| Best Strings for clear tone?
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I have an old short-scale slab with a single humbucking pickup. It was way too muddy when it fell into my care, so I replaced the 250K pots with 500Ks & the sound is a lot better, but I'd like to tweak it a little more.
I put a set of flats on when I got done with it because I had a set lying around, but I'm planning to replace them with roundwounds for brighter tone.
That's how much I'm certain of, now for the questions:
String gauge - intuitively, I'm thinking a heavier gauge will give me higher string tension and fewer random harmonics for a more precise sound. However, my day job is in the science biz & I am very aware that what seems intuitively obvious is very often flat-out wrong. So - string gauge - high, medium or low? Remember, this is a short-scale, so string tension is lower than normal in the base case.
Tapered ends - I read elsewhere on this forum that tapered end strings will give a clearer tone because the center of the string is closer to the bridge saddle - anyone have any experience here? True, false, or somewhere in between?
Winding material - Nickel is reportedly less bright but holds its tone longer. Stainless is brighter, shorter-lived and depending on the brand, may chew up the fingers more. Since this is going to be a back-up/special purpose bass, I think I'll stick with nickel.
Any other suggestions on strings that will help clean up the tone a little? | 
