B string lacking. . .

DaveCustomMade · #1 11-16-2006, 11:11 AM

Some information on my current fretted bass. It really doesn't sound TOO bad, actually. But the B string is not as strong and seems to be a bit sloppy. I believe it is a 35" scale. But it's output is less than that of the other strings. When I play on the 3rd fret, it seems to be. . . . "dampened". If I don't play it as hard, it sounds better, but the output is definitely less than the other strings.

If I need to take some pictures of my setup, I can do so.

lug · #2 11-16-2006, 12:34 PM

Raise the pup on the B string side.

DaveCustomMade · #3 11-16-2006, 01:02 PM

I did that, but it is still not as strong. I've got it pretty far up at the moment. I may try to raise it up even more, but I'm afraid that I'm running out of screw. Could it be something else in the construction? I thought about getting new electronics for this bass, but if it is the case where the body/neck is causing the problem, any new electronics won't solve it.

guy n. cognito · #4 11-16-2006, 01:28 PM

Is the the Peavey or the "custom" you have listed in your profile? Has it ever been taken for a professional setup?

DaveCustomMade · #5 11-16-2006, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by guy n. cognito

Is the the Peavey or the "custom" you have listed in your profile? Has it ever been taken for a professional setup?

It's the Peavey that is having the problem. I've not really had it in for any professional setup.

Actually, the custom has a much better and stronger B string. It's one of the reasons I was considering a fretted Warmoth neck to switch out with the fretless neck. The Bartolini pickup and preamp sounds very good and strong all across the board.

lug · #6 11-16-2006, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveCustomMade

I did that, but it is still not as strong. I've got it pretty far up at the moment. I may try to raise it up even more, but I'm afraid that I'm running out of screw. Could it be something else in the construction? I thought about getting new electronics for this bass, but if it is the case where the body/neck is causing the problem, any new electronics won't solve it.

My Steinie used to give me fits until I raised the E side all the way up. There is no "wrong" adjustment on the pup, if you can still raise it to get more volume, do so.

DaveCustomMade · #7 11-17-2006, 07:12 AM

I raise the pickup so much that it was nearly touching the B string and the B string was the same sounding. Almost like it is being slightly muted. Kind of empty sounding. The strings are fairly new. DR Lowriders Marcus Miller

lug · #8 11-17-2006, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveCustomMade

I raise the pickup so much that it was nearly touching the B string and the B string was the same sounding. Almost like it is being slightly muted. Kind of empty sounding. The strings are fairly new. DR Lowriders Marcus Miller

Physics says the signal from the pup must be getting larger. That means you either have a preamp limiting the output at the lower frequency or your amp is having trouble reproducing it.

DaveCustomMade · #9 11-17-2006, 09:59 AM

Definitely not the amp. My fretless's B string is strong and clear.

I've been considering getting a Bartolini preamp (3.4) from bestbassgear.com and seeing if that helps out the sound. The bass is already set up for active, is an 18 volt.

DaveCustomMade · #10 11-17-2006, 10:20 AM

I feel as though I need to give this vital piece of information. This bass started out life as a Peavey Axcellerator. I gave it a makeover a while back, and now I wonder if what I did could have affected it's structural sound. You can see what I did on this site:

http://www.geocities.com/orion_vtol/index.html

Go to the "Extreme Makeover - Bass Edition" page to see what was done. I took some wood off the body AND off the head (to make it smaller). This may have caused my problems.

It works well enough on the E, A, D, and G strings.

darthplagis · #11 11-18-2006, 09:07 PM

nice work with the top BTW, just a silly question have you tried a tapered string for the B? just it gives a bit better response as the full width of the string isnt over the saddle so it is a little tighter and less 'flabby' which may be the probem

DaveCustomMade · #12 11-20-2006, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darthplagis

nice work with the top BTW, just a silly question have you tried a tapered string for the B? just it gives a bit better response as the full width of the string isnt over the saddle so it is a little tighter and less 'flabby' which may be the probem

Thanks for the comment on the top. I think it improved the looks (as far as I'm concerned) a great deal. Also, I did take the point off the end of the head, rounding it of a bit more, . . . kinda like a Rob Allen type head.

Anyway, I could try a tapered string, sure. The B string I have definitely isn't tapered. I'm willing to try anything.

FWIW, the B string isn't all that bad. I may have to go with the idea of upgrading to all Bartolini electronics and get rid of the lower quality Peavey electronics.

Thanks for your help!

ElliotBass · #13 11-22-2006, 04:11 AM

yo, Tim Comerford of RATM and audioslave reverses his headstock so that there there is more tension in his B string, fairly big job though.

DaveCustomMade · #14 11-22-2006, 07:07 AM

Well, . . . that is an option. However, if I were going to go through that much trouble, I'd probably just buy a whole new neck from someplace. I'm not even sure how I would go about reversing the headstock, to be honest. An intersting idea though.

However, I discovered that this may be a problem with the pickups that Peavey put into this bass. Apparently, a lot of people report week B as well as G strings on these basses. Someone even suggested that they took the pickups for the 4 string version and used them on the 5 string. So, this may not just be a setup problem. I'm currently considering switching out electronics for some Bartolini pickups and preamp.