an annoying thing, what causes this?

[rawrOOO]

i think it's the strings that cause this.

on some basses after a while, especially on the E string this happens. say you fret a Bb on the E string. the other strings are being muted. it will sound like there are 2 notes playing and they are slightly out of tune from one another. you hear beating between the 2 notes. it drives me nuts!

anyone know what causes this?????? how can i avoid it?????

[Relic]

I would suspect that the intonation is off - that could cause all kinds of weird subtle/ sometimes not so subtle dissonance. Either that or one of your ears is lower than the other.

[rawrOOO]

Originally Posted by Relic

I would suspect that the intonation is off - that could cause all kinds of weird subtle/ sometimes not so subtle dissonance. Either that or one of your ears is lower than the other.

hi relic, thank you. i dont think the intonation being out would cause this. when it happens it's like im hearing 2 notes at once, except one is a little flatter than the other. or sharper. oh, and ive noticed sometimes if i play the note harder it sounds like one note again.

[Relic]

so it has some sort of harmonic overtone thing going on? Wow dude I dunno. If it's not intonation than I'm not sure what it is. Does it change depending on which amp you're using?

[rawrOOO]

if anything the p'ups are low
definitely not the magnetic pull if that's what u were thinking...

[spudmaster34]

Try raising the pups, just humor me.

[JacksonsMen]

Originally Posted by rawrOOO

hi relic, thank you. i dont think the intonation being out would cause this. when it happens it's like im hearing 2 notes at once, except one is a little flatter than the other. or sharper. oh, and ive noticed sometimes if i play the note harder it sounds like one note again.

your intonation is off.....basically when you fret the Bb you are getting a Bb from the fret, but also a newrly Bb from a wierd harmonc.....try moving the saddle back just a hair and see if that doesnt help

[Jim Carr]

Originally Posted by rawrOOO

...say you fret a Bb on the E string. the other strings are being muted. it will sound like there are 2 notes playing and they are slightly out of tune from one another. you hear beating between the 2 notes...

Are you hearing this through the amp?

[rawrOOO]

Originally Posted by Jim Carr

Are you hearing this through the amp?

both!

ive gotten it on guitars too.

ive gotten it on a 1993 MIJ 62 RI jazz with hard rockin steels, a 73 precision bass with hard rockin steels, a geddy lee jazz with daddario chrome flats, an 80's aria pro thor sound. the GL and the aria are old the old men in the lot. GL's gone now oh and on a 69 RI mexican telecaster. all different amps, DI's whatever

i dont presume im the only person to ever notice this

[mastersrhythm]

As a couple of others said...it is intonation.
I'm having an issue with some new tapered strings I just now put on where the D string just will not intonate. I'm getting the double note sound past the 12th fret. This gets me pretty mad because I just went through hell setting up my 6 string for the tapered strings. My regular string intonate just fine.

Anyways ...long story short...it is the intonation that causes that sound.

[rawrOOO]

yeah i got it on a set of rotosound black tapewounds too

what does it have to do with intonation though? intonation refers to the spacing of the frets across the octave. sort of. well you know what i mean. but why would a saddle being in a non-intonated place cause the double note thing?

[niftydog]

Originally Posted by rawrOOO

how can i avoid it?????

Left hand muting technique?

Sounds like what you get when you let the string between the fret and the nut vibrate, but it's usually not strong enough to be audible through the amp.

[iamlowsound]

It is the intonation. Just check that and if it isn't the problem, I will eat my tuner.

lowsound

[Folmeister]

I don't think it's the intonation. I have experienced this myself. This only happens around and above the 12th fret. To get the sound, just fret the note hard enough to make a sound (kind of like a tap with the fretting hand), but don't pluck it. I just did it with my near-to-hand bass (a Fender Hoppus Frankenbass). You can't hear it through the amp, but it sounds very strange on its own.

[Shelly]

I too have experienced this at various locations along the neck. It seemed more prominent on my Ibanez BTB after I changed from the stock strings (Elixirs) to DR Hi-Beams, then was less pronounced after changing to DR Lo-Beams. I don't recall it going away after the instrument was intonated.

[mastersrhythm]

It is intonation, but another cause of the intonation issue may just be the strings are too high and when pressing down on them it sharpens the pitch just way too much.

[jasper383]

Originally Posted by Folmeister

I don't think it's the intonation. I have experienced this myself. This only happens around and above the 12th fret. To get the sound, just fret the note hard enough to make a sound (kind of like a tap with the fretting hand), but don't pluck it. I just did it with my near-to-hand bass (a Fender Hoppus Frankenbass). You can't hear it through the amp, but it sounds very strange on its own.

In this case you are hearing the two string lengths vibrating both from your finger to the bridge and the finger to the nut; equal lengths of string exactly on an intonated guitar. If they aren't equal lengths, you'll hear the beats.

My vote is intonation as well.

[rawrOOO]

THE BASS IS INTONATED PERFECTLY

dang! octaves are in tune all the way up the neck.

why would i be hearing both sides of the string thru the pickup

[Folmeister]

My intonation is also good. Peterson good. The effect is still present.

[niftydog]

Originally Posted by rawrOOO

why would i be hearing both sides of the string thru the pickup

Sympathetic vibration. Same thing that causes unmuted strings to vibrate when you pluck a string.