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do i need an equalizer

S

SuperSluggard

Jan 2, 2004
280
1
37
#1
The E string on my bass is louder than the rest of the strings. :confused: Actually on both of my basses it is like this. On my amps equalizer, I can't dial in the right setting to get them to blend together. When I listen to proffessional recordings, all the strings blend together real well and you can't hear one over the other.
 
#5
SuperSluggard said:
The E string on my bass is louder than the rest of the strings. :confused: Actually on both of my basses it is like this. On my amps equalizer, I can't dial in the right setting to get them to blend together. When I listen to proffessional recordings, all the strings blend together real well and you can't hear one over the other.
Click to expand...


I agree with the others here: you don't have an EQ problem, you have a pickup/string height problem. If you have a "P" style pickup, this is easy: just lower the low side of the low side pickup. If you have "J" style or soapbar pickups, it's a little trickier and requires compromises. But relax, it's all stuff you can do yourself with a screwdriver.

Post back with the pickup arrangement on your bass (and make/model), and we'll go from there. Also, if there are two pickups, let us know if the problem is worse on one pickup or the other. Are the pickup polepieces exposed?
 
#7
SuperSluggard said:
I have a Fender Jazz bass. I think the low side of the pickup closest to the neck is too high. I think the problem is there.
Click to expand...

You have two choices here. You can either lower the bass side of the neck pickup, or you can raise the bridge saddle on the E string, moving it away from the pickup. This latter option may yield a lower volume of the E string from the BRIDGE pickup.

You may notice, once you've lowered the bass side of the neck pickup, that your A string signal from the neck pickup is a little lower in volume. If this happens, you can fix it -- to a degree -- by lowering the A string bridge saddle to bring it closer to the pickup.

Once you do these things, you may notice that the relative volume of the neck and bridge pickups has changed.

And, of course, raising and lowering bridge saddles will change how you bass feels to play.

See how everything is inter-related? That's what I meant by "compromises". The right set-up for you is the one that balances all of these needs -- string-to-string balance, feel, and pickup-to-pickup balance. You may not ever get it "perfect", but with a little experimentation and trial-and-error, you will get it pretty close.

Good luck. Let us know where you went.
 
#8
eli said:
You have two choices here. You can either lower the bass side of the neck pickup, or you can raise the bridge saddle on the E string, moving it away from the pickup.
Click to expand...

I'll try raising the bridge saddle on the E string. This should get rid of the slight buzzing (if i don't press down hard enough when moving from fret to fret), too. I'll have to adjust the saddle for the G string too, that thing is totally screwed up (action is too low, the saddle is in like a diagonal position.)

Thanks. I'll let you know what happens. It could just be bad fingerstyle technique, as I tried using a pick and it seemed like each string was as loud as the next one. :rollno:
 
#9
Ive known a couple of players to use a different gauge E (and even B) strings to "round out" similar problems without too much tweaking of the setup. If your like me, once the setups in place Im very hard to convince to change things. I have a J as well, and using Rotosound Swing Bass 66 strings, .105 - .45, havent observed any volume discrepancies, my pickup heights are properly adjusted for sure though.
Anyhow, much luck to ya and I hope you find resolve with it.
 
#11
SuperSluggard said:
Thanks. But I still havent resolved it. The E string is annoying. I might try a .105 E string, right now I'm pretty sure its .100.
Click to expand...

Actually, if the .100 E is too loud, you should try a .095 (heavier strings are louder). But that could lead to more fret noise.

What have you tried so far? It really sounds to me like the E saddle is too low (too loud AND fret noise). I think you'll kill two birds with one stone if you raise the E saddle.
 
#12
eli said:
Actually, if the .100 E is too loud, you should try a .095 (heavier strings are louder). But that could lead to more fret noise.

What have you tried so far? It really sounds to me like the E saddle is too low (too loud AND fret noise). I think you'll kill two birds with one stone if you raise the E saddle.
Click to expand...

Yeah I did that. Now the E string sounds too weak. I'll mess around with it. I'm also getting new strings soon.

I'm just curious why the E string didn't show up so well in a recording, but it cuts through (it did) more than every other string.
 
#14
I'm pretty sure I have solved my problem, by resting my thumb on the bridge pickup (jazz bass) and playing there. Everything sounds even and I like how it cuts through well. :D

I'm still not sure, I didn't really pay attention to it today, but at the end of practice I realized something was different. Next band practice I will pay more attention to it.

Oh, and I lowered the pickups a bit too. So it sounds pretty good when playing over the neck pickup also. But I will definetly be resting my thumb on the bridge pickup now.
 

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