My bass sounds dead, all the time.

[Dave Kulik]

Maybe you play politely ?
My Ray34 sounds so much better when I dig in a little more.
Some basses / pups respond better to the dig and a little more aggressive playing.
The Ray 34 sounds better and comes alive in the bottom and top when I groove hard.
My SX PJ is the same but my other basses are good with a less aggressive approach.

I'm probably the most impolite players on and off stage, lol. I'm a Finger metal/hard rock player. I love to beat the snot out of my strings.

 

[rojo412]

With all of the different things you've tried, I seriously doubt that in ALL of these occasions you happened to set it up wrong or wire it in a bad way that would be a "installer error" issue, every time. This would be a situation of "even a blind squirrel finds a nut..." where at least one of those would sound markedly better.

So I have to believe it's definitely not something with the electronics.

Checking the neck/body interface is always a good move. I seem to recall @handofseven telling me of a bass he had where it had a wicked dead sound happening that was related to one of the neck screws being stripped. Essentially, the neck wasn't being gripped tight enough into the pocket and it was causing bad vibration to happen. Once it was properly fixed, the bass "woke up."
It doesn't cost anything to check that and worst case, it's all good and the bass still has a dead sound.

Very strange though that it is resonant otherwise, when unplugged. I have some basses that barely resonate enough to hear notes unplugged, yet they sound amazing plugged in. And ones that are resonant unplugged tend to be even better.

 

[minimalist freedom]

I would say electronics but you've gone down that road.
Previous posts mention its a wood thing. If it rings good played unplugged I don't think it's the wood or body/neck join.
Tried swapping amps or cabs for a test run ?

 

[Zooberwerx]

Unplugged it's loud and very resonant. I might just do that or just buy an unfinished ash body. I don't know. These quarter pounders should be bright and punchy. Yet everything I throw in it sounds like a jamerson bass with flats and foam under the bridge.

Given this tidbit, I'd get a second opinion. Were you able to demonstrate the "deadness" for your existing tech? Was he able to offer an explanation?

Riis

 

[Jeff Hughes]

I have two 90s P basses. Both originally had rosewood fingerboards. I put Model P pickups in them both. One was much darker. With the tone knob all the way up, it still sounded like it was rolled off.

After switching the neck on the brighter P to a one piece MIJ maple neck and to a two piece MIA maple neck on the darker bass, they have swapped tonal qualities: the brighter one is darker, and the darker one is brighter.

I never thought swapping necks would change that much. So depending on what you want to do, you could try a different neck. Depending on how you go, it can be costly, but I think swapping necks is a fun way to trick yourself into thinking you got a new bass...which we all like.

 

[frankie5string]

It's not possible to wire a single pickup instrument out of phase. Well, unless you wire the two coils of a dual-coil out of phase with one another. But a single P pickup only uses one coil per string, and therefore there's nothing else to be out of phase with.

If you did wire the two halves of a P pickup out of phase, the strings would still sound normal, but the hum-cancelling would be negated.

I can't remember what it was, it might have been a DiMarzio or an SD but it did have the ability to wire the individual coils of the split however you wanted to. It wasn't hard-wired any which way. So you could have a toggle for serial/parallel. I was thinking more about the wiring between the tone pot and the volume, though. If there was something wonky in there, you could probably make it sound very nasal and uninspiring.

 

[Ruknrole]

Check that the positive on the jack is not touching the body inside the cavity. I had an issue not too long ago while changing the pickup where my p bass sounded great with the pickguard out, and would drop significantly in volume when I would reassemble it. I bent the positive tab in a bit and it stopped. My guess is that it was touching the shielding paint inside the cavity and some of the output signal was going to ground.

 

[Tim Skaggs]

Exorcism.

 

[Dave Kulik]

Thank you everyone for all the comments! I'm going to try 4 things
1, wire the pickup straight to the jack and see if it makes a difference.
2, go back to active and put the emg BTC in the tone position (I did this before and sounded great) but this time route out a battery box in the back cuz taking the pick guard off to change a battery sucks.
3, strip all the paint off, stain it and seal it with tung oil.
4, maybe get a new neck.

 

[Dave Kulik]

Exorcism.

Yes!! Or rename it "the dark lord" and go with it. Lol

 

[logdrum]

Stop any more attempts to correct it. You sound like you know what you are doing and I would not have gone as far as you. Just accept it. Buy another bass.

 

[Bander]

I've got a guitar like that. I've tightened, adjusted, swapped everything with another better guitar, and concluded the neck, and or the neck/body combination are working against each other, some kind of cancellation or something. The result of trying to make this guitar work has been valuable, in learning some tree's just don't want to be an instrument (good quote btw).

I've got a new neck to try as a final attempt. Its been sitting about a year waiting in line with a dozen other projects ahead of it.

 

[Dean N]

Checking the neck/body interface is always a good move. I seem to recall @handofseven telling me of a bass he had where it had a wicked dead sound happening that was related to one of the neck screws being stripped. Essentially, the neck wasn't being gripped tight enough into the pocket and it was causing bad vibration to happen. Once it was properly fixed, the bass "woke up."
It doesn't cost anything to check that and worst case, it's all good and the bass still has a dead sound.

I came here to say this, and I'm glad that someone that actually builds instruments (and does a killer job of it, too) suggested it.

If you can swing putting threaded inserts in the neck, that would solve the problem of the neck joint being an issue. (Machine bolts > wood screws)

 

[yodedude2]

I came here to say this, and I'm glad that someone that actually builds instruments (and does a killer job of it, too) suggested it.

If you can swing putting threaded inserts in the neck, that would solve the problem of the neck joint being an issue. (Machine bolts > wood screws)

and i came in here to suggest threaded inserts with machine screws for the body/neck attachment as well! if that don't save it, nothing will.

edit: also try tuning it down a half step or whole step and see how that affects it.

 

[sonojono]

I would highly recommend @TN WOODMAN suggestion!!

 

[bigsnack]

The "some trees" quote is the best I've read on here in a while! It's very true as well. It could be the neck, or the body, or the joining of the two together. In my experience, there's only so much change pickups can impose on a bass. If the bass itself has something inherent going on tone wise, there's usually not much you can do to remove that, unless there's something wrong with the nut or the bridge.

I had a very nice bass by most standards: very nice looking, quality parts, comfy neck profile, good fretwork, etc. but there was always something going on in the upper midrange that bothered me. After three pickup sets, it had to go.

 

[HardNHeavy]

all those mods and it's still dead?...........firewood!...unless they used "petrified wood" to build it.

or as mentioned change the wiring. .....Try a brass/tusq nut and or keep experimenting with strings or throw some barts in there.

 

[Kukulkan61]

Your bass is its own thing, there's something going on with the wood of the body and neck not gelling together, it is what it is, sell it and get one that suits your taste, nothing is gonna fix the inevitable...

 

[wraub]

When I get a used bass, I typically dissasemble it, clean every mating surface, and reassemble everything as tightly as the fasteners allow (hand tools only).

It's amazing how many instruments have schmutz in places that should be schmutz-free. The neck/body interface is critical- definitely be sure there's no wood bits, polishing compound, etc there that could kill resonance. Tighten bridge and tuners screws, too. Be sure all hardware is as tight to the bass as possible.


That said, it may just miss being a tree.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Quick question, I have a 90's P bass. No matter what strings, pickups and pots I put in this thing it just sounds "dull". For pickups I have put in Duncan SPB 3 (current), spb4, dimarzio model p, emg p, emg px, geezer p. And they all sound like poop. I put all those pickups in other basses and sound amazing. I have also used 250k and 500k pots in any combination. 25k for the active. I have also tried nickel, SS, coated, cobalt and kryptonite lol. It has a maple jazz neck, hipshot tuners and a gotoh bridge. Can a bass body just create a constant dead, no treble bass tone?

I didn't see anything about changing your amp's controls. It might not be the bass.