For the past several years I have been using a Deuce pickup by Andy Lee Cheng on my bass fiddle. I used his Ace pickup before that. The design was brand new and I actually convinced him to make a small modification that did not impact the sound. My old Fishman began to act up and could not be fixed. I needed something quick that I could install and reasonably priced. I have, unexpectedly, been using it ever since. So if you are dealing with the issues I mentioned above you might want to have a look. I have no financial interest in his work, but he has been very helpful to me and the bass sounds great, so I would like to give him props. http://www.andyleechengpickups.com/ I mostly play pizz.. Jazz or in the orchestra pit for a Broadway show.