I’m going to give it another go...

I got a 10 String a while back and just couldn’t love the melody side.
I am a bass player that also plays guitar.
I DONT want to just try to make the melody sound like an odd guitar

I’ve only used it on a few projects just for Bass.

I’ve never played an 8.
I did briefly try an NS.
Should I consider trading my 10 for an 8

Is there a tuning I would find more useful for Bass on my 10?
Even wondering about setting the melody side as a Baritone.

I am working on a record now and am deciding if this will be in my “pallet”.

I had the same issue when I started years ago, however, I found I could cover everything on the bass with either a Grand or a 10 string... I had an SB8 and I have had an NS... I went back to the Grand Stick... if I were you I would either get Baritone Deep Melody (which would be very cool) or get the Deep Bass tuning (depends if you have an Active2 or Passive 4... Don't think that tuning is possible with a Stickup). Start thinking out side the box of a "bassist"... expand harmony and melody, your playing will really take off... Best of luck to you!

Mine is a Stickup Passive.
I just did some digging and I have a few old sets of strings.
Turns out I have a set of Melody Baritone so I put those on to experiment a bit.

AGREED on the not being a Bassist thing.
I have BASSES for that

With my extra sets of old strings I could probably cobble together a Dual Bass reciprocal at least to experiment with. I could see using it for melodic bass lines but the Baritone or Deep Baritone as you mentioned is probably the most useful.

The tuning symmetry of the Deep Baritone hurts my brain a little

Why won’t that tuning work for stickup?

I would say check out Dean Kobayashi's NS Stick channel. Maybe also check out some of Don Schiff's work. He does some great bass / crossover work.

What do you want from the Stick? If it worked exactly the way you wanted to, what would that look like or sound like?

I'd like to increase the average of notes that I am likely to use and have more voicing options

I like the tone of strings 6, 7 and 8 the most.
It is the clavinet type bite that I don't usually want.
Percussive yes.

Raising the strings seems to help.
Heavier gauge strings would help.
The same pitch played on string 8 as on string 5 (1 fret difference with Bari Melody) sounds way better on string 5

I'm going to fish through my extra strings and look for a heavier one to experiment and see if Deep Baritone is interesting

Beyond that, I might want easy access to more low register notes on the melody side.
I don't know if I want a full reciprocal bass or not.

I have 2 identical bamboo Grand Sticks in MR with medium gauge strings. MR has plenty of ballsy low range on the melody side to my ears and the whole instrument has a 5 octave range from C1 to C6 with lotsa range overlap between the sides. On a 10 string that would be called a deep baritone tuning. One of my Sticks has a Stickup which sounds (to me) punchy on the bass side and mellow and delicate with a strong fundamental on the melody side like a jazz box - but it's not wimpy and certainly not dull. My other Stick has a PASV4 which is quite punchy with a bit of twang like a Ricky bass with new strings on the bass side and the high strings on the bass side tonally match the same range strings on the melody side. And sounds kinda like a honkin' Strat on the melody strings. 2 different animals. The PASV4 has the hottest output of all the Stick pickup modules plus 2 pickups per side, selectable mid range filters, humbucking or single coil, in or out of phase combinations, lotsa tonal tweakability so it can cover other ground as well. Maybe you need to change to a Stick with a different pickup..

I am really liking Deep Baritone.
The harmonic layout is very logical...I like where the notes are falling under my fingers

I am playing through a Helix Rack for the most part.
I have a few compressor and fuzz pedals as well and a Spring Reverb and an old Quadraverb in the FX Loops.

On the Bass side, I am most often going to use as a two handed bass rather than chords

I have an SB8 on order. I am thinking of having three bass strings and five Melody strings , whatever works for you find your way.

I think that’s a good move,
I had tried an NS standard bass tuning and found it unpleasant to play.
Disadvantages without the advantages if that makes sense.

Look at tuning diagrams and think about lines you would play vs chords