Hello all,
I recently had a Bill Lawrence P-46 installed in my P-bass to help with what I perceived to be a "soft" low end. It was just a bit squishy and unfocused down there to my ears, and the P-46 was definitely an improvement in that area.
I got the bass back a couple of days before I could listen to it through my full rig, so I was playing through my head and through a small mixing board into headphones. I kept hearing what I can only describe as a faint sizzly distortion coming from the bass (I presume) when playing notes from the E and A strings. I didn't hear the same when playing the D and G strings.
I tried fairly hard to make sure it wasn't a gain staging issue in either the head or the board. I kept all the various levels and trims well away from their peaks. And I wasn't digging in with my fingers - even a light touch would yield the noise.
Trouble is, I don't know whether the bass did this with the stock pickups before, because I never scrutinized the sound in 'phones like that with the previous setup. Also, the bass sounded fine through the rig at rehearsal a couple of nights later (meaning I just couldn't hear it in context with the cabs and the full band playing). I assume it wouldn't manifest in a full band recording situation either.
The only reason I'm even asking is that since it is a new pickup, I'm trying to make sure that it's not a sign of some latent defect (since it only happens on one side).
Here's a recording of some open notes. You'll probably only hear the sound in headphones. You should hear it on the E and A notes, most noticeable right after the attack, and then fading. It is absent on the D and G notes.
http://www.4shared.com/audio/Q53zc80...istortion.html
If this is a normal thing that I should ignore, please be kind when telling me so. ;-) Thanks!
