SIT Foundations are really good strings.
Could I have some recommendations for replacement pickups for a Squier CV jazz bass please? The obvious choice seems to be the Fender CS60 set, which are £145 at Thomann (and their number one seller in that category). I play in an alternative/indie rock band. Cheers 
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I love those ‘60s pickups ans have two sets of them now in basses.
The other clear alternative is Fralin. Either standard or split coil (noiseless). I have two sets of these two and they are awesome. I go back and forth on which ones I like best. You can’t go wrong with any of these.
@Al1885 - your thoughts?
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@pete_b I’d suggest trying a few different Jazz basses of all levels to see which pickups you prefer the sound of and using that as a guide to upgrading the Squire.
Preferences are purely personal (and I acknowledge that my preferences for Bass tones are not mainstream 
) but when I was trying out multiple Jazz style basses I was surprised to find that my favorite of all the Fender pickups was the V-Mod II Jazz Bass single coils in the AM Pro II.
I would never have come to that conclusion from reading other peoples reviews, impressions, opinions online.
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Yeah absolutely. Pickups you need to go listen to.
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Hm, interesting idea, thanks. Thing is though that would be fairly difficult practically, and anyway I don’t find there’s much relation between a bass tone soloed at shop volumes vs loud in a mix with drums and guitars. Or at least there obviously is a relation, but my ears haven’t clued into it. Also it’s not like I could go into a shop and try the Fralins, presumably.
The Fender CS60s seem a good bet, especially as the price is lower than a lot of the competition. Will try to find at least some Youtube videos of the Fralins, certainly the online reviews sound good.
What about the same question for my Squier CV P bass? 
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Given a chance I’d spend more and go with split coil for sure, lol. I like the quietness of any pickups, 60 cycle is not my thing. Fralin offers great tone with plenty of muscle to back it up without touching a gain knob. I find that great tones appear when you turn down the volume knob.
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There are a lot of you tube videos comparing pickup tones. geee with @HowlinDawg that a lot depends on what you want. I want vintage J goodness, but you may want a more modern tone. Watch more than one video of the same pickups to get a better data set.
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For a more modern sound, look at Dimarzio’s Model J or Ultra Jazz pickups, both of which are split coils.
My shortlist for P pickups include Fender, Fralin, and Nordstrand. Model P is an excellent pickup, I have one in a bass already so I’m going for something more vintage I think. That’s really the first decision to make, what kind of sound are you going for. Seymour Duncan’s Quarter Pounder (SPB3) and Steve Harris (SPB4) will shine in a mix but won’t have quite the Motown groove.
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I have a MIA Fender Jazz, and I keep going round and round on whether or not I want to replace the single coil VMod II’s with Fralin or Nordstrand splits. I like the sound of the VMods, but I end up picking up noise depending on where I am playing, and I like to favor my neck pickup. I need to get off the fence and make a decision.
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I’d also add Delano, their large pole pickups are simply awesome, lots of attitude and punch. Both P’s and Jazz model can easily pull off the growly tone if Black Velvet.
Their preamps are ok but not standing out except for the xPure. xPure is an excellent add on to any setup and it’s so versatile it can be its own preamp or as a buffer, and it’s colorless.
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Noice you may fix with some grounding work.
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This is why youtube is your friend. All good pickup comparison videos have them both soloed and in the mix.
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I will say the DR Black Beauties on this broken bass I got sound pretty awesome 
Apparently they are stainless steel before being wrapped.
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This week I was messing with Lizzo’s “About Damn Time” (needs a 5er) and my flats on it were not cutting it with the cool disco bits (and certainly not the occasional slap and pops in the tune).
Turns out there are not as many string options for XL 5 strings, so tried out the Labella RX nickels strings and dang if they aren’t just perfect.
I think sometimes just changing things up is good.
Side note: watched Mark Smiths octave exercise videos and they are really simple and helpful at sorting out the muting.
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I’ll have to check that out, I supersuck at disco octaves
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Man I tell you his simple explanation and exercises really was what I was looking for. Lots of reps still to go for sure but it at least told me what my fingers should do. Now to just get over 40bpm. Lol
Seriously, seems to all be muscle memory related. Reps reps reps.
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So, my bass is a 2019 Kiesel Osiris (headless) with a Kiesel SCP split-coil neck pickup, a Kiesel RSC radiused single-coil bridge pickup, and an active 3-band EQ with mid sweep. It’s a 34" scale, and I tend to run .45-.105 round-wound strings (currently EB Hybrid Slinkys). It’s very punchy and, dare I say it, aggressive. And regardless of which strings I’m using, they tend to carry a bit more tension than I see in other basses.
Anyway, I’m thinking that I’d like to put a set of strings on it that wouldn’t have as much tension but I don’t quite get the relationship… would that mean going to like… .40s - .100s? Or the other way?
Also, I’m thinking I’d like to branch out and try some flat-wound strings on it, to get a bit more warmth out of it. But I don’t want to lose all of it’s crispness or brightness.
If I could achieve both goals with one set of strings, that would be perfection.
So what would you recommend?
Edit: oh, it doesn’t need double-ball strings. It clamps the strings at the top of the neck, and the excess is cut off.
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Your answer is TI Jazz rounds. Low tension and feel awesome under the fingers. You WILL have to set the bass up again. Just be aware of that. My favorite string. Jazz flats are my second favorite. But the Jazz rounds just feel and sound so much better to me.
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Narrower gauge is lower tension as a rule of thumb, rounds lower than flats too.
TI makes nice strings. I was playing my FGN last night and thought how much better the hammer ons sounded. Yep I’m a convert
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