How to even out string volume

[lowendgenerator]

Last night was my first gig with my MM equipped P bass. I have it tuned CGCF and strung .130 .085 .065 .045 DR Lo Riders. (per the tension chart.) My low C sounded noticeably louder than the rest of the strings. I know the set is a bit mismatched, but the tension is spot on perfect. I'd like to keep using this setup, but I need to even out the low end response between the C and G strings.

My setup: I have a Guitarfetish HOT MM (frickin awesome!) wired to 500k volume and tone pots, .047 cap. I ran through a Yamaha NE-1 parametric set to Deep 7 to bring out the snap of SS against MM, into a MXR DI+ set flat with the notch out, into my SVT CL with 4x10 and 1x18.

I should mention that I have a compressor, (Alesis Nano stylee) but for whatever reason didn't run it in the signal chain.

 

[fullrangebass]

Try lowering a touch the bass side of the pickup and/or raising a hair the low C string. If this fails, you need to engage the compressor to even out the signal differences

 

[Shiro]

Sorry to hijack a bit:

Which GFS MM pickup is the hot one? The alnico or the ceramic? I'm really thinking of getting one. Do you have it in the traditional MM spot or the Pbass pickup spot? How's it sound? Can it tame down and sound smooth and mellow?

 

[lowendgenerator]

It's the Alnico model and it's very nice. GFS hit the nail on the head with this one. It's pretty much in the traditional MM spot, I got it as close to the bottom of the pickguard as possible, I'll photograph it and post a pic for you. It sounds like a MM should, tons of girth and when run through a parametric EQ, that great pop/slap sizzle. I don't have the bass wired for any fancy switching, just the MM to a volume and tone (500k), but if I roll off the tone it gets a nice round sound without loosing a lot of mids. It seems like this is the result of a 500k tone pot, I'm going to play with different values and settings and see what happens.

If you're thinking about buying one, do it! It's a fantastic bang for the buck.

PS: back on actual topic. I ran my nano compressor in-line last night and it helped a lot. I ran the ratio at 8:1 and I was able to get the same response string to string, and from fingers to a pick. It sounds a little smooshed, but I play in a hard rock band, it's pretty much balls out start to end, so it's fine.

 

[Shiro]

Woh, thanks! Looks like I'll be getting one sometime then.