ikay

It's most likely the TR200 pickups are passive, in which case you can replace them with any other passive pickup. If you want to run a test, disconnect one of the pickups from the preamp and connect it directly to the output jack. If you get a good strong signal then it's passive.

Have you looked on this archive page - https://support.fender.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000819563-Fender-Audio-Schematic-Archive

Yes, that all makes perfect sense.

Yes 500k vol pots would be brighter than 250k.

It's a simple mod but can you post a pic of your existing wiring?

Mmm, if that's the case then I stand corrected. My understanding is that the signal effectively bypasses the cap when the tone is maxed (wide open). The cap only really comes into play when you start turning the tone knob down. The cap then progressively bleeds high frequencies to ground. Not so?

If the tone is always maxed changing the cap won't make any difference.

A no-load tone pot when maxed will be exactly the same as a VV setup without a tone pot. Taking the tone pot out of circuit will be noticeably brighter. By how much is a bit hard to quantify. Instead of a VV setup you could have a single vol control and a three way switch (neck/both/bridge). That would be brighter still. Or you could dispense with pots altogether and just have a three-way pickup selector switch and an on/off kill-switch. That would be even brighter. Removing all of the pots might sound a bit brittle though. Depends what sort of sound you're after. Best way to find out is experiment with a few different wiring configs. The Fender Mark Hoppus model just has a single vol control (no tone) so that might be a useful benchmark for sound.

A loose tuning key? Hold the E tuning paddle when you play the string, see if that makes any difference.

They're still showing a pic of the original 34" hollowbody in the scrolling picture bar near the top of the Skyline Series page. It is discontinued though I think. I've played one of these and really liked it. It had a nice semi-acoustic vibe but was still tight and punchy.

In case you haven't already seen this..

They're not intended to be adjustable but it may be possible. Depends on the construction of the pickup. If the coils are wound directly round the magnets then it's risky, but if the magnet is in a plastic sleeve then it's doable. The fact that your A pole has already dropped but the pickup is still working suggests that it will tolerate some movement so I'd be tempted to remove the pickup and see if you can push it up with your fingers.

My very first thought but I didn't want to be the first to say it! The 1930s is the only one that's remotely got something different, and even then the blurb ( "until now the market has not offered a true high end example of a 30-inch design") is a bit disingenuous. Has he not heard of Serek basses?

The G and E poles should be flush and D and A poles should be slightly raised. Pic of my USA SUB below. These are great basses. The pickup and 2-band EQ on the SUB is the same as a USA Stingray.

Rule of thumb for setting nut height/slot depth is string clearance above the first fret of .003" (top of the first fret to the bottom of the string) while fretting the string at the third fret. That's about the thickness of a piece of paper. It basically just needs to clear the first fret by the tiniest smidge when fretted at the third fret.

It's a Sentell 'Big Sis' pickup, a 4-pole replacement for a Musicmaster bass. They also do a 'Lil Sis' with smaller diameter magnets. See pics below. Website is here - https://sentellpickups.net/bass.html. Scroll about halfway down for the Musicmaster pickups.

The Hipshot Vintage bridge (18mm spacing version) is a good replacement. You'll need to drill new mounting holes but it's pretty straightforward to install. Pic of it installed on my Bronco below. https://hipshotproducts.com/products/4-string-vintage-bass-bridge?variant=35112332296

The 200pf cap across the vol is a treble bleed to preserve higher freqs when you turn the vol down. It has no effect when vol is fully up. The 6.8k resistor on the treble prevents the cap going directly to ground and gives a smooth treble roll off with no resonant peak when fully down. Without the resistor (ie. normal Fender config) you get a bump when the tone is fully down.

I expect it has internal circuitry to step up the voltage. My Dave Hall VT1-Pro valve pedal is very effective in adding tube warmth and harmonic richness to a solid state amp and that runs on a 12v power supply stepped up to 24v.

Here's an interesting video showing the difference in sound between the HCT and German made models, before and after swapping the HCT pots from 500k to 250k.

Ah, thanks for that!