I bought a cheap beginner 4 string p-bass (Dean Edge 09) to learn bass on and I have a troubleshooting question. The 9th fret sound on the D string is very short sounding, it runs out of sound after a few seconds.

It's the same through my headset and the meh 10W practice amp that came with it. It doesn't do that on the 4th fret on G.

My suspicion is its the pickup itself but then again I am new.

Here is the break down of the guitar materials:

basswood body
rosewood neck/fretboard
the stock soapbar pup and strings

Thanks in advance for any insight and help.


EDIT: I guess I found the answer myself, even without amplification that note does not resonate well. Guess theres not much I can do.

Some basses have what we call "dead spots". It's rare that a dead spot is not something that a good professional setup will minimize but some instruments because of the resonance of the materials cancel itself out at certain frequencies.

This might be what you are experiencing... I'd recommend a professional setup with a reputable tech in your area before you make a conclusion though...

Hope that helps!

Peace!