did mention 2 string basses though.

EMG Geezer Butler P pickup. Edit!: Just had a read through the thread and see that the Geezer P has already been suggested, and that OP already bought a Nordstrand P. On that note: I assume because Bobby Vega already was endorsing EMG pickups, and they thought that his original 1960 P pickup sounded awesome and would be a good match for Geezer Butler? Also not alone is the Geezer P emulating Bobby Vegas 60 P pickup, it is as far as I gathered in fact a pretty exact replica, as they had Bobby's pickup in and analyzed meticulously, in all aspects except for the fact of the Geezer P being solderless, internally shielded, and sealed. In any case a truly amazing sounding pickup. Vintage voiced, but extremely well defined and articulate, exceptionally clear sounding, and really dynamically responsive, with a nice amount of punch, snap and bite.

You know very well that was not what I intended to do, and you would have to be unusually confrontational to interpret my post as such. Your posts however can only be interpreted, beside of course really just being argumentative for the sake of it, as not wanting anyone to play 4 string bass, but 5 string instead.

Not really, a 5 string neck will feel different than a 4 string neck regardless. Also I think it is quite ok for me to prefer playing 4 string basses, just as it is ok for you to prefer 5 string basses, without having to feel obliged to try to convince everyone else to respectively do so too. I think it was pretty clear that I was talking about my personal preferences without really trying to make an argument why everyone should feel the same, I honestly don't know why you apparently made it your mission to question my personal preferences, seems a bit odd and out of place to me.

Yes, but in this case in the context it was kind of pointless.

Shots & Ladders - LOW

Punch In The Nose - Sebadoh

He most certainly did! Leo Fender first an foremost was a businessman, if that had not been the case the first Fender bass would have been a greater instrument, albeit not as popular. As is with most things in this world.

Take These Hands And Throw Them In The River - Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra

As others already said, this is not a Gibson, the model name though is actually Gibson, though this one slightly modded. Got to admit this particular one looks pretty amazing, but I am pretty sure plays and sounds horrible.

All new from Chelsea Wolfe:

No it's not. Music is the most advanced form of communication we humans are capable off. Football is a game at best, at worst it is just a way to show off your physical and acrobatic capabilities, in other words a circus act. Of course music can be a circus act too, but not primarily the music I listen to. To OP, sounds like you need a serious talk in the band about this, but honestly unfortunately it sounds like your band mates are not as dedicated to the idea of playing in a band as you, and if that indeed is the case nothing good will come out of it but frustrations. Have a serious talk with them about it first though, and be completely honest and frank with how you feel about the current situation, be firm but not angry though, you got nothing to loose really, before making any rash discissions.

I personally much prefer the more narrow fretboard of a 4'er, and for one actually appreciate that there is a bit of physical action going on when playing, having to jump up and down horizontally on the neck to get the notes you need. The inevitable wide fretboard of a 5'er just feels clumsy and cumbersome to me, and staying in one spot feels dull and makes playing less fun. So for me 5'ers compared to 4'rs are both physically uncomfortable and less fun to play for me. And horizontal playing just somehow, beside being more fun, feels more naturally to me.

I wouldn't mind one of them Hagström short scale 8 string basses either:

Not sure I understand this... G#, as in? You mean G#0 as in 3 half steps bellow the low B on a 5 or 6 string bass?

Don't know if this will be too big, but I can warmly recommend the NUX Melvin Lee Davis Bass Preamp + DI, Melvin Lee Davis signature bass preamp. It's digital, but of really high quality, letting you chose between 3 different amp emulation (and NUX promise more will be added somewhere in the future), which is NUX's own modeled MLD signature amp, an Aguilar Tone Hammer amp, or a Norstrand StarLifter preamp, and 8 different IR based cab simulations from stock, but with the option of loading more 3rd party IR cab simulation of your choice onto the pedal. It sounds no less than amazing, is really versatile in terms of the variety of tones you can get from it, and of excellent build quality, but is really affordable and astonishing value compared to what you get (138£/159 Euro at Thomann). Regarding the size it is 115mm wide, and just 105mm deep (that is less wide and deep than the depth/height of a standard Boss pedal, and considering the top mounted jack sockets it wouldn't actually take up much more space than a standard Boss pedal).

No! 4 string instruments is a joke! Mozart was wrong, he should have insisted writing pieces for 5 string violins, cellos and basses! And Jaco was a hack! On a more serious note: Enough for what exactly? Entirely depends on the music you write/play. Do you need a low B string, but also a high G strings, then no, a 4 string would not work for that, otherwise, yes, it would be all you really need. Stig Perdersen from the Danish hard rock band D:A:D (Disneyland After Dark) never needed more than 2 strings, a low E and a low A string, and is famous for owning a huge collection of weird custom made 2 string basses. This being one of them:

Fender didn't event the electric bass guitar, there were several earlier examples of it than Fenders first non split single coil P Bass, he just popularized it.

You do use roundwound strings right? Though some P pickups just sounds rather muffled and wooly inherently (so swapping the pickup for a more well defined and articulate P pickup ought to help. A shame about the EMG Geezer Butler P not fitting, as that would have been perfect for that). Applying a HPF around 40Hz, and eventually cutting some low end further, around 100Hz to 200Hz or so, and boosting some high mids, around 1kHz or so, should help improving definition and articulation though.

An old track with a psychedelic electronic duo project I had with a friend a few years back, him being responsible for co-programming along with me (we usually would take turns in programing a layer or a couple of layers. I programmed/wrote the bass, as I often would, and the organ, of this song), and then me additionally being responsible for physical instruments (this track features a really fuzzed out and fu..ed up guitar solo), vocals and mixing (mind I have gotten considerably better at mixing since then. I also did the illustrations): Sorry, should have been posted in the "Share Your Music" sub forum, could a moderator please move it there?

The all analog now discontinued budget Valeton Aquaflow Vintage Chorus, which is based on the legendary Boss CE-1, but in a much much smaller enclosure and with more controls, sounds not short of amazing. The Boss VB-2 Vibrato, or the budget clones of it the Behringer UV300 Ultra Vibrato or TC Electronic Tailspin Vibrato, mixed in parallel with clean signal, via for example a Boss LS-2 or similar effects loop mixer, makes for a really lush amazing sounding chorus effect as well. And actually the digital Boss CE-1 emulation on the Line 6 M5, or on the Line 6 Helix as a legacy effect, or on the Zoom MS-70CDR, actually sounds surprisingly good too.