E string lacks definition

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I have an issue that I would really appreciate some advice on.

The bass is in question an Epiphone Thunderbird 60’s, or what used to be called Vintage. The model with the 760 Probuckers. I know Tbirds aren’t universally loved, but I absolutely adore this thing. Every place on the fretboard sounds perfect to my ear, except for the first 5 or so frets on the E string. It just lacks definition, or articulation. I’m not sure how to describe it.

I’ve got Labella black tapes on it now. Yeah, I know…tapes are “muddy”, but they’re not the issue. The factory rounds that came on the instrument have the same issue and I had a set of Slinky’s here to experiment with and the E string off that set still sound the same. If you pluck the first few frets it just sounds like “bass bass bass…” and not “ F, Fsharp,G…”, if that makes sense.

I feel like the E string just lacks tension and that prevents it being able to ring out clear, definite notes in the lower register, but that’s just a theory. I have a thicker Labella black tape E string here that I thought might help. My thinking was a thicker string would require extra tension. I installed it and didn’t really see a difference, but I didn’t really install it properly since I didn’t want to file the slot in the nut larger for a temporary experiment.

Anyone ever been in this situation before? I love this instrument overall, I just wish I could get more clarity/fidelity in this one area. What should I look in to?

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To me you have just kind of described what I have always thought of as the characteristic Gibson humbucker sound.

The EB’s are even muddier than T-Birds.

I would try boosting treble EQ a little and consider different pickups. Stainless rounds could help as well.

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Another thing to check - pickup height. Too high can make this worse.

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I forgot to mention pickup height. I did adjust that in both directions with literally no effect all, which I found surprising.

Appreciate your input about the pickups. I’m not opposed to replacing pickups if necessary, but the tone on every note on every string is perfect to me, except those few on the E string. I’d hate to blame the pickups when everything else sounds so damn good.

I’m starting to wonder if it might be the nature of my little Fender Rumble 40 amp. Maybe it’s not able to produce those low tones effectively? That idea occurred to me after I tried a few different E strings and different pickup heights with no change. Perhaps the issue is not with the instrument at all?

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When I boost treble it does have an effect on the situation, but of course it throws everything else off, so unfortunately not an easy solution :sweat_smile:

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Another option might be to bias towardsthe bridge pickup.

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Possible. It may surprise people but the Rumble combo amp speaker/enclosures don’t have a particularly great sub-50Hz frequency response.

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Maybe do a little clip of audio and attach it here , might give a better idea , maybe. !

Libi

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I can try that. All I have to record with is my phone and I doubt it will sound great, but should get the point across at least.

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What would be a good amp to check out that’s of a comparable size?

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I don’t actually think it is the problem more than it isn’t helping

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I haven’t noticed that with either my original 40 or my current Studio 40.

If you plug a good set of headphones into your 40, do those 5 notes sound any different?

Where is your 40 located? On the floor? Raised? On acoustic isolation? Against a wall or in a corner?

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That sounds to me like a “bass trap” room acoustic issue. If you are in a regular shape room without acoustic treatment especially in the corners you can potentially be dealing with the bass trap, where the large slow bass wave got trapped in the corner and bounce back and canceling the wave that’s projecting to you.

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E-string lacks definition… here you go:

The bass E-string is the thickest and lowest-pitched string on a standard 4-string bass guitar or electric upright bass, tuned to E1 (31.2 Hz). Positioned at the top of the neck (closest to the ceiling), it provides the fundamental low-frequency “bottom end” and represents the fourth string in standard E-A-D-G tuning.

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High fret? Use a fret rocker to check. The first few frets sound the same?

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:rofl:

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The amp is sitting on the floor across the room from me. Small 10x 14 bedroom. I haven’t thought about headphones, but not sure I have anything that uses a 1/4" cable. That’s a good idea though!

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You can get a 3.5mm or 1/8” to 1/4” jack adapter for pretty cheap at most places that sell audio cables. Just make sure you get one that matches your headphones (stereo vs mono vs stereo+mic, etc)

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Yep, can be this too (or other room acoustics), especially if it is at a specific frequency. Try simply moving it away from the wall.

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Slightly disappointed that we’re 19 posts in and nobody has given the obvious solution

Buy a P bass or even Jazz bass :smiley:

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