Double Bass Individual String Response - adjustable thru setup?

[PaperbackRyder]

My Upton STD ply is 6 or 7 years old now and has never had any periodic setups or needed any type of repair. I have begun to cycle down the rabbit hole of string changes. With every set I have tried, the E and A play & sound well, the D is more powerful and open sounding and the G is thin and weak.
I have had (in order) Spiro S42M, Evah Pirazzi Med, Evah Pirazzi L, Spiro S42 w/Obilgato D/G, Zyex M, Evah Slaps, Zyex M w/ Gamut D/G. The only outlier in this history are the Evah Slaps - where the D was wimpy and the G strong.

With both the S42 and Zyex Med's, when I loosen the G to try another, the D really gets roaring (even more). I wish that I could have all four strings be that responsive and toneful at the same time.

Is that even possible? or are most basses (particularly ply) like this in some way?

 

[DoubleMIDI]

Visit your luthier, it might be the position of the soundpost that chokes your G. Let the Luthier experiment with the soundpost. Put on your favorite strings before you go there.

 

[Stuart.C]

Going against conventional wisdom, I find small bridge location adjustments (+- a few mm) can do a lot for evening tone. If your G is weak, moving the bridge a little closer to the sound post might fix that. It's a pain because each adjustment fixes one issue but causes another. but after a while you either find an ideal spot or you just accept it.

I know people say the bridge has a fixed location, and i think it's true for well built basses, but on my ply the F hole notches don't even make a straight line across the top.

BTW how did those Gamuts work out for you? Did the D speak up the neck?

 

[David Potts]

Small bridge adjustments are OK as indicators of what sound post adjustments can achieve? My first adjustment to a sound post for a weak G string would be simply vertical and away from the bridge foot, in small increments and being careful not to spin the post, until the G string starts to open up (produce stronger, more resonant sounds). I would then work on re-balancing the other strings. I do my own adjusting and sometimes nearly go mad - the condition is called "soundpostitis". A luthier can achieve faster, safer results that you can both feel and hear while you are there.It may take more than one session. Paperback Ryde's advice above is good.

Happy Christmas!

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

I agree, soundpost problem most likely.

The open D string is almost always freakishly loud. Just one of those things.

 

[Jay Corwin]

The open D string is almost always freakishly loud. Just one of those things.

I have to agree with this as well, though I'm not sure if it sounds that way out in front of the bass. The more experience I get, the more I think that there are anomalies I hear standing next to my bass that just aren't there out in front. I'm not suggesting this is what the OP is experiencing, just kind of general comment on the topic.

 

[PaperbackRyder]

I have to agree with this as well, though I'm not sure if it sounds that way out in front of the bass. The more experience I get, the more I think that there are anomalies I hear standing next to my bass that just aren't there out in front. I'm not suggesting this is what the OP is experiencing, just kind of general comment on the topic.

I expect that most audiences hear a lot less of what I know is in there...

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Most bassists that I know have dealt with string balance issues at some time or other. Back when I first started playing, I discovered a problem with the bridge cut on my basses that caused the G to be weaker than the other strings (and most notably the D); I came to call it "Orchestral Bridge Syndrome", or "OBS" for short. Here's an old thread where it is discussed a little. Unfortunately the templates created by luthier Bob Branstetter were linked to his post rather than uploaded, so they are gone. But they simply showed a bridge cut with a flatter arc, which is optimized for a player who is looking for more even pizzicato response, especially between the G and D. My basses are set up this way. While it is still possible to bow on them, there is not as much clearance between strings as on a normal setup.

At the time that thread was going on, I was so annoyed by the issue of unevenness between strings that I was strongly considering buying a bridge patented by Mike Pecanic that allowed for individual adjustments for each string. Here's a picture of Mike's bridge (click on the image to expand to full size):



I still think this is a good idea if the mechanics are solid, but it never caught on and Mike removed it from his offerings at some point. In the meantime, in my case the "pizz cut" bridges that Nnick Lloyd made for my basses got me close to the sound that I was after, and I think that after years of playing on these bridges, my technique has subconsciously adjusted to compensate for any remaining unevenness between the strings. Good luck on your quest.

 

[PaperbackRyder]

Thanks Chris! Good info. I believe my bridge was cut as a 'tweener as I was a first timer when I bought it.
I have adjusted the bridge position, square, height and level because of the recent string changes and think it should be correct or very close.
In any case I have setup (pun alert) a time with Mark Carlson to go through it and will report back when complete.
Thanks for the insights and I wish you all a toneful and grooving holiday!
=JR=

 

[PaperbackRyder]

Based on Chris' post above, I checked and string heights are 7-9mm G-E. Made some small tweaks to center and plumb the bridge as well. Same results. On to Setup...

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

When Nnick set up my bridges, he said he was basically following the curvature of the board, which led him to a basic formula of 1mm increase between each successive string G-E. On my bass, that would mean that if the G were set at 7mm, the E would be at 10mm. More important, though, was the discrepancy of string height between the G and D. before he worked on the bridge, there was a much bigger difference between the G and D than there was between any other two strings; this being the case, if I would adjust the bridge to where I could get under the G well enough to pull a good sound, the D was sticking way up out of proportion, and if I set the bridge to where the D sounded and felt right the G was too low. If bridge curve is part of your issue, checking the difference between the G and D might tell you something.

 

[PaperbackRyder]

If bridge curve is part of your issue, checking the difference between the G and D might tell you something.

I have the Swoop at the end, really hard to get a common reference point to measure from.
Best I can get, the G reads (kinda) 7.4 and the D reads (kinda) 9.2.
Not near precise but certainly large enough difference to investigate. Thanks again!

 

[JoeyNaeger]

That's a common problem to have the middle two strings relatively highest than the outer two. If you only play pizz, you can have the bridge recut so the string heights follow the fingerboard. If you play Arco as well, it gets more complicated depending on the shape of the fingerboard and how much meat there is to work with.