4 string bass G string

[bcclew]

I play a lot of old country the g is just so thin in sound I hardly use it. I think I have seen gauge up to 55 how heavy could I experiment with. thanks

 

[MonetBass]

What kind of bass is it? What is the pickup height relative to the G string? Pics would be helpful.

 

[bcclew]

guild. I have varied pick up height. just looking for fatter sound close too the third fret C maybe I am chasing my tail thanks

 

[Robroy]

I play a lot of old country the g is just so thin in sound I hardly use it. I think I have seen gauge up to 55 how heavy could I experiment with. thanks

I have an active bass. I flip the mid switch to "high mids" and crank it up to get that midrange bite.

 

[JohnArnson]

guild. I have varied pick up height. just looking for fatter sound close too the third fret C maybe I am chasing my tail thanks

You won't get your open string G2 to sound like the C1 on third fret of the A string no matter what you do, but it should be possible to get the strings to sound more balanced tone wise, pickup height have a say here, why MonetBass asked.

But it might be an inherent issue with your current pickups not solved by simply adjusting them right.

I had the problem of my two lightest strings on my 5 string bass sounding weak and thin in comparison to the other strings, no matter how I set or blended the 2 cheap stock J pickups of my bass, however erventually wiring them in series solved the issue completely and took the overall tone of the bass from bad to actually really great.

I don't suggest you wire your pickups in series as that will change the overall tone of your bass drastically, and might not even be viable if your bass only got one pickup or the pickups already are humbuckers, just an example of how a pickup issue can result in bad tone balance between the strings.

You might need new pickups if a simple adjustment of them doesn't solve the issue, in my opinion thicker strings likely won't give a satisfactory result.

Try adjusting your pickups first though by bringing your pickup/pickups up to only a few mm below the G string of your bass, and then adjust the bass side of your pickup/pickups accordingly till you get a balanced output volume between all 4 strings.

 

[bcclew]

i for got these are emc active pickups

 

[CatchaCuda]

Has it always been thin sounding?

I had a lifeless E string on my last string change. I finally set witness points and the difference was night and day. I'm now a firm believer in setting them.

 

[ixlramp]

.055 is already an extra-heavy gauge and the heaviest G used in EADG string sets, any larger and it may break or there may be a little risk of harming the bass.

 

[Jeff Scott]

I had a bass that, no matter what changes I made to it, it still had a thin sounding G strings.

Good luck in your quest, OP.

 

[Tazziedevil]

I lowered the pickup height under the G String to help with mine sounding a bit Plinky.

 

[RSBBass]

Have you played with your amp eq? Also what kind of strings are you using?

 

[Rallypoint_1]

I raised a pole piece on my pick up when my D string was lower in volume. Worked great!! Not sure what PU’s you have.