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It depends on the type of pickup poles. Pickups with a 'double pole' configuration (eg. standard Fender) give a fairly broad and even magnetic field so string alignment isn't that critical. Pickups with single poles are far mores sensitive to string alignment. See vid below - if you jump to 3m 40s he demonstrates the effect of sideways displacement of the pickup which is quite significant.

Yes, the saddles can be adjusted a little wider if needed.

I had a Roxy B5 for a short while. Lovely bass and I would definitely have kept it were it not for a couple of small niggles that just didn't quite work for me. These were quite minor issues and I actually wish that I'd kept it! Here's my list of pro and cons: Pros - Excellent build quality, great neck and fretwork (could easily dial in a low buzz-free setup), quality ETS bridge and hardware, loved the single Xtender pickup - much more versatile than you'd expect with series/parallel switching, excellent Glock preamp and active/passive switch, sounded fantastic and played superbly. Cons - at 9lbs 7oz mine was a bit on the heavy side for me (I was hoping for closer to 9lbs but it was a distance purchase so took pot luck. I know some B5s are much closer to 9lbs), the body and headstock felt a bit chunky and no forearm contour, it felt a touch neck heavy.

This might help (see schematics in fourth post down) - https://forums.vintageguitarandbass.com/gibson-basses/eb0-wiring/

Here's a 14v adaptor on Amazon. 3amp rating is fine, your Backbeat will only take what it needs. https://www.amazon.co.uk/ARyee-S19B300NW-S19B360BW-S22B360HW-S22A330BW/dp/B079M8R6Y2/

I have an HCT Club which I really enjoy playing. The staple pickups and pickup spacing give it a quintessentially Hofner vibe so it's quite a different animal to the Mouse, but I think a piezo would bring out a whole other side to it's character. Here's a comparison pic with the bridge and nut aligned. Which shows up how compact the Mouse is!

How about modifying a Hofner Club with a contact pickup or an undersaddle piezo? With the right strings and setup that might be something worth experimenting with for pretty low cost.

Yes, lined fretless. The most amazingly resonant and 'alive' bass I've ever played.

The Shuker Artist has a similar vibe to an MB-2. Comes in a variety of different configurations. https://shukerguitars.co.uk/basses/shuker-artist-bass Also the original Godin Acoustibass with a double cutaway, which is often called a poor man's RA. Not too many of either of these around but they do come up for sale from time to time. On the short scale front, I've never come across anything that looks or sounds quite like an RA Mouse. I loved mine but no longer have it - dang!

Yours trumps mine by about 10 years lol! 👌

Here's what olympic white looks like after 58 years of wear and tear 😎

Here's a pic of the olympic white Pro II from the Fender website for ref

This should help - https://forum.gibson.com/topic/62347-thunderbird-pro-wiring-diagram/

If you want better control of mids then something like the John East Mid Sweep module would be a better bet than a low pass filter https://www.east-uk.com/product/mid-sweep-01/

I recently bought a state variable low-pass filter with variable Q from Helmuth Lemme. Details here - https://www.gitarrenelektronik.de/produkte/aktive-elektronik/state-variable-filter-detail. High quality electronics and reasonably priced. Intended for onboard installation but I configured mine as an external pedal to have the flexibility to play around with different basses. Works great. Freq range is from 300Hz to 5kHz. Q factor is continuously variable (weak to strong) with a pot or you can use a 3-position mini-switch. There's also an Alembic style filter called JTEX Distiller made by a chap in Canada available on ebay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/JTEX-Distiller-Alembic-style-Resonant-Low-Pass-Filter-for-Basses-VIDEO-DEMO-/233803173958

The paint on mine (ex BreadBin) is quite thin and showing signs of wear in places but it has a lovely soft worn-in feel. Here's a pic of the top edge. Personally I prefer necks that have been well played and naturally worn in. Like an old pair of slippers.

Thanks for that, it looks like a great bit of kit.

How do you find the Blackbird tube preamp? I'd be very interested to hear some sound demos if you have anything? I've looked on youtube but can only find demos with guitar, nothing with bass.

The original Gibson mudbucker sure had some hefty coils!

That's interesting. Mine dates to Aug 2004 which bears out the switch to parallel.

I think the USA SUB is wired in parallel, same as a regular SR. Mine certainly sounds that way. The extra thump is most likely down to the 2-band eq which works quite differently to the 3-band.

I'd like to hear a demo of the vViper bass but can't find anything on YT. Can you point me to any demos itu?

Happy Birthday! What's it like to be so young, I'm way ahead of you 😄