RESOLVED New Bass Build has no Lows

[Bass'd on a true story]

It's possible that there is nothing wrong with the bass at all, and it's just an extremely uniquely voiced instrument. I just want to make absolutely sure before I marry it.

 

[Axstar]

This is more or less what my bass sounds like. To ME that sounds like a very uneven treble-heavy tone. Maybe others will disagree. I am using the same bridge as the one being demo'd in this video.

It might be worth a shot. There is a fuzzy middle ground between science and mythology when it comes high-mass and full-contact hardware (which teeters, in part, on how well you trust the word of salesmen and fellow bassists ) so there is no reason not to try swapping out the bridge.

You might find that a $5 Squier bridge opens up a sea of low end.

 

[Bass'd on a true story]

It is also worth mentioning that the neck has graphite stiffening rods in it and is quarter-sawn. I don't know if that lends to an instrument being less warm, but I have heard some people suggest that as a possibility.

 

[Deleted member 165050]

Have you tried it with just the neck pickup? Also as others have said you need to check your potentiometer and capacitor values, and your wiring. You haven't got a treble bleed cap in there by any chance have you?

 

[Bass'd on a true story]

Have you tried it with just the neck pickup? Also as others have said you need to check your potentiometer and capacitor values, and your wiring. You have got a treble bleed cap in there by any chance have you?

The configuration is Master Volume/Blend/Master Tone/Kill Button/Output Jack. Everything functions completely correctly as far as potentiation goes. I have logged probably about 20 hours playing the bass so far. I'd say 80% of the playing has been in the P bass only position, but the lowend situation sounds more or less identical regardless of how much of what is blended in.

 

[RedJag]

What was the bass made out of? What are the tone woods? If it’s made entirely out of maple or a similarly bright wood that could explain the super aggressive tone. Also checking that solo’d pickups sound Ok is worth a shot, could be a phase issue.

 

[Bass'd on a true story]

What was the bass made out of? What are the tone woods? If it’s made entirely out of maple or a similarly bright wood that could explain the super aggressive tone. Also checking that solo’d pickups sound Ok is worth a shot, could be a phase issue.

Pretty traditional setup.

Neck = Quartersawn maple/rosewood (roasted maple). I finished the maple with Tru Oil and the rosewood with lemon oil.
Body = 8lb Alder P-Bass shape with a side jack.
Electronics = passive P/J (aguilar P/ Kloppmann J). Blend knob, Stellartone Bass 10 tone knob, Kill Button, Output.
Hardware = Hipshot Tuners (with D-tuner), Babicz Full Contact Bridge, anodized aluminum pickguard.

That's about everything I can think of.

 

[two fingers]

We simply need more info if we're going to help.

Describe in detail the makeup of the bass. Body wood, neck joint type, fretboard material, frets, all of it.

Also, what basses are you comparing it too. There's a chance your other basses my be on the warm side?

Also, all of my P basses with the tone knob dimed and new rounds sound really bright.

Are you able to fatten it up using your amp EQ? If so, you have to problem. That's why the dials go from 0 to 10. The entire sweep of the knobs were considered when the amp was designed just for this reason.

 

[RedJag]

Only thing I can think is that the stellartone could have been wired weirdly. Since it’s an unusual tone pot, perhaps your electronics guy wired it through instead of to ground (like a volume pot instead of a tone pot) which would turn it into a high pass filter and block your low end. The lower you turn it the more bass gets added back to your signal without getting darker. If the bass does indeed get darker (I.e. lose treble) as you turn down the stellartone, then that’s not likely the problem.

 

[Bass'd on a true story]

We simply need more info if we're going to help.

Describe in detail the makeup of the bass. Body wood, neck joint type, fretboard material, frets, all of it.

Also, what basses are you comparing it too. There's a chance your other basses my be on the warm side?

Also, all of my P basses with the tone knob dimed and new rounds sound really bright.

Are you able to fatten it up using your amp EQ? If so, you have to problem. That's why the dials go from 0 to 10. The entire sweep of the knobs were considered when the amp was designed just for this reason.

I've owned quite a wide variety of basses and I used to work in a music shop with a huge assortment. Never in my years have I owned or played a bass as bright as this one. The full list of components is just a few posts above yours. The issue is not so much the brightness (which the tone knob tames fairly well), it's the lack of bottom end. Rolling off the tone doesn't fix it not having a bottom to begin with. It just ends up sounding even and bland.

 

[Bass'd on a true story]

Only thing I can think is that the stellartone could have been wired weirdly. Since it’s an unusual tone pot, perhaps your electronics guy wired it through instead of to ground (like a volume pot) which would turn it into a low pass filter.

That's interesting. I've never heard of this before.

 

[RedJag]

That's interesting. I've never heard of this before.

Edited my post for clarity. Please reread.

 

[two fingers]

I've owned quite a wide variety of basses and I used to work in a music shop with a huge assortment. Never in my years have I owned or played a bass as bright as this one. The full list of components is just a few posts above yours. The issue is not so much the brightness (which the tone knob tames fairly well), it's the lack of bottom end. Rolling off the tone doesn't fix it not having a bottom to begin with. It just ends up sounding even and bland.

Does boosting bass and low mids on your amp EQ help? If it does, you don't have a problem. You just have a really nice bass.

I used to work in a store as well. I've seen all kinds. We had a flame maple top Ken Smith that sounded like a .22 rifle on the G string.

 

[Axstar]

That's interesting. I've never heard of this before.

Some G&L instruments had a similar wiring setup. Basically one pot was configured to shunt a capacitor in series with the output of the pickups/volume/tone controls. A capacitor in series will block low frequencies.

If this is the case, does the stellartone remove low frequencies incrementally? I don't think this is the case, as the Stellartone has a bypass setting presumably.

 

[Bass'd on a true story]

Does boosting bass and low mids on your amp EQ help? If it does, you don't have a problem. You just have a really nice bass.

I used to work in a store as well. I've seen all kinds. We had a flame maple top Ken Smith that sounded like a .22 rifle on the G string.

Yeah, I mentioned a bit above that I can EQ bass into it. I'm also open to the possibility that there is nothing wrong with the bass, it's just the most aggressive sounding instrument I've ever owned. I had intended for it to sound more or less like a vintage bass with an added J pup and some extra flair in the knob section. What I ended up getting is a bass that sounds like it's having a temper tantrum and was designed to play only the angriest of hardcore punk music. I am still happy with it overall, but I want to verify that there is actually nothing wrong with it, because I've never heard an instrument with so little bottom.

Edit*

Some G&L instruments had a similar wiring setup. Basically one pot was configured to shunt a capacitor in series with the output of the pickups/volume/tone controls. A capacitor in series will block low frequencies.

If this is the case, does the stellartone remove low frequencies incrementally? I don't think this is the case, as the Stellartone has a bypass setting presumably.

The Stellartone seems to be operating exactly as it should. I think it was installed correctly. It also does have a bypass and I've tested each setting thoroughly.

 

[Deleted member 165050]

Pretty traditional setup.

Neck = Quartersawn maple/rosewood (roasted maple). I finished the maple with Tru Oil and the rosewood with lemon oil.
Body = 8lb Alder P-Bass shape with a side jack.
Electronics = passive P/J (aguilar P/ Kloppmann J). Blend knob, Stellartone Bass 10 tone knob, Kill Button, Output.
Hardware = Hipshot Tuners (with D-tuner), Babicz Full Contact Bridge, anodized aluminum pickguard.

That's about everything I can think of.

Potentiometer values? Can be important...

 

[Wasnex]

This is more or less what my bass sounds like. To ME that sounds like a very uneven treble-heavy tone. Maybe others will disagree. I am using the same bridge as the one being demo'd in this video.

IMHO, The bass in the video sounds pretty much like a P Bass run straight into a board with a relatively flat EQ. The only thing I find unusual is the excessive use of reverb. Yuck!

 

[Bass'd on a true story]

Potentiometer values? Can be important...

That I unfortunately don't remember. I bought the pots like 2 years ago with cash and just had them in my parts box when I took them out for this build. I can take the pickguard off later tonight.

IMHO, The bass in the video sounds pretty much like a P Bass run straight into a board to with a relatively flat EQ. The only thing I find unusual is the excessive use of reverb. Yuck!

Hmm. The bass in the video sounds like it's bleeding low end(Which is the same problem my bass has). It reminds me of the exact same sound one of the new Rickenbacker 4003s produce when you engage their bleed feature via the push/pull switch they come with. It sounds otherwise great, but like there's some sort of pass filter on it that's gently attenuating off the lows.

 

[Deleted member 165050]

Only thing I can think is that the stellartone could have been wired weirdly. Since it’s an unusual tone pot, perhaps your electronics guy wired it through instead of to ground (like a volume pot instead of a tone pot) which would turn it into a high pass filter and block your low end. The lower you turn it the more bass gets added back to your signal without getting darker. If the bass does indeed get darker (I.e. lose treble) as you turn down the stellartone, then that’s not likely the problem.

That sounds like a good thing to check.

 

[RedJag]

Even with each pickup individually solo'd the tone is thin.

I think I may have figured something out......



This is more or less what my bass sounds like. To ME that sounds like a very uneven treble-heavy tone. Maybe others will disagree. I am using the same bridge as the one being demo'd in this video.

If it really sounds like that video you have plenty of bass signal coming through. That bass with flats would thump for days.