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Is this right? Precision bass troubles :~(

C

cameltoe

Nov 12, 2008
46
4
Cornwall, UK
#1
My P bass has been sounding a bit odd for a while, mainly on the A string. There seems to be alot of sustain on the A string, much more than the other strings, and it has been sounding distorted and wavy. At a gig the other night i noticed (and mentioned to my drummer) that the A string was sounding alot punchier and louder once fretted. When played open, it was weird and alot quieter, once fretted it had alot more thump. Anyway, as i'd had the bass checked out electrically and all was fine, i was going to have the amp checked out, and in the meantime i just sat down to lower my pickups a bit, to see if it helped at all. Thats when i noticed that the A string wasn't behaving like the rest when unplugged. It seemed to have that same long sustain and wavyness unplugged, so i had a quick look at the bridge, looked ok i guess, but something weird is going on at the nut. All the strings seem secure and tight at the nut, but the A string, I can just pull it right out of it's groove in the nut no problems. Even tugging quite a bit on the other strings, and further down the neck for more leverage, they won't shift, but the A just slides out, even from the 1st fret. It's like it doesn't have any tension at the nut at all. The string tension feels fine to play, it's not like the string is real floppy, it's just at the nut where it doesn't seem to be tight and secure like the others.

Is this just a precision bass normality or is there an issue here which could explain why my bass has been weird?

Cheers in advance.

p.s yes the bass is in tune!
 
#3
There's a thing called "approach angle"; it's the angle at which the string goes from the tuning peg to the nut. The lower the string exits the peg, the greater the approach angle. I think that's your situation, the A string exiting the peg too high up resulting in a nearly straight approach angle to the nut.
 
#4
A couple of options here, and yes, it is a fairly common problem on basses without angled pegheads:

1. Don't cut your A string too short; make sure it has enough "wraps" around the tuning peg to keep good downward pressure on the nut.
2. Install a better "string tree" that presses down the A string too, not just the D and G.
 
#5
02JazzFretless.jpg


I don't cut anything off my A string so I can get enough wraps around the tuner post to get it to sit as low as possible. That's worked so far for me, but some people end up putting a 2nd string tree on their bass to get that downward angle.
 
#6
I've noticed the same problem especially on my '96 American Standard P. Fender made the head thicker and the angle that the A string makes over the nut is not enough to hold it down firmly. I installed two string trees, the little black ones with rollers. Problem solved.
 
#7
Approach angle is definitely the problem here! I'm lacking any kind of angle at all, to be honest. It's dead straight from the tuner to the nut on the A string, and not a million times better on the E to be honest. It's a new bass, i only bought it a few weeks back and it came from the shop like this. Looks like quite a bit has been clipped off the end of strings before they were fitted. I'll fit a new A string without cutting anything off it in the meantime, and try and get hold of a string tree for the A string as a more permanent solution

kraigo said:
Check to see that the pole pieces on the A string aren't too close to the string.

KO
Click to expand...

Yeah the whole pick up height thing has been doing my head in anyway. On the Fender website it says "2.8mm clearance bass side, 2mm clearance treble side" And i have two issues with that

1. My bass came with both pickups "angled" downward towards the outsides. The inner edge of each pickup sits much higher than the outer, so does that mean 2.8mm on the outside edge of each pick up, and 2mm in the middle of each pickup? Or does it mean the WHOLE E/A pick up should be 2.8mm across, and the whole D/G pick up should be 2mm?

2. The music shop i took my bass to before commented that the pickups were a little high, but when i press down on the last fret and measure the distance between bottom of string and top of pole it comes out at more like 3.5mm(smallest gap)-4mm(largest gap), which is easily enough clearance according to fender.
Does anyone have any clearer instructions??

'By Ear' probably won't help much, im new to bass playing on the whole, so it's a fair bet i'll balls it up.
 
#9
also try changing the string if you have a spare... I know that after a while some strings will stretch and get thinner in some places than others and it'll look and sound wavy... happened with an upright once and it just caused the A string to sound weird.

To test the downward pressure problem... get a tuner... drop the string like a quarter-step... then hold it up into tune to see if it still sounds weird... I think it's easier than trying new strings only to find out the first ones were perfectly fine
 
#10
cameltoe said:
1. My bass came with both pickups "angled" downward towards the outsides. The inner edge of each pickup sits much higher than the outer,

<<snip>>

Does anyone have any clearer instructions??

'By Ear' probably won't help much, im new to bass playing on the whole, so it's a fair bet i'll balls it up.
Click to expand...

The angle on the PU's you see is just about where Fender sets them all on the new stock basses and P's in general forever. It's somewhat to match the radius of the fingerboerd and the strings, which should also match fingerboard radius. You know the "curve" of the top of the fretboard.

Actually your "ears" are the best judge. Forget numbers, they are just a starting point. You might still have to fine tune the adjustment somewhat. Just keep it simple. Play the bass and listen to which strings sound stronger or weaker and raise or lower your PU's to compensate. Just go slow and make small adjustments at a time. If you feel your ears are getting overloaded, walk away for a few minutes and then play and listen again.

Just remember don't get the PU's too close to the strings or the magnet pull can kill the tone.

Keep Low :bassist:
 
#11
Cheers for all the advice guys

I've put a spare string on for now, one that i had lying around. Unfortunately i had already clipped a bit off the end, but not nearly as much as the one that was on there. It's a bit more angled than it was, but could still do with more angle in my opinion. Sounds better, still a bit wavy and weird, but not as bad as it was.

Ordered a new string tree, so i'm hopeful that will end the issue once and for all once it's on there.

I'll have a play with the pickups tomorrow, think there's room for improvement there.

Keep low huh? prob a good idea. Don't want to lose that p bass thump though
 
#13
Got my first P yesterday, and rehearsed with it for the first time today, and I think I may have tha same problem. The stock strings are on, and they are cut pretty short. Feels like the A string has a slightly "duller" sound than the rest of the strings. Changing into a set of Rotosounds soon, so I'll try the angled approach to the problem..
 
#15
I'm surprised to hear this. My 72 P-Bass with TI flats is just awesome on the higher frets. So fat and smooth - it's like the sound I always wanted but didn't know was so easily achievable until I put that bass and those strings together. Meanwhile, my Jazz Bass has a beefier bottom end, but not as smooth a midrange.

60bass said:
Another TB'er says it better than I do when he says there aint no money past the 5th fret :)

I try to keep low, play less notes, make money, and play forever. The Fender P is perfect for that ;)
Keep Low :bassist:
Click to expand...
 

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