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Tone disappears!

nrs7six

nrs7six

Sep 17, 2007
78
23
Bristol, United Kingdom
www.myspace.com
#1
Hi all,

I have recently bought a second hand Japanese Fender P bass. It is my 1st P it's great! My problem is that the further I go up the fretboard (towards the bridge) the awesome tone that I get on the frets closer to the nut disappear. Is this common? Also, is it an easy fix?

I have tried to search this topic but can't find anything.

Cheers
 
#3
We need more details to help you, I think. You said 'awesome tone' disappears. What is the tone replaced by, not so awesome tone? No sound at all? Thin tone? Rattles and thunks? Screaming and wailing? Nagging? All jokes aside, to me, your question is a little vague. Going higher on the neck, notes played on the low strings should still sound nice and fat- the higher strings should have a pleasant singing tone too. Could need new strings, the neck could need a tweak of its profile, strings raised, pick ups lowered or raised- there are a lot of things it COULD be!
 
#4
You are right, i was pretty vague! The tone is clear and bright near the nut but becomes less defined, duller and has less sustain from around the 9th/10th fret. It still sounds good, just not as good as the open strings and nearer the nut. It is more noticeable on the E string. I had it set up and had new strings put on it. I have to confess I haven't played it in a band context yet, this is just from listening acoustically so I guess it will be less noticable live. I'm not massively unhappy with it, maybe I'm just expecting too much?!
 
#7
Both my Precision and Jazz sound fantastic up high. I use them both in Jazz contexts where I am soloing a lot as well as Theatre/Session work. My advice is get it set up properly. Possibly you need a fret dress. Have the pickup height set properly so its not too close to the E when you move past the 12th fret.
 
#9
It might be a case of 'Stratitis', where the pickup is a little too close to the strings - as you move up the neck the strings get even closer to the point where the magnetic field interferes with the vibration of the string causing wolf tones and/or other strange effects. On the other hand, almost all electric instruments take on a 'rounded' quality to the tone as you fret higher - moving up the neck has the effect of moving the pickup towards the middle of the string, and as we know, the neck pickup is generally warmer/fuller/mellower/darker/duller* than the bridge pickup.

*Delete as applicable or insert your own superlative
 
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#16
1st how old are your stings...2nd check your pickup height adjustment.....plus depending on your taste of tone and sustain, you could try a heavier duty bridge...(some like and some don't)
 
#18
Obese Chess said:
Yeah, they just really aren't designed to be played up that high. Now that y'all mention it I don't think I've played one that didn't do that.
Click to expand...
Yeah, they are, at least the good ones are. And fretted string tone up the neck varies greatly depending on the type of string, especially at larger gauges. But there are combinations out there that can handle it, in my opinion. Also depends a lot on what one considers to be "good tone", as subjective as that is.
 
#19
nrs7six said:
I had rehearsal last night and in general, it sounded great and I'm really pleased with it. However, I have another issue now. I noticed that the sustain is much less on the 3rd and 4th fret of the E string than any other fret. It seems more noticeable through an amp. Is there a solution to this or is it something I have to live with?
Click to expand...
Well, that lack of sustain on certain notes sounds like the dreaded "dead spots" phenomenon, which is not at all uncommon. However, the most common place for such dead spots is between the 2nd and 5th frets of the G string. I don't think I've ever heard of dead spots on an E string.
 
#20
bholder said:
Yeah, they are, at least the good ones are. And fretted string tone up the neck varies greatly depending on the type of string, especially at larger gauges. But there are combinations out there that can handle it, in my opinion. Also depends a lot on what one considers to be "good tone", as subjective as that is.
Click to expand...

That's fair. My MIA sounds great but I've been putting off a fret dressing and some neck work for a couple years... oops.
 

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