Strange string/neck problem to share (but resolved!)

[Indigo_blues]

Hey just wanted to share with you guys a strange problem I encountered with my Sadowsky Metro MV4.

The bass was purchased from Sadowsky online the previous year and it arrived last Febuary 2009.

On first play the truss rod had to be adjusted slightly cause of fret buzz.

However the thing that got me was a lack of sustain on the 5th fret of the E string. This was a really weird problem which I emailed Roger Sadowsky about and he said he had never encountered this before.

I sent it to Malcolm for a check but he couldn't find anything wrong with it.. initial suspicion was that of a loose fret but the frets turned out fine.

I changed a new set of strings (sadowsky nickels) but the problem remained.

Anyway I lived with it for a year or so..

The sustain seemed to be better at times on truss rod tweaking but sometimes it would be just more obvious again.. only on the 5th fret of the E string.

Finally I got so annoyed a few months ago that I thought about selling the bass.. maybe it was psychological or I was too 'picky'???

But I decided to give it one last shot.... I bought a new set of Sadowsky blue steels 40 gauge (instead of 45 gauge) and installed it...

Viola! to my pleasant surprise the problem disappeared and the sustain on 5th Fret E string was perfect.. :O

There's no audible loss of low end with the slightly thinner gauge string too.

The bass is now 'perfect'! I adjusted the action really low and it plays amazingly well now.

Just to share an odd problem with you guys....

In the end I think its just a problem with the neck wood resonance at a particular frequency which cancels out the resonance on the strings.... a change of string gauge solved it.

Anyone encountered this before?

cheers

 

[van_halen]

it's called the "wolf tone" or something..

 

[jbarks]

TBH if a neck craps out at A55 and it's a Sadowsky (and it is the neck's fault)—I think it's a bad neck. What about when you play an open A? Because if it worked fine with an open A then it would be that the bass (somehow) cannot cope with the overtones that come out when you play up the neck on the lower strings. Lighter strings would have less overtone intensity (try playing a fretted A on .50s and compare with .40s, you'll see what I mean... it could be because of the lowered amount of strength required to pluck the string, but still) and would theoretically be what solved your problem.

 

[Indigo_blues]

jbarks,

hi bro,

Well the funny thing is when I brought up the possibility of a bad neck to Roger, he dismissed it immediately. He told me that in his vast experience, he had NEVER once come across a dead spot on the E string ever. (!) That got me really stumped.

I've emailed him about my discovery and he replied saying that he was unaware that a string gauge change could solve the problem and thanked me for the feedback. (!)

I have a strong suspicion that it has to do with the temperature/humidity of Singapore... because when the bass first arrived, the action was all messed up... which implied that the neck had shifted most likely due to temperature fluctuations in-flight and on arrival to Singapore.

The lesson I take away from all this is:

1. I will buy a bass with a graphite re-inforced neck.
2. I will not buy a bass sight unseen ever again.

But the bass plays really well now with a .40 string set.... the fundamental tones sustain forever on every fret on the E string. There was never a problem with the open A. It was only the fundamental on the E string 5th fret which dies out really quickly. Now with the .40 set, the fundamental sustains together with the rest of the note..

 

[Indigo_blues]

I googled up 'wolf tone' as van_halen suggested and came across this very interesting article..

http://www.cello.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=tips&tip=tip50

I think it hits the nail on the head.

It describes my bass' symptoms perfectly.

The 'dead-spot' intensity would fluctuate - at certain days it would be better, certain days it would be worse.

And the article does also say that the easiest solution is to change to a string of lighter gauge! Spot on! Haha no pun intended.

 

[fretless6]

Next time u can try hanging weights to the strings like the way cellist do

This photo is probably a Gamba though.

 

[Indigo_blues]

hey its no laughing matter ok! Haha! But I suspect that would work too.. lol.

Cheers!

lol nice pic!

 

[Indigo_blues]

Next time I'll try this...