Bass Question re: pickups

Nola

Well-known member
I notice in my recordings I keep getting a spike in my bass around 103hz. I have to notch out a lot, like -9db to make it sound normal.
Is this because the pickup is too close on that string? I notice it's when I play either of the lower two strings, which made me think those pickups might be high. Would lowering the pickup result in less power for those frequencies? If it's not that, what would cause that one area of the frequency spectrum to have build up? I record with a simple DI so it's nothing to do with an amp or hardware.

Thanks.
 
Bass guitars are spikey bastards! May have something to do with them NOT being a "proper" instrument? No acoustic instrument with that bottom range is as small (don't think a cello goes quite that low and they are huge!) .

A great many bass amps employ a compressor to level out such peaks. You could record well down, -25dBFS (24 bits) would not hurt and then apply software compression or, buy a compressor pedal but it won't be nearly as good as say the comp' in Reaper, I bet.

There are of course many outboard preamp-compressors ranging in price from a pinky to a pair of limbs.

Dave.
 
Are you sure about this? You are using a Fender P bass. Fitting into a mix is what it does. Make sure you are judging it in the mix context. Don't make eq decisions on the bass in isolation, and don't fall into the trap of mixing with your eyes not your ears. If it sounds right in the mix, it is right.
 
Do some recording tests and find out what fixes the problem. There is no pat answer to this and we don't know what kind of bass, amp, method of recording, amp settings, amp eq, bass knob settings, etc etc you are using. It's amazing how much you can learn by just trying different things instead of asking people on the internet what the secret is.
No one else's rig will be the same and no matter what they recommend there will be no guarantee it will even be close to fixing your problems. IMHO that's the reality of things in the world of recording, there are no secrets, there is no instant gratification, it takes time, effort and experimentation to achieve decent results.
I bought a new guitar about 2 years ago and spent all of an hour tweaking my knobs, amp and pedals until I found the settings it required to sound good when recording.
On an aside, the tone thread was invaluable for people to get feedback on guitar and bass tones, but it's still only a starting point, as everything changes when you get things in a mix. And that is where the clinic comes in.
 
There are a bunch of ways to deal with this.
1. Add distortion. This will level off the lows and add upper harmonics to even out the sound.

2. Add compression

3. Add midrange around 800hz or so, to even out the tone. Compression after the eq will help too.
 
Don't be quick to blame the bass, it coould be your room and/or monitors. The only way to know for sure is to ring out the room. Ultra flat mic and analyzer software. I bought the Behringer M8000. The software is Room EQ Wizard or something like that.

I know my room has a healthy (read as: Unhealthy) bump right around 500hz. :( I can never be sure what the bass is doing.
 
Nola said:
Would lowering the pickup result in less power for those frequencies?

Possibly, yes. There's a zone where the magnetic field should become focused. If things sound fairly even before you plug in to anything then it could rule out anything to do with the bass itself (nut, frets, overall instrument quality) before you get into the electronics side of things. Correct pickup height is important and can make things wonky if it's wrong. If it's a Fender bass we're talking about it should be fairly easy to download a setup guide to get you into a rough ballpark of where things should be and then tweak it from there by ear to get the right tone and balance.

It could also be the strings. Some string sets are more balanced than others.

It could also be the DI. If it's a high quality DI like a Radial JDI or something I'd be inclined to rule that out. If you can plug into something else like an amp or SansAmp or whatever and it fixes the problem, there you go. If not, that would seem to point back to the instrument. As a personal preference I like to capture an amp with a mic to get bass sounds, but I've also gotten decent results with a Radial or SansAmp.

A good set of cans might help to tell you if there's a room problem.

What kind of bass is it? Does it have an active preamp? Are the pickups stock?

Problems like this can also come from playing technique, but having an instrument that's balanced to begin with is important. Some just aren't.

There are ways to fix things after the fact as mentioned, using compression or whatever. For me, that doesn't work in a live setting so getting the source right is key.
 
Strings are a good point. If the strings are old and dead, they will lack the frequency response that evens out the tone.

Remember, too much low end could also be caused by not having enough mids or highs to balance it out.
 
Hey guys, so regarding technique, I am not great at bass, but I'm fine. It is only when I go to the lower 2 strings. Would technique matter more on those strings? Because I play them the same, yet I get that 90-103hz boom no matter what. It's a P/J bass that sounds great. I turn up the J pickup to get a lot of treble and visa versa. Great preamp/DI. The last thing I could think of is maybe those poles are high on the E and A strings. I use flats, which are warm by nature. GHS flats, 105 gauge. Very smooth/warm string. Could that be the cause? I feel like it's the poles because it seems so sensitive to response on those strings. But, I never moved poles around on a bass and don't want to mess it up, then have to pay for a setup.
 
I doubt anything is wrong with your pickups. Have you tried playing with the balance between the P and J pickups? Turn that P down a little bit. Let the J pickup come through more.

Make sure you understand how the pickup controls on your bass work. I don't have any experience with a P/J, but if it's similar to a regular Jazz bass the interaction between the two pickups is contrary to intuition. Lots of folks playing J basses don't understand how it works. With both knobs full on, you're hearing both pickups. As you turn one knob down, there is just a narrow range of blend. By the time that knob is down to about 60 or 70%, that pickup has fallen completely out of the mix. You're only hearing the other pickup. 100/50 is the same as 100/0. If your P/J works on the same principle, and you are using some blended setting, you may not be hearing what you think you are.
 
I doubt anything is wrong with your pickups. Have you tried playing with the balance between the P and J pickups? Turn that P down a little bit. Let the J pickup come through more.

Make sure you understand how the pickup controls on your bass work. I don't have any experience with a P/J, but if it's similar to a regular Jazz bass the interaction between the two pickups is contrary to intuition. Lots of folks playing J basses don't understand how it works. With both knobs full on, you're hearing both pickups. As you turn one knob down, there is just a narrow range of blend. By the time that knob is down to about 70%, that pickup has fallen completely out of the mix. You're only hearing the other pickup. 100/50 is the same as 100/0. If your P/J works on the same principle, and you are using some blended setting, you may not be hearing what you think you are.

Yeah, it is a strange configuration, but I know how they work. I don't think anything is wrong with the pickup itself. It sounds great. But the height might be off. Even playing only on the J near the bridge I get that frequency buildup in that 90-103 range on the E and A strings. The flats are strung through the bridge instead of the body. I wonder if that could be causing a resonance/buildup? Seems like a reach, but maybe b/c I think through the bridge does give more bass response.

I'll find the fender specs for height and measure it tonight. I didn't want to go through all that trouble if height wouldn't cause the frequencies to boom, but snow lizard seems to think that it's possible.
 
I'd play with overall pickup height before adjusting pole pieces. A ruler or tape measure and the Fender setup guide is a good place to start.

Never used the GHS flats but what I've been finding is that if I don't need to detune from A440 I'm having better luck with sets that have a .100 low E.
 
I'm having better luck with sets that have a .100 low E.

Do they have a little less bass response/boom? I've been thinking of going to 100s just for ease of fretting, so this might be a good secondary reason. Maybe 100s, strung through the body. Seems both combined would lower bass response.\

Do you have a brand of 100 flats you recommend?
 
Yeah, the .100's are less boomy. I usually use nickel plated rounds but the gage change does the same thing. The only set of flats I have are Thomastik, which sound like nothing else. They only have one gage and the sizes are set for string to string balance. .043, .056, .070, .100. Very light tension and generally not as boomy as other flatwound strings. Expensive though.

Just from looking at the GHS site, they make a few different sets of Precision Flats - the Medium and Regular gages both have a .105 E string but the A D and G are a LOT heavier on the regular set. The Light set would probably tame the A and E (.095 E string). D'Addario Chromes and Fender 9050's are popular as well. They're all slightly different so it comes down to what you like. Most of the heavy gage flats are like bridge cables for tension.

Flats can take a long time to "break in" and give you the sound. I'd still get what I can with pickup height. It makes a difference.
 
I've heard that through bridge v. through body makes no difference. You can always adjust the pickup height before you think about messing with internal adjustments. Pickups on both of my basses are set low. It sounds more natural and better that way to my ears.
 
Yeah, the .100's are less boomy. I usually use nickel plated rounds but the gage change does the same thing. The only set of flats I have are Thomastik, which sound like nothing else. They only have one gage and the sizes are set for string to string balance. .043, .056, .070, .100. Very light tension and generally not as boomy as other flatwound strings.

I'm going to try those Thomastik's. They are $48 on amazon which seems reasonable for them (seem to be $75 everywhere else).

The description sounds nice, and they seem like they'd be easy on the fingers. I like that the G string has a lower gauge, unlike the GHS set. I read some reviews say they're floppy. Is that true? How are they in terms of mixing into a rock type song? Do you string them through body or bridge?
 
I've got the Thomastik jazz flats on my P bass. Different feel from any other flats I've tried. The lower tension takes getting used to. Some people find them too floppy. They do take a lighter touch.

You said you had the GHS 105 flats, right? It's fun to experiment with different flatwound strings, like wines and cigars. I do prefer 100 to the heavier strings. I've had the Fender 9150L on the Jazz for about the past three years. Sadowsky Black Labels are worth trying too.
 
I've got the Thomastik jazz flats on my P bass. Different feel from any other flats I've tried. The lower tension takes getting used to. Some people find them too floppy. They do take a lighter touch.

You said you had the GHS 105 flats, right? It's fun to experiment with different flatwound strings, like wines and cigars. I do prefer 100 to the heavier strings. I've had the Fender 9150L on the Jazz for about the past three years. Sadowsky Black Labels are worth trying too.

Yeah, 105s. I had 100s at one point, but I only had that bass a short time and forget what they felt like.
I think I need something with less tension, because my right index finger always hurts after playing bass and sometimes makes a cracking noise in the joint. I think it might be the string tension. Worried a bit about arthritis over time. and I have a light touch on guitar (at least according to my luthier who watched me play during a setup), so I'd guess that translates to bass, but since E/A string flats are like suspension bridge cables could still be causing problems.
I think flats emphasis the fundamental more than rounds. So it might be that causing the mix issues. Like to hit a G note on the E string the fundamental is so boomy. They don't have as many overtones or high frequency content as round. I like the tone and feel so much better than rounds, but in a mix it's hard to get it to sit with such boom. I have to really thin things out with EQ. -9db cut around 103 seems to do it, but then you are losing a lot of that low end. It seems like such a large cut that something must be wrong. Just got home so I'll measure the pickup height now.
 
My jazz bass the TI's are on doesn't have the string through body option. The low tension definitely takes getting used to. What I really like about these strings is the midrange. They're not as deep as LaBellas or Chromes or many other flats, but there's still plenty of bottom. They're just not "dubby" like a lot of other flats. They work well in a rock mix. The mids allow them to cut through without a bunch of muck. 48 bucks is a good price. They last for years.
 
Hm, pickup height seems okay.
Strange. I might try those other strings just to see what the lower tension does. Maybe they can resolve the finger pain at least.
 
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