Why do flats sound sharp to me ?

[walruswaspaul]

Hi,

I have a bizarre problem, on my main bass (an EB0) that I noticed when I was playing along to some mp3's. I was playing along to an mp3 the other day and I noticed that some notes on my bass sounded a little sharp particularly the 5th fret of my A string. I would not have noticed it if I were not playing along to some music , anyhow whats weird is that this only seems to happen when I am using flatwounds. I have checked my bass with an electric tuner and it says that the notes on my bass are all in tune , what could be causing this , any ideas ? Maybe its my hearing , who knows ? Help !!

[Nick Kay]

I can see two possibilites.

1) Intonation is off. Just because the open strings are in tune doesn't mean every note on the fretboard is in tune. Do a full setup on that badboy, just to be safe, and pay extra-close attention to when you're intonating.

2) Intonation on the RECORDING is off. It's completely possible that you're not sharp, but the players on the recording you're listening to are slightly flat. Check against a song off of another record.

[svenbass]

Have you checked the intonation? That would be the place to start. If that doesn't do the trick I'm sure we (the talkbass community) will have some ideas to share!

[walruswaspaul]

ok , im thinking maybe it is to do with the flatwounds having a deeper fundamental and less overtones as the bass sounds fien with roundwounds (?) Have checked it with an electric tuner and it seems to be in tune across the neck

[Mike Shevlin]

I am often out of tune when playing with itunes although my strobe says I'm fine - I think it's the recording.

[fretlessspence]

your ears are flat?

[rockstar744]

Is your action so high that you stretch the string to fret it? :shrug:

[Flintlock]

Its possible they may have sped up or slowed down the recording slightly in the studio, which raises or lowers the pitch accordingly. Its unlikely, but possible.

[svenbass]

Interesting issue. This is a just a guess, but I am reminded of the time I tried some Jamerson Flats (LaBella) and while they were not necessarily out of tune, they just didn't work with my bass ... they sounded 'wrong'. I believe I may have had a bad set, as I tried them on a few basses and had the same result.

So I guess my next question is, have you tried a different set of flats?

Of course this is assuming the previous posters' (Flintlock and Rockstar744) suggestions have been fleshed out.

[walruswaspaul]

Originally Posted by svenbass

Interesting issue. This is a just a guess, but I am reminded of the time I tried some Jamerson Flats (LaBella) and while they were not necessarily out of tune, they just didn't work with my bass ... they sounded 'wrong'. I believe I may have had a bad set, as I tried them on a few basses and had the same result.

So I guess my next question is, have you tried a different set of flats?

Of course this is assuming the previous posters' (Flintlock and Rockstar744) suggestions have been fleshed out.

This is the strange thing , I tried a set of very light gauge flats which sounded fine and rounds sound fine , Im guessing that because my tuner says all the notes across the neck are in tune maybe it is to do with the strong fundamental that you get with flats , im stumped Its only a couple of flats so I think I will probably just leave it for now

[walruswaspaul]

.

[tallboybass]

Thanks for the new sig.....

[Mayers]

Or on the record the bass players is tuned EbAbDbGb instead of EADG

[John Wentzien]

With a short -scale bass, the tension of the string is much less. You might be pulling it sharp when you are fretting. (sideways a little bit?)