Bass tone not sounding right

[lug]

You haven't recently pissed off a very old woman (likely one-eyed) in either New Orleans or Haiti have you? Because this has all the hallmarks of a Voodoo curse.

 

[Dave W]

So then you need to try one cab at a time.

The reason would be to troubleshoot the phasing issue more.
Try cab #1 alone, then try cab #2 alone.
If your issue stops happening the issue is likely phasing between the two cabs. One set of speakers is firing outward and the other set is firing inward.
If it isn't phasing it's still a clear cut answer that the issue is happening because you are using both cabs at the same time.
Now you just narrowed down what you need to troubleshoot.

 

[Musicislife816]

So then you need to try one cab at a time.

The reason would be to troubleshoot the phasing issue more.
Try cab #1 alone, then try cab #2 alone.
If your issue stops happening the issue is likely phasing between the two cabs. One set of speakers is firing outward and the other set is firing inward.
If it isn't phasing it's still a clear cut answer that the issue is happening because you are using both cabs at the same time.
Now you just narrowed down what you need to troubleshoot.

Ok say that is the case, how does that explain the same issue happening on my Fender Rumble combo and the Acoustic amp I bought that sounded fine in the store?

 

[Dave W]

Ok say that is the case, how does that explain the same issue happening on my Fender Rumble combo and the Acoustic amp I bought that sounded fine in the store?

No idea. I think you've got a few simple problems going on so we're working one at a time through basic troubleshooting. Start with the simplest thing first and narrow things down quickly and easily.
If this tests out fine then I'd start looking at the bass. If you have a way to try it through headphones and no cabs I would. Potential issues could be the set up, pickup(s), pickup height, strings, battery, etc.

Any of this testing would be without your pedals and using a known good cable.

 

[Musicislife816]

No idea. I think you've got a few simple problems going on so we're working one at a time through basic troubleshooting. Start with the simplest thing first and narrow things down quickly and easily.
If this tests out fine then I'd start looking at the bass. If you have a way to try it through headphones and no cabs I would. Potential issues could be the set up, pickup(s), pickup height, strings, battery, etc.

Any of this testing would be without your pedals and using a known good cable.

I have plugged into the headphone jack on my Fender combo and I could still hear that it was off

 

[tvbop]

Go to a store and play any store bass and amp and get back to us. You gotta start eliminating stuff.

 

[Musicislife816]

Go to a store and play any store bass and amp and get back to us. You gotta start eliminating stuff.

I already have. Thats why I bought the Acoustic amp was b/c it sounded fine in the store.

 

[tvbop]

Its starting to look like a technique/string thing then. I bought a new squire recently and the strings were the worse things I have ever touched...No mids at all just a flabby indestinct bassyness....I think evryones running outta ideas

 

[Verb the Noun]

1. Problem persists with multiple basses, multiple amps, multiple cables and multiple locations.

2. The ONLY common factor if we accept #1 as true is YOU.

Ears/health or technique sir.

 

[wave rider]

I missed the different locations, but have you plugged a new wall wart into the circuit for a phone/tablet/laptop recently?

Just a thought…

 

[Bass Jones]

If the combo sounded good in the store with store bass, then bad at home with your bass even through the headphone jack, that would seem to indicate your bass(es) or your perception. Or some combination of multiple things.

Perception is a funny thing...it may be that as you started noticing one thing you began to notice others. But that warbly/chorusy noise in the high notes in your recording is pretty distinct to me so I believe you that a problem is there, I can hear it.

Just to clarify, do you hear that warbly/chorusy sound with all of your basses or just the one you made the recording with?

 

[Musicislife816]

All of them

 

[Troglodyte1911]

Could poor power contribute?

 

[agedhorse]

Are you close to Oak Ridge, TN? Do your basses or amps glow in the dark?

 

[Musicislife816]

Are you close to Oak Ridge, TN? Do your basses or amps glow in the dark?

I live in Columbia, TN and my Spector has luminlay side dots. Nothing on the amps produce light except the power indicators.

 

[Bass Jones]

Waitaminute, you don't live next to a magnet factory, do you?

JK, maybe get someone to bring their bass over and play through your setup?

 

[Musicislife816]

Waitaminute, you don't live next to a magnet factory, do you?

JK, maybe get someone to bring their bass over and play through your setup?

Thats something I've been thinking about doing as well.

 

[Old Fart]

All of them

A warbly/chorusy sound suggests the pickups are too close to the strings. People sometimes think, incorrectly, that their bass will sound better/louder if the pickups are closer to the strings. If they are too close, then the magnets in the pickups will influence string movement.

 

[Musicislife816]

But

A warbly/chorusy sound suggests the pickups are too close to the strings. People sometimes think, incorrectly, that their bass will sound better/louder if the pickups are closer to the strings. If they are too close, then the magnets in the pickups will influence string movement.

But why would it all of a sudden sound different if the pickups haven't moved from where they have been? Which they haven't

 

[Old Fart]

Agreed. You are focusing on what changed, and this is good thinking.

In any case, Fender publishes bass setup procedures which included pickup height specs. It is something you could measure in a half-minute. Or just adjust them away from the strings and see what happens. You seemed to confirm a warbly/chorusy sound, and this does suggest insufficient distance between pole magnets and strings.