Do you have a bass that doesn't sound "tight"?

MultiScaleMale

MultiScaleMale

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Jun 19, 2003
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#1
Help me out with this experiment. It will cost you, maybe a penny. If you have a bass that just isn't as tight feeling as you would like, maybe the low B doesn't sound as good as you would like, etc. Tap the pickup and see if you get any hint of a rattle from it. This will typically happen on basses that have only one pickup screw on each side like a P pickup and happens less frequently on basses with a pick guard because the pick guard will hold the pickup in place unless it's cut loose.

To try the experiment, just cut a few strips of scrap paper about a quarter inch or so wide and then fold until you get enough thickness to wedge the paper in between the pickup and the cutout in the body. Go easy with this, it's just to hold the pickup in place, not a splitting wedge. Do this on both sides of the pickup. Now, tap the pickup and the slight rattle should be eliminated. The goal is to make certain that the pickup is one with the body. Any sympathetic vibration would manifest with lower notes, especially the B and E string.

Now play the bass again and see if it sounds fuller and "tight".

I just tried this with a bass and I'm not sure if it actually had a benefit or if I'm playing differently and getting a self-fulfilling prophecy. So, even making recordings are subject to my subconscious alterations in playing style. But I do think that the B string especially sounds fuller.

Worst case, you waste half a sheet of paper.
 
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#5
This doesn't surprise me at all. I wouldn't necessarily call it "being one with the body", rather it's more about the pickup being anchored to a fixed position. If the pickup is less mobile then you are picking up mostly the oscillation of the strings. If the pickups is loose it's position relative to the string moves and the tone is less consistent.

It's the reason that guitar players will argue about whether it's best go with humbuckers that are directly screwed to the body or on spring mounts.

I've long thought that this is the reason that hollow body basses with magnetic pickups still sound hollow even without piezo or microphones. The pickups are mounted to a top that vibrates and undulates so the pickup is moving as well as well and you get a more "hollow" sound.

Lastly, I think a smililar thing is at work with microphonic pickups where it's not necessarily the entire pickup itself but something inside the pickup that is loose. Some folks like microphonic pickups and there are even some pickup setups deliberately designed around them. The problem with your tap test, is that if the pickups are microphonic and something inside is loose a paper wedge won't fix it.
 
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#6
Eilif said:
This doesn't surprise me at all. If the pickup is less mobile then you are picking up mostly the oscillation of the strings. If the pickups is loose it's position moves and the tone is less consistent.

I think a smililar thing is at work with microphonic pickups where it's not the pickup itself but something inside the pickup that is loose. Some folks like microphonic pickups and there are even some pickup setups deliberately designed around them.

It's also the reason that guitar players will argue about whether it's best go with humbuckers that are directly screwed to the body or on spring mounts.

Lastly, I've long thought that this is the reason that hollow body basses with magnetic pickups still sound hollow even without piezo or microphones. The pickups are mounted to a top that vibrates and undulates so the pickup is moving as well as well and you get a more "hollow" sound.
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In fact, some folks even mount piezos in the sound board to get that "hollow" sound from basses that aren't even necessarily hollow (e.g., Christopher DBG, Wendler Electrocoustic etc.). If the top moves, it can vibrate like a hollow-body.
 
#7
bholder said:
In fact, some folks even mount piezos in the sound board to get that "hollow" sound from basses that aren't even necessarily hollow (e.g., Christopher DBG, Wendler Electrocoustic etc.). If the top moves, it can vibrate like a hollow-body.
Click to expand...
Indeed, though in the Wendler's case The piezo is sandwiched in the thick wooden bridge. So, you're still probably getting mostly the sound of the strings vibrating, but filtered through a different material and a different kind of pickup. Sure sounds hollow though!
 
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#8
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It's hard to see even in the closeup picture here, but I made small shims out of some faux carbon fiber vinyl sheets that I picked up at a auto supply store. Essentially thick electrical tape with a carbon fiber look. Not a bit of movement from the pickups now and I *think* it sounds a little tighter in the low notes. I really had no complaints whatsoever from my Alien Audio bass, but this is the only bass that I currently have that has a single screw on each side of the pickup. Anyways, just a fun little experiment. My next thought was stuffing the electronics cavity with polyfill to deaden any resonant cavity frequency. Now that one I think has zero chance of doing anything different.
 
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