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I'm going mad (Guitarist is 'hearing' something)

With all of the "guitard's" flying around in here... Is that a word to make bass players feel superior? Is that implying that they are ******** because they play a guitar (the answer is obvious, this is a sarcastic question (for all of the stupid people who would think I was serious))? Do you go to practice or a show and call him/her a guitard?
 
Does anyone really care what a guitarist thinks he hears.? Can they actually hear at all?;););):bassist:

:D HILARIOUS!!!

I can't complain now tho, I'm playing with a guitarist that loves bass :eek: YEP, they do exist! I played with one in my first band to, back in the late 80's. I went thru several bands in the 90's that tried to drown me out. I'm pushing 2000 watts now. I'll never be drowned out again HAHA!! :bassist:


Def check for dead spots on your neck = poor sustain and bad intonation in certain spots. Also, maybe the guitarists intonation is off.
 
First, you should get a better explanation of what he is hearing.

It could be as simple as something on his side of the room vibrating. Check to see if your tuning keys and bridge screws are tight, although you should be hearing it in that case.

Or just tell him “I found the problem, the thingie was loose” and do nothing, surprising how well that actually works with some people.

MM
 
First, you should get a better explanation of what he is hearing.

It could be as simple as something on his side of the room vibrating. Check to see if your tuning keys and bridge screws are tight, although you should be hearing it in that case.

Or just tell him “I found the problem, the thingie was loose” and do nothing, surprising how well that actually works with some people.

MM

Yeah, put a dummy switch (wired to nothing) on your bass. Tell him, "this will fix it" and flip the switch.... works every time!!
 
I'll try to get a recording for you guys.

When you guys say 'muting', I am making the assumption that you mean that I am not muting the Low B and E string on my bass (I have a 5 string).

I actually stuffed paper underneath the B and E strings to make sure they weren't vibrating. I played the song, and he said he heard 'it'.

I play an Ibanez GSR205.

I'd love it if I could pass it off as my guitarist being a 'Guitard', but he isn't. He played bass before he played guitar. He doesn't put any restrictions on me, other than if he doesn't like what I am playing, or thinks it doesn't fit he will let me know. Other than that, I play whatever I feel fits.

I don't think it is a dead spot because it is fine when I use a pick.

Like I said, he can't describe it any more than he hears something.

I think the playing a different bass is one thing I can try. I'll see if that might work (I'll borrow his 4 string).

Thanks for the responses. Did I miss any suggestions by the way?
 
maybe he's hearing a zero beat between you guys....first check your intonation and make sure it's dead on....Then ask him to check his with a tuner.....betcha his guitar is not set up right...You can;'t tune with harmonics and open tuning ...they don't mix too well...it's a problem with fretted instruments ....you can google Just and tempered tuning....that might help explain it !!!!!


bill
 
There's a problem in my group with intonation between the three guitars.......but only one or two notes. It was really bad at a gig, I ended up dropping down an octave on that note (hooray for 5ers). Bad part is........I'm the only one that hears it:bawl:.

If it's not something in the way you are playing (maybe you fret that one further back?), I'd check and see if the note is causing his guitar to react (resonate).

One way to test this is to go outside with your rig and him (no drums or anything else). See if he hears it there. This will eliminate the room vibrating issues :).

Personally, one thing that drives me absolutely batty is when the snares resonate on the snare drum and the drummer doesn't mute em.......grrr...... but sometimes they resonate so slightly that only the bass player can hear it (and the guitars think you're nuts)....... could be something like that?
 
Give the guitarist options. Ask "is it, like, quieter or something?" or, "does it sound out of tune", "does it sound like you're in a different room when I play that note?". I do a fair amount of live sound and recording, and you'd be suprised how many people can't describe what they're hearing, but when you ask a simple question like "does it sound quieter?" they are for some reason able to think again and say yes.

Resonance is a funny thing. You could have something, somewhere, resonating with that note. I've found on many occasions a certain note on a certain fret will cause something in the room to resonate (or more annoyingly, in the amp/speaker). But if I play the same note in a different position it will be fine. The particular fraquency content of that one note in that one position is what's doing it. This could explain why it doesn't happen with a pick. The sound created when using the pick will have drastically different harmonic content. All this could cause something to vibrate, or cause comb filtering with some other instrument or even with the ventalation system around you. You may not hear the vent, but it can interfer with your notes. You could have a duct nearby pumping out a very quiet C plus 10 cents or so. If you play in tune officially, it will beat and make you sound out of tune.

Here's my advice:
Try everything. Play by yourself, play with just you and the guitarist. Add or subtract the other instruments. Play the note in a different position. Pluck every possible way you can think of with your finger. Is your nail hitting? Change where you are in the room. Change where he is in the room. Change the room. Change bass, cable, amp, speaker, etc. Record it and see if it's there on playback. Has the guitarist said anything yet? Is he awake?

If nothing else works, give him a bass to hold and maybe then he'll be smart enough to tell you what the problem is. We are bashing guitarists, right?
 
Personally, one thing that drives me absolutely batty is when the snares resonate on the snare drum and the drummer doesn't mute em.......grrr...... but sometimes they resonate so slightly that only the bass player can hear it (and the guitars think you're nuts)....... could be something like that?
Actually, there's nothing the drummer can do about that. Dummers can't mute their snare wires short of reaching underneath the snare and grabbing em. The reason why you can hear them, specifically, is that the bass seems to react with the snares more. If you play the note that his snare is tune to, his snares will rattle; absolutely nothing you can do about that. Just ignore it... you're the only one who can hear it (if you had earplugs, you wouldn't be able to period).

:hiding: