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My new problem (audere???)

M

molotovshake

Dec 9, 2008
15
0
Ossining, N.Y.
#1
I just finished( I thought) my newest bass build and have a mysterious issue. I have just installed an Audere 4 band 3z module with Vol Vol Treb Bass Mtreb/Mbass and z switch.
I also have new bart jazz 9J L1 5 string pups. I am getting great sound from the sytem but the D string is half the volume of the rest and seems dead. The string was fine before I put in the new Pre and pups as I had it set up passive first for a few weeks while deciding what I was going to use for a pre. I have used both pups seperately and still have the same problem. Is it possible for a pre to kill a certain frequency like that or does anyone have any ideas cause I am all out and so is my guitar Guru.
Any help would be awsome...
Thanks in advance......Blane
 
#2
The D string doesn't have its own set of frequencies. If the preamp had a problem, I would expect the same note(s) on other strings to also have decreased volume. From your description, it sounds like it is only the D string, correct? That points to a pickup issue.
 
#3
Your bart is probably a P pickup inside a J case, and there's a gap between the 2 halves of the P pickup. Your string is probably over the gap. I get this on my hohner bass (JJ barts) when I bend the D string toward the A. In one pickup, it loses volume, in the other it doesn't, indicating that the string is only near the gap of one pickup and thankfully not both.

Do a simple test - play a high note on the D string and bend it one way and then the other, and see if it gets louder or even softer.

You might need to move your pickup, or tweak your nut and bridge, to get the string better aligned.
 
#4
... PS ... if you have some steel wool, crush it in your hand and see where the little iron filings land on your pickups. It will show you a neat little outline of what kind of magnets you bought. Try and do this wih the pups out of the bass since you don't want bits of iron in your bass or in your strings!
 
#8
I can see how a pickup problem would be explainable but the thing is that on a five the D string is not anywhere near the split in the middle of the pup as the A string sits dead on center of the pup and that gets no dropout. The D string is dead across both pups even when I am using just one the other gets the same results. Thats why me and my Guru are so confused. The D is directly over the bar in the pups. We are going to do some more troubleshooting tomorrow. Probably remove pups and try others and then move on to trying another pre and then go onto ...............Whatever........
 
#9
The gap should be offset between the middle string (A) and either the D or E strings; obviously having the gap in the middle of the pup would kill your A string sound. I've only ever seen the gap on the D side. I think you still should rule this possibility out either by our tests above, or by reversing the pickups so that the B string side goes under the G string and vice versa. If the problem moves to the E string, at least you'll know what it is! And you might get lucky and find that it moves to a gap between strings.
 
#13
Was the string sounding fine with the same pickups before the preamp install WITHOUT you taking off and putting the string back on?

I guess what I'm asking is: did taking the string off and putting it back on during the preamp install also coincide with this mysterious D string problem? I had some wierd chorusy type sounds going on from the D string and the G on my bass after getting it back from a shop this summer. Turned out that the shop had installed the strings with a serious lateral twist along their length.. made it sound like I was trying to be Jeff Berlin (the tone, not my playing).. but without a chorus pedal to explain it. ;)
 
#14
Well not much to report except that if I ever buy from bartolini again I will make sure that the name isn't printed onto the covers in the wrong direction. I always thought you could read them looking at the bass from the front as the body was towards the ground.
Well not this set. As was recomended they worked fine after we flipped em around. Great bit of logical advice that was to simple for people who are wrapped up in a mess to see for themselves. Thanks Dave
 

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