Some questions on sound (bass guitar)

[btherl]

Resonance has a big effect on volume. This includes live spots and dead spots on the fretboard, and also resonance of materials in the room.

The funny thing is, no-one else notices it except me Even the other band members don't notice the volume changes. It really doesn't make a huge difference to the audience's experience. People have grown up hearing resonance in different materials, so it's something we are all used to.

The only difference here is that because you are playing the instrument and concentrating your full attention on the tone, you notice the difference and think it's unusual.

If you think it's a problem, ask someone to listen and tell you if it sounds "wrong". If they say yes, then you have a problem. If they say no, then don't worry

 

[exin]

@exin. erm the E string but not open. its like i play C on the E string. and C on the A string. the E string's C will be slightly louder then the A's string.

Ah ... now THAT's physics ... basically the C on your E string has a darker and fuller tone compared to the C on your A string which sounds brighter and more aggresive. It's alot to do with tone and stuff lah ...

 

[Destructos]

Thicker strings move more air when they vibrate, and hence create a louder signal, as compared to a thinner string vibrating at the same fundamental frequency. Assuming similar action settings and a uniform level pickup height across all strings, the thicker strings will definitely be louder than the thinner ones.

That's true ONLY for acoustic applications and acoustic microphone pickup.

In electric guitars, why the bass strings sound louder is because they have more inertia. Meaning they can vibrate more and harder as you said.
BUT, it's not about moving air. Electric guitars depend on the magnetized strings (magnetism induced by the ceramic magnets in the pickups) to form alternating fluctuations if magnetic fields to induce AC current of varying frequencies in the coils of the pickups.

In secondary school physics (combined and pure WILL have this experiment), you'll study about inducing currents within a coil with a magnet. You'll notice that if you make the magnet go back and forth a farther distance, you'll generate higher voltages.
Bass strings are just like that, they move up and down very significantly, thereby inducing a stronger current than the thin strings that vibrate at higher frequencies but with less amplitude.

 

[Destructos]

What you can do, in my opinion, is adjust your pickup height to slant such that it is higher at the treble strings and lower at the thick E. This affects playability the least. Or alternatively, you can adjust your action such that your G has the lowest action, and the E has the highest action. But I doubt you'll like playing a bass set up this way.

Yeah, slanting pickups will cause the induced magnetism strength in the strings to vary.
Of course, you don't really need to do such severe tilting because induced magnetic strength is inversely exponentially proportional to the distance between magnet and string.
So to have the pickup brought about a millimeter closer to the treble strings is effectively swapping to a much more powerful magnet in your pickup.

And in the experiment I highlighted in my previous post, besides speed of alternation and amplitude, magnetic strength is also another variable factor to the resultant induced current.

 

[Destructos]

Resonance has a big effect on volume. This includes live spots and dead spots on the fretboard, and also resonance of materials in the room.

The funny thing is, no-one else notices it except me Even the other band members don't notice the volume changes. It really doesn't make a huge difference to the audience's experience. People have grown up hearing resonance in different materials, so it's something we are all used to.

The only difference here is that because you are playing the instrument and concentrating your full attention on the tone, you notice the difference and think it's unusual.

If you think it's a problem, ask someone to listen and tell you if it sounds "wrong". If they say yes, then you have a problem. If they say no, then don't worry

Yes, it's a very good idea to practice in a acoustically "dead" room.
The tiniest of mistake or tone variation would stick out like a log in mud. LOL

 

[ahkiatt]

you may wanna try playing softly on your guitar... but loud on the amps... cause according to some master's lesson i found on youtube... after you pluck real hard... the sound goes out a lot faster than if you pluck softly and you leave your amp's volume high... go try it... works for me.

 

[Destructos]

Ooh, that's like a good idea.
Volume decay is not so obvious when playing soft, this is one hellova pseudo-sustain trick! LOL

 

[stravinsky]

hehe thx guys for the advice. i'll try it out this weekend

 

[exin]

you may wanna try playing softly on your guitar... but loud on the amps... cause according to some master's lesson i found on youtube... after you pluck real hard... the sound goes out a lot faster than if you pluck softly and you leave your amp's volume high... go try it... works for me.

Gary Willis endorses such a technique and approach as that ... it's the string energy loss that kind ... goes down exponentially also... that's why he recommends you turn up your amp and play softer ... but you'll really have to get a good technique for that on your playing if not you'll find it difficult to control your volume ... also muting ... =)

if you don't mute properly .. free strings will start vibrating due to other sound vibrations that's affecting it .. then you'll start to get a little crazy of the sound ... hahha ...

 

[stravinsky]

i got try if i on too loud. the loud notes. like open E F and F# sound damn gay. like totally lose the sound of how it suppose to sound like and just become farts.

 

[exin]

i got try if i on too loud. the loud notes. like open E F and F# sound damn gay. like totally lose the sound of how it suppose to sound like and just become farts.

it may just well be your playing style ... try to play softer and see how it works out .. =) .... if not you can just stick with what you're doing now ... just a matter of experimenting and finding out what suits you ...

 

[stravinsky]

^okay will try out. like you said i also agree the best way is to work the knobs and see wat works best.

at home my amp is pretty simple. just treble/midtreble/midbass/bass knobs. currenty the settings that work best for me are treble at 1-2 o'clock, midtreble at 11, midbass at 11, and bass at 3o'clock. these settings sorta gimme the sweetest low notes and when working up the fret board doest gimme a disconnected sound like its a total different bass at the top.

but i feel i can better settings

when using jamming. there are all these really wierd EQ settings is there a standard setting or can i just ignore it and set it all to 0. pt is how do i work with it to enhance the sound. those things like tube, compress i'd normally just set to 0 cos i have no idea on how to use them.

 

[exin]

when using jamming. there are all these really wierd EQ settings is there a standard setting or can i just ignore it and set it all to 0. pt is how do i work with it to enhance the sound. those things like tube, compress i'd normally just set to 0 cos i have no idea on how to use them.

when playing live i always set my EQ to flat .. sometimes a slight bass emphasis ... bass frequencies usually need more energy to travel around ... but i won't over EQ everything ...

if you have an onboard preamp on your bass .. set everything to flat too .. adjust accordingly lah .. but if it's a good preamp usually i'll just leave everything flat ...

the perceived sound may not be what you are looking for but it'll contribute to the mix ... i always like some highs to stand out while playing .. gives that live feel to it .. =)