Paolo85

If muscles are hurting, stop playing Speed and techniques are not synonyms And this:

Right, I decided to just go ahead without glue. I reused the foam from the stock pickups and everything stays together just fine. And the Wilkinsons are great😁

This is technically correct. It seems some people can do without. Setup is subjective ultimately. But obviously, if you want a buzz free bass and a straight neck, as a compromise you would have to raise the saddles more then you would with some relief - in most basses, certainly in my basses, way more. This can result in an action that overall is not very low, as well as in intonation problems

I really can't tell who my favourite bass player of all time is. Most of the people that I might consider for the position have already been mentioned so I thought I'd mention someone who would otherwise be very unlikely to come up here: Markus Grosskopf This German guy, bass player of "happy metal" band Helloween, even in his genre does not have the standing of a Steve Harris or a Steve Di Giorgio. As a band, Helloween were never at the top of my list and I rarely listen to them these days. They have nothing to do with what I try to play now. But, for the genre, I think Grosskopf's bass lines were always absolutely spot on. Some 20 years ago, when I was pretty much only into metal, I would have chosen him as my favourite. Especially for his playing in the widely ignored album Pink Bubbles Go Ape.

Thanks. Yes that's the Alnico one, bought via Amazon from VansonGuitars (first time I use them) as I get free delivery. I am sure I can get foam easily, just I am a bit puzzled by the packaging as well as the cover. For what I know they could have sent me used pickups

You out the superglue between the top of the bobbins and the bottom of the cover, right?

Thanks. I may return the Wilkinson to be honest. It was sent wrapped in a piece of paper basically. And they provided springs instead of foam which are clearly not suitabe. I don't know.. I don't have a great feeling about it. I'd rather return when I still can do it with no hassle... Tonerider was from another seller and at least was in a box

Right, so that's probably a stupid questiin. I am about to replace some pickups for the first time in my life. I have received today a Wilkinson P and a Tonerider J. In one of the Wilkinson pickups as well as in the J, the pickup cover does not stay on. That was not the case the couple of times when I got some pickups out in the past. Besides, the Wilkinson comes with screws and springs for the screws so I am not sure what would keep everything together. The Tonerider came with foam (although the description said it would come with springs) Is that normal? Thanks

I think this guide is good and the measurements here are always my starting point (except do not bother with the intonation BEFORE setting string height and truss rod, and do not worry about neck shim/micro tilt unless you cannot do a proper set up). What I do with a new bass is getting roughly to that Fender recommended setup, and then adjust further if needed. You may want to try a lower action (I always try, rarely manage). The lower the action the more likely you are to get string buzz. You can lower the action either by straightening the neck with the truss rod or by pushing the saddles at the bridge down. Typically, if you do it with the truss rod you risk fret buzz up to the fifth fret, with the saddles after the fifth. You may want higher action, or be forced to do that by fret buzz. In the latter case the opposite apply. If the buzz is near the neck use the truss rod (add relief), else the saddles. You may find that when you add relief you get a side effect of more fret buzz around the 12th fret or further toward the bridge. If that's the case, often times instead of going down a spiral of more relief and more string height I just compromise and decide that a certain amount of buzz on a couple of positions is fine by me. More expert people would have better advice on that.

I am not familiar with the RB so I cannot help with similar strings. However, it looks to me you can find them for 5 string as well https://rotosound.com/product/rb45-5/ I am not sure, however, whether you can find them the same size

Thanks. I doubt it is the switching per se, more wiping the strings extremely thoroughly with a good cloth. Ibhave good hopes grease will come back!

That's very helpful many thanks! It opens a massive dilemma for me This is a Squier Made in China 2008, with I believe alder body, and it sounds much better than my Squier Affinity PJ of recent construction with stock pickups and with poplar body. I was planning to get the same P pickup on both and see how they compare. But given that the Wilkinson Alnico has a much better reputation and only costs 4 pounds more.. I may just have to go for that. Decisions..

Happy to report that, yes, after just two weeks the strings were starting to even out. Very thumpy sound all over the fretboard as long as I turned the tone down just a little bit. Unfortunately, as I had to remove the strings a second, I gave them a very good wipe because, I thought, surely there is more to breaking in than some grease. But no, strings are back as new, with annoyingly bright D and G

Right, so no sticker. Would you be able to tell me if this is alnico or ceramic? The magnets for the two pickups look quite different.. not sure if it is age? Many thanks

Thanks! I see that right now Wilkinson is selling Alnico V pickups for £23 https://www.northwestguitars.co.uk/wpb-precision-bass-pickups-alnico-v-magnets/ I wonder if they are the same pickups and they have just cut the price..

Hi all, I have bought this Squier P with a Wilkinson pickup which I like a lot and I would like to put on another bass. The pickup has been there for at least over 5 years. The logo does not look like that on the WPB and MWPB pickups on sale now at various shops for £20ish. It looks instead like this pickup out of stock at Andertons described as "Wilkinson P bass humbucker set" and for double the price https://www.andertons.co.uk/bass-dept/bass-guitar-strings-accessories/bass-guitar-pickups-electronics/Wilkinson-Alnico-V-Bass-Pickup-Pair I cannot find those pickups in stock at mainstream shops although some sellers have it on Reverb/eBay, also for £40-50 Do you happen to know what are/were they? Are they actual stacked humbuckers? Thanks!

Unfortunately, unlike you I realy want the Jaco sound, so for that it is very hard to replace the HB J on a budget. With cheap PJs I always fear I'd have to replave the J pickup... If I was you, I would really give rhe HB B450fl a chance. Dealing with Thomann is quite straightforward. You'll have it at your door within a week. If you don't like it, you return it

I play fretless purely for fun. No band, no studio. That seem to be Jonesy's plan as well at the moment. Have owned two unlined and two lined. I find that I enjoy unlined much more. Having the lines pushes me to look more. Not having them pushed me to listen more. Ultimately I have settled on a lined HB JB75fl because for what I am looking for, you cannot beat it in terms of value for money. But sometimes I think about replacing it with an unlined. Which is why I am following this thread closely. But it looks like options are not infinite on a budget.

This. It is certainly fine to spend 2k on your first bass if that budget is fine for you. However, with 2k I am not saying you have the world at your feet but the choice you have is massive. And there is no amount of reading and advice and youtube videos that will tell you if, on a bass, you prefer 38, 40 or 42, 43mm nut width, U, C or V shaped necks, single coils, humbuckers or split, at the neck or the bridge or both or a combination - and alnico or ceramic, or active or passive etc.. On the other hand, I am sure the good people of Basschat will point you to a fine bass you can live with. @itu said it as a joke but honestly I think you'd be much better off buying three very good and very different basses second hand here for 500-600, give yourelf a good anount of time, chose a favourite and sell the others, or sell all and buy an upgraded version of your favourite.

Thanks all! Yes it is the sleeve. Quick and simple solutions. The PTFE in particular looks like a very quick job. Is there a risk that 2mm of softish material (the tape) will affect tuning stability?

Hi all. I have just bought some Hipshot Licensed Ultralite used here. I jumped at them because at the moment I have a bass with cheap tuners that is a bit neck heavy and could do with less weight, and another bass with cheaper tuners and proper neck dive. However, the hesdstock holes do not match the size of the Hipshots for both basses. The main candidate for the tuners now is a Harley Benton JB-75fl, the one with neck dive. It has 18mm headstock holes (tuners are 16mm). It seems Hipshot sells adapters but I have only found them for sale from the US and I cannot spend $50ish postage on a £155 bass. So.. how do I fit them? I obviously would need a solution that does not add weigh to the bass... I read somewhere that I could fill the holes with superglue and baking soda and then drill. Would that be the right thing to do? Would it be heavy?

I have just bought some tuners from John. Communication was great, postage was superquick, tuners were well packaged!

Many thanks!

That's very helpful many thanks!