Soft low E and F on P basses

[MultiScaleMale]

Earwax buildup? Just kidding.

It does happen

 

[iTzPrime]

I should have mentioned that this was all through quality headphones so it's not the amp or room acoustics.

Unless it was directly through a DI and no other instrument played at the same time then it still might have been the room. Drums and other instruments certainly change our perception of things. Best thing would be to monitor the instrument at home, preferably recording a DI signal directly into a DAW. After that record the signal that you normally send to the headphones into the DAW. then see if there really is a difference between the E, F or something like an A.

 

[morebass!]

Not for certain of course, I wouldn't too quickly dismiss the possibility of the strings. I've noticed some string types seem to lack fullness when getting into the lowest notes on the E string.

Please do tell!

 

[trothwell]

Please do tell!

I noticed it in particular with TI Flats on my Precision bass. Every note sounded good until getting down to around the low Ab (3rd fret or so, maybe 4th) on the E string, and then the strings just seemed to lose power. A note still came out of course, but it wasn't as strong as above that.

Not sure, maybe I've seen this with other strings too, but that one type stands out to me. And of course, those are known as one of the highest-quality strings out there; perhaps it was some odd mismatch of those strings with my bass? I don't know.

 

[BassicJazzy]

I noticed it in particular with TI Flats on my Precision bass. Every note sounded good until getting down to around the low Ab (3rd fret or so, maybe 4th) on the E string, and then the strings just seemed to lose power. A note still came out of course, but it wasn't as strong as above that.

Not sure, maybe I've seen this with other strings too, but that one type stands out to me. And of course, those are known as one of the highest-quality strings out there; perhaps it was some odd mismatch of those strings with my bass? I don't know.

High quality but also lowest tension. Perhaps that has something to do with it? String may not oscillate as much near the low notes without enough tension.

 

[morebass!]

Not sure what strings are on that bass but they're not TI's (not red silks).

I keep trying to like TI's and have them on another P. I generally like the tone but the tension is too low for me sometimes. I like to dig in.

Anyway, maybe It makes sense that the lower tension would reduce the output of the lowest notes. Not as much energy imparted to the string to get it moving...?