Help! My 6er is f'd up!

[Avalanchemaster]

 

WTF? Hipster douche-bag I am...... NOT HAPPY ABOUT THIS!!!!!

[L-1329]

 

So have those who are replying experienced this? Is it usually just a dead string? barring that, what would be your next point of inspection?

 

 

I spent a lot of money, and a TON of experimenting with a Warmoth fiver to try to cure that issue, and learned a lot of things in the process. The #1 lesson was that it isn't curable, it's in the natural function of the bass as a whole- neck, body, strings, pickups, etc. I judge a low B or E string quality by how far up the neck you can fret before the resonance becomes too overbearing, and most basses that's only a few frets up at most.

 

I first experimented with string guages, and found that smaller guage strings are less prone to the bad harmonics than thicker guage strings. Then I also learned that the less the affected strings have to bend up and over the bridge saddle, the less the harmonic effect. Strings and bridge setup only go so far though, neither will cure the problem. I then played with the pickups, pickup heights, and even swapped them for a set with less magnetic power and a different tone, to try to mask the harmonics more. It indeed masks the effect, but it's still very much there. I also changed the bridge to a design with much less string break over the saddle.

 

What did all that do? Nothing but a little masking of the problem and a lot of time and expense. The issue is the bass itself. It's in the woods, the neck joint, the body, everything that makes it an acoustic instrument. A good bass will not have that bad harmonic resonance effect until way up the neck, a poor bass will and it will even at very low frets. My best bass' low B is clear way past the 12th, my worst bass is resonating at even the 2nd and 3rd fret. That's the number one way I evaluate a low B string with a new bass. I could care less about it's tension, it's pickups, preamp, tone, etc., but it better have a clear sounding low B. If not, there is no cure, only band-aids.

[Avalanchemaster]

the weird thing is this seemed to come on just in the last couple of months....or maybe I just now noticed it.... so now I am debating keeping or trading it in... hoping they won't notice the problem and dock the credit. I am considering a peavey cirrus 5...

 

going back to it now, having not adjusted it, it is not that noticeable when unplugged (it sounds good until the 13th and up, at which point it begins to resonate dual tones- with the dissonant harmonic being less noticeable) .... will have to check amped.....