• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

D. Lakin - first batch of basses!

#162
StuartV said:
There is and this is easy to prove. If you've ever had a nut slot that was cut too low, you will be familiar with the fact that, when the slot is too low, you will get buzzing BETWEEN the spot where you are fretting a note and the nut. Thus, it is clear that the string does vibrate (and not insignificantly) between the fretted spot and the nut when you pluck a note.

And if the string is vibrating noticeably between the fretted spot and the nut, how can anyone say that the nut material makes no difference? Not only is the vibration of that portion of the string being conducted into the neck through the nut, the vibration is also reflecting back off the nut towards the bridge and affecting the vibration of the string between the fretted spot and the bridge. That is the physics of wave propagation.

If you think the nut material has NO effect on fretted notes, try replacing your nut with some high density rubber - some that's thick enough to give you the correct string height when the string is under tension - and let us know how your fretted notes sound.
Click to expand...

This is a reasonable argument, and I am perfectly willing to consider other points of view. But, you shouldn't have to use a rubber nut to test this. If the nut-to-fret affects tone, as you say, then that portion of the string vibrates too. I agree that it can vibrate. By what you are saying, though, I should be able to pluck the note and then mute the nut-to-fret part of the string and hear a change in tone due to muting. I don't. So, there are four possibilities:

1) My ears are terrible.
2) My strings are dead and I'm only going to hear this with fresh strings.
3) You can't hear the difference unamplified. (I am in a hotel and have no amp with me.)
4) This whole thing is BS.

I need to test your "reflection theory" across several basses and through an amp to see if it holds water. Even if it does, though, it isn't going to affect every note all of the time. Some notes "fret out" behind the fingered fret, so there will be no vibration. Sometimes the position of the left hand will mute the potential vibrations. So, even if you are right, it is going to be a "sometimes" kind of thing at best.

How's that Gerald Veasley power cord working out for you? :D
 
#167
StuartV said:
Hey, I did agree with the poster who said the effect would be very subtle.... :)
Click to expand...
Just to follow up, I did get a chance to test your theory with a few different basses and through an amp. I played notes where I muted the nut-to-fret area and notes where I didn't. I played notes where I muted the nut-to-fret shortly after plucking the note. If there is a difference there, I sure can't hear it. So, I'm on either #1 or #4 of my list of possibilities, and I'm leaning towards #4. If there is a difference there, it is definitely several degrees less than "very subtle."

Still, thanks for offering a viable explanation and giving me something new to consider.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: ModuMan
#168
For those who was wondering if Dan will be offering maple FB's.
LakinBluJMFB1.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: GregC

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back