Solving weird noises and other bass setup tips

The title of this thread pretty much describes a problem I’m having with the setup on my ESP. When I slide, it sounds like I’m going over railroad tracks instead of the smooth slide that I’m used to. That’s the best way I can describe it, but you can listen for yourself on the two demo tracks I’ve linked below.

Both my ESP and my Hofner have LaBella flatwounds on them, and both sounded smooth as silk before I started fiddling around with the ESP. Now the ESP has this railroad track sound to the slides. Take a listen and tell me what you think I messed up (The slide is from the B on the E string down to the F):

Hofner… smooth as silk as it should be

ESP … horrible staccato sound as my finger passes over the frets

@John_E you have this same bass with LaBella flats on it. Check yours and compare it with how mine sounds.

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jumbo vs small frets maybe? try less pressure while sliding?

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I’ve tried that and a passel of other techniques; nothing improves it. I use the same sliding technique before this started, so the problem has to be within the instrument.
P.S. using less pressure actually makes it worse, because then I get hideous fret rattle along the way.

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@howard is on the right path.
The ESP has XJ frets (Xtra Jumbo), big boy frets for sure. Agressive by nature of Bello, so makes sense.
Cannot find the spec on the Hofner, but suspect these frets would double the weight of the thing (heehee).

I will give it a try tonight on the ESP but mine has rounds on it (its a rock bass after all).

So I would try a lot less pressure on the ESP to get it to sound the same.

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Apparently the Ignitions use medium-jumbo, so at least a couple sizes smaller than the ESP.

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Thanks @howard and @John_E . Your advice would make sense if it weren’t for the fact that I was able to slide smoothing on the ESP when I first got it (yes, with LaBella flats).
I’ll just keep fiddling with it I guess until I get it back to where it was when I got it.

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If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it

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Nice saying, but how does that apply to this problem?

@John_E and @howard just as an experiment, I replaced the E string with the one from set that the ESP came with, the D’Addario XL-165 rounds, The staccato sound is still there, but now with that hideous scraping noise that rounds are famous for.
So, that eliminates the strings from the equation.

You said you were fiddling with it, which makes me think you were trying to further improve some aspect of it when it was already right. I may be wrong but I think that is what I inferred from your post.

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@howard, would neck tension vs. strings have something to do with this, this is now a BEAD bass for @PamPurrs, asking as i have no idea, but that is a change from prior.

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I meant when I added the zero fret nut, then changed it to BEAD, then removed the zero fret nut and changed it back to EADG. In the midst of all that, I had to make truss rod adjustments, and intonation adjustments. That’s called “Modifications” not fixing something that’s not broken. Thanks for the advice though :smiley_cat:

I didn’t know you went back to EADG…hmmm…I will give mine a try tonight when home.

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I guess I should mention that I changed it back to EADG and also removed the Zero Fret nut. I’m now just preparing it to list on Reverb.

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well that solves the issue as well…haha

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Not really. I don’t want to sell it to someone knowing there’s a problem with it.

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That is a lot of fiddling :blush:

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LOL yeah

Hi Pam, @PamPurrs ,
To me it sounds like it is the fret height that is causing the difference in sound between the 2 basses.
If finger pressure is same that’s all it can be.

Cheers Brian

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That doesn’t make any sense to me. Why would it sound fine when I first got it, and now it sounds horrid. Why does fret height even matter? If I’m applying the normal amount of pressure when I begin the slide, why is it suddenly sounding like crap?

I’m about ready to toss this ESP in the rubbish and just get another Hofner.