Question about tone sounding dissonant or "off" on Sterling RAY34 bass...

dontplaydead27 · #1 12-04-2011, 09:56 PM

Hey guys. I've had issues with my Sterling by Musicman RAY34 bass before and posted on here- and here's my other issue. Let me start by saying I had this bass set up a few months ago and got the intonation good and all that, but the problem we had with this bass sounding slightly "out of tune" still exists.

Basically my band is recording an album and when we put my bass direct in, it has some weird overtones or dissonance even though I make sure it's in tune. All the tuners we've used all read that its in tune, but when recorded and played with our guitarists tracks, it doesn't match- it sounds out of tune, though slightly, even though it's not. Like I said, it's a weird overtoney thing. Now when we use an Ampeg VST that we got for Cubase, the problem is non-existant. The bass sounds fine with no overtones or dissonance, and not to mention sounds awesome because of the Ampeg simulation. Why is this? I've read up on pickups being a possible cause of this? Wouldn't the guy who set it up have caught this? The intonation was really off when I got it, (I play CGCF, just fyi) and we thought that was the reason, but he got that pretty dead on, and still have the issue. Today we practiced for the first time in months, and the first time I've played this bass with my band, I can fiddle with my knobs on the bass to get it sounding better, but I can still hear it slightly and it bugs me. My amp ( A Behringer BX4500H Ultrabass) doesn't "mask" it like the Ampeg VST seems to.

My question is, is this common on these basses? Is this something that can be fixed? Is it an issue of pickup height? Any insight to this would be helpful.

dontplaydead27 · #2 12-04-2011, 09:59 PM

Is this in the right thread? I didn't put it in the pickups thread because I'm not sure if that's the appropriate issue.

walterw · #3 12-04-2011, 10:21 PM

too-close pickups (especially the neck pickup) can make for a warbly, out-of-tune sound, from the magnets pulling on it and throwing off its vibration.

also, how old are the strings? bad strings can do the same thing.

in both cases, it's the string not vibrating "true", so its higher harmonics are actually out of tune with its own fundamental. the string is literally out of tune with itself.

dontplaydead27 · #4 12-04-2011, 10:43 PM

I'm not tech-savvy when it comes to musical instruments, but it's just got the one pickup, close to the bridge. The strings are new, due to my superhuman handsweat, I have to change them out constantly to keep the "new" tone I like. So i've went through packs of strings but the issue has been constant. What would you recommend? I wouldn't try adjusting the pickups myself as I would probably screw it up unless I knew it was relatively easy.

dmaki · #5 12-05-2011, 01:18 PM

Hold the E string down at the highest fret and measure the distance between the string and the pickup's polepiece. If it's closer than the thickness of two nickels, simply lower the pickup by turning the height screw counterclockwise. Repeat for the G string. Continue to lower gradually if the magnet continues to induce "warble". Once it ceases, adjust the height for even string balance.

dontplaydead27 · #6 12-08-2011, 08:58 PM

Okay, this is probably a dumb question, but I got 3 screws. I got two on my side, and one on the opposite. Do I have to mess with all three? I'm turning the back screw on my side, the one closest to the bridge, and it does nothing really. I turn the second screw on my side, the one near the neck and it actually moves the pickup up/down- but counterclockwise actually loosens it, bringing the pickup higher. I want it down lower, right? and do I mess with the one lone screw on the other side?

JLS · #7 12-08-2011, 10:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dontplaydead27

Okay, this is probably a dumb question, but I got 3 screws. I got two on my side, and one on the opposite. Do I have to mess with all three? I'm turning the back screw on my side, the one closest to the bridge, and it does nothing really. I turn the second screw on my side, the one near the neck and it actually moves the pickup up/down- but counterclockwise actually loosens it, bringing the pickup higher. I want it down lower, right? and do I mess with the one lone screw on the other side?

The two adjustment screws on the bass side control the pickup tilt, as well as the height. The pickup should be parallel to the strings.

So, yeah, you have to mess with all three. And, yes, you do want to lower the pickup.