- Jul 8, 2009
- 1,612
- 11
- Disclosures
- A&R, Soulless Corporation Records
If I had to play with him in a band, he might actually be right when he says "The bass is out of tune."
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Worst chronic bass design flaws?
- Thread starter BobWestbrook
- Start date
Neck dive and wood selection.
All "metal" basses don't have to be made out of basswood? Ash+clearcoat plz
All "metal" basses don't have to be made out of basswood? Ash+clearcoat plz
I think a MusicMan-like trussrod wheel and (for active basses) an easily accessible battery compartment, like MusicMan or Dingwall, should become industry standards.
I would say the problem is not just the truss rod nut, but the whole truss rod mechanism.
Let me get this straight. We route out our wooden necks, slap in a steel rod with a nut on the end, torque it down so it warps the neck slightly and hope the freaking thing works??? Really, is this the best we can do? Don't get me started on the fact the arc this produces is only good from the first to about the twelfth fret. And after the twelfth? It produces a hump. A hump I must say that countless luthiers and techs must try and compensate for.
I'd like to see someone design a system that produces a consistent radius arc throughout the length of the neck. One whose radius is derived from the entire length of the string (nut to bridge).
I have two Thunderbirds, one with a repaired headstock, and one that has never been broken. It doesn't make any difference to me which one I play. I gig with the repaired one, because they are both '76 birds and I figure if I damage it it is no big deal.
Yes, but in a band unless every guitar/bass has them someone is still going to be out. Your perfect intonation could sound out of tune because it isn't the same as all the other instruments.
Sometimes it is possible to be too picky. There are a whole lot of great songs (pretty much every song for that matter) recorded on instruments that don't have perfect intonation. It has worked out ok for them.
I disagree. The problem is, you can make a neck that is perfectly flat (or the exact curvature you want) out of wood, BUT the tension on the strings BENDS THE NECK.
Simplest solution is to put a tensioning rod in the neck to COUNTERACT the string tension. And you make it adjustable since the WOOD in the neck is ALSO susceptible to temperature and humidity fluctuations, PLUS you have to be able to account for different string gauges and mfrs which have different tensions. I like that someone thought up such a simple solution. What's the problem?
It's not really that big of a problem. In fact the ONLY stringed instruments that can play in tune in every key are fretless ones... yes, including pianos.
Musical pitches are most harmonious when their frequencies are ni specific ratios to each other. If you tune a piano to one key signature, let's say "C", those ratios are not correct for other key signatures. For that reason pianos and fretted instruments are tuned to what is called "even-tempered" tuning which is a "best-compromise" tuning so that you can play in different keys and not sound bad.
IOW a "C" in the key of "C" is, strictly speaking, a different frequency than a "C" in the key of "F". We are listening to "out of tune" notes ALL THE TIME.
Now if you really want to talk about pitch accuracy, on fretted stringed instruments, the frets are typically positioned at the exact locations specified by the equal-tempered definition. But when you fret the string it not only shortens the effective sounding length but, to a lesser or more degree, you are increasing the tension which changes the pitch from what it should be!!! The amount of tension change is different for different depending on how far up the neck you fret, string material (differen mfrs use different formulas) AND string gauges!!
My point?
1. We are listening to out of tune notes all the time. People fretting (sorry) over this to the nth degree are chasing windmills.
2. The ONLY way to play a guitar or bass perfectly in tune up and down the fretboard is to NOT HAVE FRETS.
3. Since we are listening to out of tune notes all the time, our auditory system is pretty accomodating of small pitch errors. Otherwise, we could NEVER enjoy music. It's a small miracle that we do.
Say what? Graphite isn't going to move with changes in temperature or humidity. So how exactly would it fail to take care of weather changes and neck movement?
+1 on dabbler's comments.
The accuracy of your instrument tuning is going to eventually come up against the inaccuracy built into the system of scales.
The accuracy of your instrument tuning is going to eventually come up against the inaccuracy built into the system of scales.
frets, strings, always getting in the way! frig! And I wish they weren't so darn long!
(no, not sarcasm!)
(no, not sarcasm!)
It sounds like there is a general consensus about neck dive and weight. Here is my solution, headstocks are a universal design flaw. They are entirely unnecessary from a design perspective.
Thus the solution---
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Ned Steinberger was a genius, he saw what a bass really needed and didn't need. I think half of the people on this thread would love to play one of these bad boys, even if they hated it, if you get my drift.
Thus the solution---
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Ned Steinberger was a genius, he saw what a bass really needed and didn't need. I think half of the people on this thread would love to play one of these bad boys, even if they hated it, if you get my drift.
Fair enough. Graphite does have a non-zero coefficient of linear expansion but it is so low as to be negligible in this particular application.
Thanks for picking nits, wiseacre.
