Missing Harmonics???

[IronLung1986]

i was wondering if any of you have experienced this before.

i have two main basses, a Rick 4003 and a Warwick Corvette $$. in general, the warwick does harmonics a lot better, they're clearer, cleaner, and much easier to play. i get my manring on lol. but, seemingly inexplicably, there is at least one harmonic that barely sounds on the warwick which comes out loud and clear on the rick . it's the one that's located just on the sharp side of the 3rd fret...in standard tuning it's an E.

i know it's probably not the strings, because i took the strings off the warwick and put them on the rick. and even with old strings the rick does it better than the warwick with new strings. could this be evidence of the fabled "wood difference"?? the rick is all maple whereas the warwick is primarily ash. or is it a neck through vs. bolt on issue? (the warwick is a bolt on; obviously the rick is neck through.)

and if i may say, i don't think it's a matter of technique. i've put some time into it and tried playing that note every which way!

this is more interesting than annoying to me, although if there's a solution to my wick's little deficiency i'd love to know it!

 

[Jeff Scott]

Pickup placement is a major contributor to the harmonic issue.

 

[Calaverasgrande]

Strooth. Pickup placement. Also, the bridges and headstocks come in to play here, as they will affect the dead spots placement on our neck. Likely there is a dead spot on your warwick.

 

[IronLung1986]

hmm. well i guess it could be a dead spot, although there's no discernable problem with any of the fretted notes in that area...or anywhere on the neck that i can hear. and it seems weird that pickup placement would negate just one note. wouldn't be the strangest thing i've heard though...

thanks for the input guys, i hadn't thought of those things.

 

[JTE]

Are soloing the bridge PUP?

John

 

[lowphatbass]

I would try listening for the harmonic acoustically, this should tell you whether it's a pickup issue or not. Check your intonation as well.

 

[StanSzymanskiJr]

I have never owned either of those two basses, but as someone who uses harmonics every day in my playing and recording here is the thing: You have to BOOST THE MIDS on the bass. Some basses naturally have more mids at a flat setting; some do not. So the first thing is to boost the mid control on the bass, perhaps drastically to get the desired effect. If the bass has a 'mid sweep (where you can actually choose the mid point for the eq)', experiment with that as well for the 'sweet spot' to help the harmonics come out.

If the bass does not have a mid control then you will have to use your amp or an eq option you may (or may not) have on your pedalboard.

New strings certainly do help with harmonics and overtones, but you still should be able to make the come out on older strings (I do all the time!). You can check out my harmonics on the video on my homepage if you like at Welcome

Hope this helps!

 

[IronLung1986]

Are soloing the bridge PUP?

John

yea man, i used all different configs.

I would try listening for the harmonic acoustically, this should tell you whether it's a pickup issue or not. Check your intonation as well.

the warwick doesn't have a problem sounding the harmonic acoustically. but the electronics and pickups are pretty high quality...could that really be the issue? i mean that bass generally does harmonics very well in my opinion, except for that specific one. and like...as much as i love the rick i certainly don't think it has an edge over the warwick in electronics. maybe it really is just the pickup placement.

 

[Jeff Scott]

Pickup placement. Learn about nodes and how they relate to harmonics, that may help you understand the pickup placement probability.

 

[christw]

...the warwick doesn't have a problem sounding the harmonic acoustically...

Yeah, another +1 for pickup placement.

Man, now I wanna find out the quirks of my instruments when trying to amplify harmonics. Only my acoustic guitar, Bronco, and B4 have got a good harmonic workout so far but I didn't pay too much attention. Dang it!