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Troubleshooting: Hearing overtones?

C

cotopaxi

Mar 22, 2013
36
0
#1
Hey all,

Got a new bass about 4 days ago. J bass american standard. Set up at the shop and everything, all good.

I plugged it in about an hour ago and am noticing overtone-like qualities. Actually I'm not sure if that's the best way to describe it. A slight phaze/reverb even? Most noticeable on A string 7th fret.

No settings on the amp have been changed. Unless I'm only JUST noticing what was always there, how do I go about identifying what's causing it or what it is, or how to fix it?

Thanks in advance :)
 
#2
Overtones on fretted notes is generally an indication that your pickup height... Which is part one of your gain structure... Is too high. Try lowering your pickups and see if that helps. If its a multi pickup bass try the back/bridge pickup first.

Backing off your onboard bass volume and gain setting on the amp will also help.
 
#3
cotopaxi said:
Hey all,

Got a new bass about 4 days ago. J bass american standard. Set up at the shop and everything, all good.

I plugged it in about an hour ago and am noticing overtone-like qualities. Actually I'm not sure if that's the best way to describe it. A slight phaze/reverb even? Most noticeable on A string 7th fret.

No settings on the amp have been changed. Unless I'm only JUST noticing what was always there, how do I go about identifying what's causing it or what it is, or how to fix it?

Thanks in advance :)
Click to expand...

Where are you plucking or picking the notes? If you do this higher up the neck and it coincides with a harmonic node, you'll excite harmonics. Is the note the octave of the fretted note or is it dissonant? With enough gain and the right pickup & control settings, I can pick over the neck pickup of my Strat Plus and get the fretted note and the octave at the same time, which makes my octave pedal basically unnecessary.
 
#4
thanks Llendrum, I'll try adjusting those things you mentioned.

1958Bassman, I have tried plucking closer to the neck and closer to the bridge, and everywhere in between and all places have a prononuced overtone. Quite sure its an octave.
 
#5
Ah well just tried adjusting the pickups on my own. I tried bringing the bass side of the pickups down a little bit, but I have to screw it pretty damn hard for it to budge even a little bit (i.e. it's very hard to move). I seem to have made it slightly worse :| It definitely sounds like a chorus effect or something. BAH! Backing off the gain seems to make it more pronounced.
 
#6
If you bought it new (or used from a dealer), take it back and let them check it out. If that's not happening, use the setup guide here (in the Setup forum) and use measuring devices to make sure you have it set to spec.

It almost sounds like sympathetic E string vibration.
 
#7
cotopaxi said:
Hey all,

Got a new bass about 4 days ago. J bass american standard. Set up at the shop and everything, all good.

I plugged it in about an hour ago and am noticing overtone-like qualities. Actually I'm not sure if that's the best way to describe it. A slight phaze/reverb even? Most noticeable on A string 7th fret.

No settings on the amp have been changed. Unless I'm only JUST noticing what was always there, how do I go about identifying what's causing it or what it is, or how to fix it?

Thanks in advance :)
Click to expand...

I just noticed the part about this being worst at the 7th fret on the A string- that's one of the places where you get an octave harmonic. It would seem that the 8th or 9th fret is a bit high. If you have a metal straightedge (a real one with inch/metric scale on it, not just a piece of metal), place it on the fretboard and check for high spots. If you put it on the frets and can slip a piece of paper under it, the frets need some work.
 
#8
cotopaxi said:
Ah well just tried adjusting the pickups on my own. I tried bringing the bass side of the pickups down a little bit, but I have to screw it pretty damn hard for it to budge even a little bit (i.e. it's very hard to move). I seem to have made it slightly worse :| It definitely sounds like a chorus effect or something. BAH! Backing off the gain seems to make it more pronounced.
Click to expand...

A few things you can check yourself...

Break angle from nut to tuner post sharp enough? (Especially look at the A string on a Fender)
Nut slot cut right?
Loose bridge saddle?
Cheap/faulty/twisted string?
Pickups too high? (I know you aleady checked that)

If the problem is not mechanical, you could just have a bad bass with really nasty wolf tones. BTDT.

Good luck
 
#9
Thanks everybody.

Templar, I dunno if I should just be able to tell by eyeballing it but the break angle of the A string does seem fairly obtuse. The bridge saddle is fine. I'll bring it into the shop as soon as I can to get it checked out. I have a gig tonight. Unfortunately this will have to do for now. Let's hope a happy tanked up crowd won't notice hehe.

Thanks again everyone, you have been most helpful
 
#15
Mushroo said:
Apologies if this is an obvious question :) but what, specifically, are you doing to mute the E string while you play A string 7th fret?
Click to expand...

Nothing in particular? I'm self taught so I might have missed out on these things. If it answers your question, I played a borrowed Fender J bass for the past 3-4 months with, and my other bass (Yamaha RBX) through the same amp with no issues.

Ian_Flash said:
Even loose windings on a bad string could cause such an effect. Can you swap out the "A" just to try it?
Click to expand...

I'll try it out as soon as I can and report back. Thanks.

*huffff* I thought this bass was gonna be a dream straight out of the shop. Sounds amazing, but it's giving me a bit of grief now :P
 
#18
cotopaxi said:
Templar, I dunno if I should just be able to tell by eyeballing it but the break angle of the A string does seem fairly obtuse.
Click to expand...

The third string (on a four banger obviously) can easily have a weak break angle if it doesn't have enough wraps around the post to force the string all the way down to the bottom of the post.

You might try pushing down on the string, between the nut and post, to see if the "chorus" sound goes away. If so, you found the problem (or part of it). Good luck.
 

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