Sound Problem

[oilcanharry]

I have a Fender P-bass 4 string with P-62 pickups and Daddario chrome flat wounds. A Ampeg SVT4pro and SVT-410 HLF cab. I am try to get the brightness out of the G string. I'm trying to get the sound of the Guess Who bassist Jim Kale. The G string is to bright or harsh as I see it but can not get a deep smooth sound. Any ideas?

Thanks: Harry

[adamnitti]

harry, are you saying only the G string is coming across as too bright? it's really hard for me to offer specific insight without hearing it, myself, but if there is a lack of consistency between different things i would check the following things:

1. setup of your bass, including pickup height... especially with passive instruments, the distance between the top of the pickups and the bottom of the strings has a tremendous influence on the tone of the instrument. i've seen situations before like yours in which there was an unevenness in tone with a couple strings, and it ended up being an issue with mismatched pickup height and saddle height adjustments that were all over the map...

2. although it is unlikely, you might have a problem with the pickup underneath the D and G strings... if you check everything else and the problem is still there it would be worth swapping out your pickup with another just to test the same condition.

hope that helps.. the instrument and rig you have described definitely shouldn't be yielding brash or harsh top end if things are adjusted correctly.

[oilcanharry]

Thanks Adam: I will check the pickup height adjustment.

Harry

[stiles72]

+1 pickup height. Not sure how you have your amp EQ'd - but if you haven't tried adjusting the treble yet, you may need to roll that off just a tad. There's always the foam under the strings trick that might keep the G from ringing and also thump up the rest of the strings as well.

[jgroh]

Not to step on anyone else's toes here but, where do you have the tweeter set on the 410HLF? I suppose it would create unwanted treble response across the board but, I have it turned off completely on my HLF because its too harsh. Just a thought.

[BigOldHarry]

Originally Posted by oilcanharry

I have a Fender P-bass 4 string with P-62 pickups and Daddario chrome flat wounds. A Ampeg SVT4pro and SVT-410 HLF cab. I am try to get the brightness out of the G string. I'm trying to get the sound of the Guess Who bassist Jim Kale. The G string is to bright or harsh as I see it but can not get a deep smooth sound. Any ideas?

Thanks: Harry

One Harry to another: Get roundwound strings. That'll fix ya!