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Hi. I'm new to the forum, and to fretless bass.

I recently purchased a 'modified' Ibenez SDGR (SR800 I believe) with AFR-P & J pickups and a Crate BT 100 amp. The bass came with round wound strings.

I can get a lot of useful sound out of this set up, but would like to get more of a 'woody' sound for some things.

Also, do active pickups and nylon strings play well together?

Thanks,

Al

A "Woody" sound is actually difficult to get from a typical solid body electric bass. You also mention nylon strings, these two factors indicate that you might want to audition a bass with a piezo P/U for a more acoustic tone and will work with non-magnetic nylon strings. If you play at all loudly I would advise that you stay away from acoustic basses with a large body, these are prone to feedback. Piezo P/Us are also available on solid body, or semi solid body instruments.

Regarding

do active pickups and nylon strings play well together?

If the strings are 100% nylon, they will be invisible to the magnetic P/Us and will not work. If the strings are nylon or Teflon wrapped, then yes, they will work fine and I think they sound more like a standup bass than other electric bass strings. Nylon/Teflon wrapped strings do have lower tension so some technique alteration may be required.

Search this forum for "Strings" to get more information on the subject.

Welcome to FretlessBass.com

sadowsky flats are the woodest.

There is some excellent discussion on this topic at TalkBass
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=687911