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Why does my parts P Bass have a metallic ring???

Sharko

Sharko

Jun 18, 2009
2,210
5,292
Washington, DC
#1
I posted a thread about this about 6 months ago, here's the update:

I assembled a parts P bass and when I pluck the strings it makes a distinctly different tone than my other basses. It is distinctly metallic, like vibrating sheet metal or something. It is most noticeable when UNplugged, and it kills the tone of the bass.

So I examined every piece of the bass looking for a loose piece that could vibrate.
-Brass nut: replaced with a graph tech
-Strings too high on tuning posts: I added a 3 string retainer to ensure all strings bent properly over the nut
-Battery inside the cavity: I tied it down more securely
-anodized pickguard: took it off
-Gotoh 203 bridge: took it off, remounted it

While the string retainer was an improvement, it didn't fix it. None of the other changes did anything at all.
Does anyone have any other ideas as to what the problem is? Anyone heard anything like this before? I'm at the end of my rope here.
 
#7
Ive occasionally come across and even owned a bass that seemed to have a bit of rattle from trussrod when played. Truss rod working fine and with play available either direction and neck just fine with minimal bow and low action. So yeah it could be as M.R.Ogle suggested. Other possible is rattling bridge springs. My Traben had a couple of those that rattled some untill I stretched them a little so theyd fit less loosely on the saddle adjustment screws.
 
#8
Edit: lots of good posts while I was typing: Well here's some more ideas....

Firstly is your action just too low? If not, there's a few more places to look:

If the sound is more prevalent on one string than another, there's places in most bridge designs that can cause an issue, e.g. if each bridge saddle is held 'up' off a main plate by 2 screws they need to have a fairly even amount of weight on them or the loose side will rattle when played.

If that doesn't work, try tapping all over the bass with something hard (a coin, a pen, whatever) and see if any of it responds with a similar sound to the sound you dislike. Common culprits include the free length of string from the nut to the tuning head, and free lengths of string between the bridge saddles and the end of the string. If it's one of these then you could try muting that bit of string with some fabric like felt, or with rubber.

Finally, sometimes a string that's been knocked will get a buzz in it - it's moving almost normally but with an exaggerated travel which makes a sound like you have your action too low even though you don't. And it'll go away with some new strings.
 
#10
darkstorm said:
Ive occasionally come across and even owned a bass that seemed to have a bit of rattle from trussrod when played. Truss rod working fine and with play available either direction and neck just fine with minimal bow and low action. So yeah it could be as M.R.Ogle suggested. Other possible is rattling bridge springs. My Traben had a couple of those that rattled some untill I stretched them a little so theyd fit less loosely on the saddle adjustment screws.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I thought about the bridge springs, I actually reassembled the bridge without them: no change sadly

I hope it's not the truss rod, it's an allparts bound and blocked neck and I'd hate to have to replace it
 
#11
How is your pickup adjusted?

I've had similar issues, nearly always resolved with proper pickup height adjustment. Just for the heck of it, take the pickup as far from the strings as you can and see if that changes anything.

It may be a long shot, but if it's anything like the problems I've chased (which had a "metallic" sound), pickup height was key.
 
#12
David1234 said:
If the sound is more prevalent on one string than another, there's places in most bridge designs that can cause an issue, e.g. if each bridge saddle is held 'up' off a main plate by 2 screws they need to have a fairly even amount of weight on them or the loose side will rattle when played.

Finally, sometimes a string that's been knocked will get a buzz in it - it's moving almost normally but with an exaggerated travel which makes a sound like you have your action too low even though you don't. And it'll go away with some new strings.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the help!

I'm going to try adjusting the saddles, if that doesn't help I'll actually try replacing them with some Fender saddles I have around

What does "knocked" mean in that context?
 
#13
lowfreqgeek said:
How is your pickup adjusted?

I've had similar issues, nearly always resolved with proper pickup height adjustment. Just for the heck of it, take the pickup as far from the strings as you can and see if that changes anything.

It may be a long shot, but if it's anything like the problems I've chased (which had a "metallic" sound), pickup height was key.
Click to expand...

The problem I'm looking for is actually more noticeable when it is UNplugged, so I don't think it's pickup/electronics related.
 
#14
Sharko said:
The problem I'm looking for is actually more noticeable when it is UNplugged, so I don't think it's pickup/electronics related.
Click to expand...

But the magnets don't care if it's plugged or not - they can still have an effect on the strings if they are too close.

It's entirely possible that the issue has nothing to do with the pickups, but I chased a very similar sounding problem for a long time - it was just as audible unplugged (if not more so). I also noticed my problem diminished with proper intonation.

Good luck, though. It can be frustrating.
 
#15
lowfreqgeek said:
But the magnets don't care if it's plugged or not - they can still have an effect on the strings if they are too close.

It's entirely possible that the issue has nothing to do with the pickups, but I chased a very similar sounding problem for a long time - it was just as audible unplugged (if not more so). I also noticed my problem diminished with proper intonation.

Good luck, though. It can be frustrating.
Click to expand...

Hmm, interesting, I'll look into this
 
#17
Ric5 said:
Replace the bridge
Click to expand...

This is basically the only piece that hasn't been totally replaced, so it might be the next step.
But, I've never heard of any problems with the Gotoh 203 bridge, reading old threads it seems well liked.

So, I took a plastic mallet to the whole bass, piece by piece, to see what rings out. The string retainer and the neck make a ringing sound, but it was no different from my other basses. The pickguard, knobs, nut, and tuners sound fine. The body and the bridge both ring out and are VERY different from the other basses.
 
#19
If you want to test the theory that it's your truss rod rattling, just loosen it a bit (counter-clockwise a quarter to a half turn). If the sound changes, or goes away, that was it.

Other than that, yeah, you're chasing something really unusual. You WILL find it, though...
 

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