No sustain on the D string

[CliftonBonney]

Recently, my D string is lacking sustain. It will just die out quickly. At first I thought the strings were just old, so I replaced them. The new set does the same thing. Is it possible that it's just a bad string? It seems unlikely. What could be going on here? Any suggestions? Thanks.

mabey the action on the string is bad, or the intonation? idk really

[CliftonBonney]

Originally Posted by brutal bassist

mabey the action on the string is bad, or the intonation? idk really

Thanks for the response. The intonation is fine. Can you explain a little more about what you mean concerning the action? Do you think it may be too low or too high?

Thanks.

the action is how high the saddle is in comparison to the fretboard, if its low, then im guessing that may be the reason, i dont know really, id ask a professional if i were you

[therex]

is it a fender style bass?
does it happens on al the frets or just open?

[WarriorJoe7]

Is the nut slot cut too wide. If you can move the string around in the saddle then there is the problem.

[CliftonBonney]

Originally Posted by therex

is it a fender style bass?
does it happens on al the frets or just open?

It's a 62" American Vintage Jazz Bass. It only happens on the open string. Got any ideas? I've had the bass for 2 years now and never had this problem until now. Thanks.

I should add that it's most noticeable on the 12th fret harmonic.

[therex]

Originally Posted by CliftonBonney

It's a 62" American Vintage Jazz Bass. It only happens on the open string. Got any ideas? I've had the bass for 2 years now and never had this problem until now. Thanks.

I should add that it's most noticeable on the 12th fret harmonic.

not sure how true is this
but a local luthier told me that fender style basses had this flaw. that they could not hold the D note as long as other notes. he proved it with my bass and in fact he was right, he says that with his MIA p bass the same things happens. but he says its just a design flaw and its no big deal.
he did not explain me why though. but maybe something in your nut or bridge is making this flaw in fender style basses more noticeable

[CliftonBonney]

Originally Posted by therex

not sure how true is this
but a local luthier told me that fender style basses had this flaw. that they could not hold the D note as long as other notes. he proved it with my bass and in fact he was right, he says that with his MIA p bass the same things happens. but he says its just a design flaw and its no big deal.
he did not explain me why though. but maybe something in your nut or bridge is making this flaw in fender style basses more noticeable

Interesting. If it's just the open note that has the flaw, it must be a flaw in the nut, right? A flaw in the neck wouldn't cause the open note to lack sustain, would it?

[therex]

Originally Posted by CliftonBonney

Interesting. If it's just the open note that has the flaw, it must be a flaw in the nut, right? A flaw in the neck wouldn't cause the open note to lack sustain, would it?

i dont think its the neck. it would be prety rare but not imposible, i most likely is the nut. or maybe string gauge, are you using diferent strings now? and you have enough break angle? how many warps are there in the tuner of the D string?

[CliftonBonney]

Originally Posted by therex

i dont think its the neck. it would be prety rare but not imposible, i most likely is the nut. or maybe string gauge, are you using diferent strings now? and you have enough break angle? how many warps are there in the tuner of the D string?

The string gauge is the same. Sorry for my ignorance, but what is the "break angle"? And, what doyou mean by "warps"? Thanks.

[levis76]

I think he meant 'wraps' around the D tuner. As in, how many times does the D string wrap around the tuner. I believe 3 is the optimal amount, but I could be wrong.

[scrodzilla]

Originally Posted by CliftonBonney

It's a 62" American Vintage Jazz Bass. It only happens on the open string. Got any ideas? I've had the bass for 2 years now and never had this problem until now. Thanks.

I should add that it's most noticeable on the 12th fret harmonic.

My American P-bass has this same problem even after changing to a brass nut, a Badass II bridge and multiple professional setups. Even with fresh strings the damn string just sounds dead, open or fretted. At the 12th fret, it's horrible...leading me to believe that I can rule out the nut (I never ever play up that high, though, so it's not really a big issue). It's been driving me slightly crazy for years! My Mexican one with the same mods, however, does not.

[XylemBassGuitar]

Clifton,

Make sure that the part of the string that leaves the tuning head and extends to the nut is at the bottom of the tuning head, under the other wraps. This will increase your "break angle," or the angle at which the string leaves the nut and extends to the tuners.

A steeper break angle at either the bridge or the nut can help improve the sustain. So, you might also be able to improve the sustain by raising the height of the D-string at the saddle, increasing the break angle at the bridge.

Like that luthier said, it is possible that it is just a design flaw with Fender basses...but you might at least be able to improve the issue.

[therex]

Originally Posted by levis76

I think he meant 'wraps' around the D tuner. As in, how many times does the D string wrap around the tuner. I believe 3 is the optimal amount, but I could be wrong.

yeah wraps not warps
and as someone else sugested try with more break angle