I’m a beginner and I just picked up a new bass (Schecter Stealth-4) that feels like it has better playability to me. I’ve done self-setups on both now and this one just feels easier to play to me.
However, something about the new one that bothers me slightly is that it has kind of an acoustic, hollow sound. String squeaks and harmonics seem to resonate much easier in the new body, as well as thumps on the body. It’s more apparent when un-amped. It sounds like I can hear resonate ringing from inside the body. When plugged in I found I could just hit the vintage button on the amp to tame it down.
Un-amped and side by side, if I scrape the strings, the ringing on the Schecter is twice as loud and sounds like the pickups are actually making sound too.
Is there something I could do pickup or body wise to address this?
hmm are they new strings? that can give a lot of zing.
edit: also i cannot imagine that a schecter would have a warm pbass-y sound to it, i always (right or wrong) think of them as in your face metal basses. (when amped, of course).
If it’s mostly happening un-amped, then you are probably talking about acoustic noise that you should mostly ignore. My first guess would be whatever strings came from the factory… and if you are going to “fix it” I would think that the best fix would be to return it and try to play a bunch of basses at Guitar Center or your local music shop until you find one that you like the sound and feel of.
One thing it took me a bit to realize is how much where you are plucking maters to the tone produced so pickup placement can, if you are anchoring on it, make a difference not just in what they are picking up but in how they influence your right hand placement. If you haven’t already, try moving your right hand closer to the neck and see if you like the tone better.
I have one bass (a solid body) which, even with flats sounds more bouncy and banjo-like.
No squeaks or unpleasant harmonics but almost like a natural reverb, I can’t explain it but I like it.
See if you can embrace the quirks as a feature?
It did catch me! The playability got me, then the sounds.
Even though it isn’t what I was looking for. Something about beating it down and taming it to sound like a vintage P base appealed to me. I’m a big fan of the classically “boring” bass players. I am actually an Entwistle.
Electronically, I can tame it. I suspect with pedals I could take warmer and smoother some more.
It mostly is acoustic sound, amped it does feel way hotter on the bridge pickup but I was switching around tonight and with amp settings. I could tame it to sound vintage.
I love the vintage/p sound but I kinda want both now . There is a rich balance on the two pickups between 1/4 to 3/4 that I love.
I’m only a few weeks in to playing, so I’m trying to stick to the basics for now. Been practicing for 1 to 2 hours per day.
Takes some effort to tame it but I was torn between that and the Schecter Extreme-4. I’d kind of love to have both. I may for my own sanity sake.
The other bass I loved at GC was the Fender Precision Player, but was a little more expensive. The Schecter Extreme-4 and Fender Precision had some similar feels to me.
Some instruments are simply more resonant than others. Body wood, hardware, design, etc all come into play. That nearly all new basses that I’m aware of come stock with roundwound strings will also contribute to this or even enhance it.
The initial “zing” of most roundwounds will be reduced the more you play them. If you’re too antsy for that try a set of GHS Pressurewounds. They’ll greatly reduce that initial zing and finger noise without losing the kind of dynamics and clarity roundwounds are known for. They’ve been my “top dog” string for 15 years now.
If that still doesn’t get you where you want to go switch to flatwounds and eliminate zing and finger noise completely. But you’ll also be limiting a lot of the tonal dynamics you get with rounds or pressurewounds. FWIW many of us who play a PBass have them strung with flats. It’s at least somewhat traditional for us.
I’ve even got pressurewounds on my P bass. The G&L is the only one strung with anything but those. They’re as close to an all around string without losing the best parts of both (rounds and flats) as I’ve found, and I spent my summer go through a few strings. I was really not a fan of the brite flats. It was like the opposite of presurewounds for me. The worst parts of both. They’re the only ones I took off and just tossed.
One thing that I’ve found with Pressurewounds is that because they are so tonally dynamic and offer such great clarity it’s very easy to mute them and roll down the high end to emulate a flatwound but one that’s not as muddy or lacking in more tonal character simply by adding in more highs or EQ’ing my amp differently.
They truly are a “Swiss Army Knife” kind of string that can handle any genre you ask them too on any bass you care to use them. I’d play them on my PBass too if it wasn’t already wearing a set of 12 year old LaBella DTF. That’s how long flats can last whereas I change my Pressurewounds far more often.
I have been wondering about the GHS pressurewound for my Ibanez Mezzo but they don’t seem to do a medium scale set. Do you reckon I’d have any issues with cutting them down for it?
What’s the scale length? Pwounds are also available in short scale sets. If in doubt contact Jason at Fret Nation. He can tell you very specifically what set will fit your bass. https://fretnation.com/
Since the string length from ball to silk is 37.25 I would consult with Jason first about how well they would work on a 32" scale length bass and if they could be trimmed well enough for that. No one that I know of has more knowledge or expertise about bass strings than Jason. He’s a pro level player himself. Write him or call him.
I got in touch with Jason (I presume, he didn’t sign his name) and he was very helpful but couldn’t give a definitive answer until I can measure the ball end to nut and tuner on the bass. Unfortunately that bass is not the one I have with me at the moment so I can’t measure until I get home in mid December. He does think that the short will be too short though and the long probably too long.
I might get a long set and try them out on my Ibanez headless where I have to cut them off anyway! Expensive game though!
It’s just me worrying, this new bass is just so much more sensitive, especially on the bridge pickup. With the bridge balance up and the tone high, every little thing can be heard. The other bass just didn’t bring out the higher frequency resonations to the same degree, even un-amped.
Once I set the tone where I want it, play on the amp, and don’t worry, everything is fine.
You may end up having to go with a string that’s produced for medium scale lengths and the selection may be far more limited. Glad you were able to get at least some help from Jason. He’s typically quite good at responding quickly.
By all means do take some measurements to find out just what you can use on that particular bass. As long as you can get two wraps around the tuning post you should be good and you don’t want too long so the “speaking” part of a string is wrapped around the post. With some basses it can get down to millimeters.
