Pickup distance from strings?

[TKE96]

Hey everybody. First of all I would like to say I have enjoyed lurking in this forum and reading all of your good advice, I have found my way to new sites, good books, and strong advice.

 

My background: I started in a band over a year and a half ago playing backup percussion and signing harmonies. In October we lost our bass player. With no previous experience I went out and bought an amp and a Yamaha 4 string. Since then I have been playing away and have come quite far from ground zero. My band even has a few nice gigs lined up this summer. We call oursleves Carpe Cervesa (Seize the Beer...and yes we do!)

 

I have been having a problem with my A string. A lot of the time I attack it, or strumm harder, I get a popping noise on the amp and in the recording. It was suggested that I drop the pickups to a lower level. The guitar really has not been modified at all since I bought it new at Dr. Guitar Music in Watertown NY(Shameless plug for a good dealer!) I need to know the proper distance, or if to far is too much, etc, so I can fix this problem.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Tom Capasso]

I'm no expert, but it would be odd to think that the A string is too close, but the E and D are OK. Hmmmm. Why not take it back to your Dr. Guitar Music guy? It's not that old - they could at least look...and if something was manufactured improperly, you might get a free fix...

 

Originally posted by tke96:

I have been having a problem with my A string. A lot of the time I attack it, or strumm harder, I get a popping noise on the amp and in the recording...

Seems like you have large cajones to be recording so soon after picking up a bass. Good for you !! Go for it !!

 

Tom

[Carl1266]

There could be two reasons for you problem.

First something is wrong with the bass and

second something is wrong with you or your technique. Siriously check your technique first. Does the string hit the pup or the frets/fingerboard?

 

I don't think there is an answer to your question. I depends on your bass, your technique your liking, your pups etc.

[Zack]

I agree with Tom and Carl; you should have your bass checked out, preferrably at both the store you purchased it at and another store (a musical 2nd opinion ). As moderator and bassist extroardinaire Tom Capasso said, it would be next to impossible for your A string to be closer to the fretboard than the other 3 strings are. I especially like Carl1266's idea to check your technique. Are you banging the hell out of your 'A' when you play? Check it out, and if you're sure your not banging the A particularly hard, get that baby checked out.

[Paul Harwood]

Howdy,

What kind of bass is it? If it's a Fender type bridge, the A string's saddle could well be lower than the E and D? So, what kind of bass is it? Make and model?

Cheers,

PH

 

I'm so technical!

[groovehead]

I'm not so technical and this thread may halp me as well. What effect does pickup hight have on your tone?

[PJR]

Pickup height will effect the bass output.

 

Adjust the pickup height so that it is at a point where it won't make contact with the string when played......which can result in an ugly clanking sound.

 

PJR

[TKE96]

To answer the first question, it is a Yamaha RBX 264.

 

The clanking noise as you call it Peter, sounds like what I am experiencing. The pickup it self almost seems to be on a slight incline from the edge of the bass towards the middle. Would it help if I leveled that out so it is entirely flat? Or is that a no no. I noticed this after some close inspections this weekend before our gig in the beautiful Letchworth State Park in NY. There is nothing like the sound of water, a good bass line, and the echo back off the gorge walls!

[g.]

In general the closest a pickup cover should be to the outside strings is about 1/16" when the strings are depressed to the last fret. Any closer and players with heavier touches or slapping will be bottoming strings out on it and getting that clicky noise.

 

It's all a compromise on basses with 2 pickups because the neck pickup will be quite a bit farther away from the strings until one is playing way up the neck. So what I do is set up the bridge pickup to about 1/16" from last fretted strings, and then lower one side or another for proper string balance (don't let preamp or head EQ fool you here: it's probably best to be set flat to determines this, use a mixer input for metering if desired).

 

Then I play with the neck pickup until it has a approximately the same output at lower and mid frets. At this point in the process the 50/50 pickup blend should have a pleasing, slightly hollowed-out sound that works well for slapping or spread-voice chording.

 

The general rule is that as a pickup gets closer to the strings it not only sounds louder, but also has more fundamental and lower overtone content represented (indeed, that's where the amplitude gain is the greatest).

 

Here\'s some info from a great guitar pickup manufacturer that will also apply for basses. I hope Greg Kinman will someday find enough time to research and manufacture J-style pickups like he has promised me for some time now. His Strat and Tellie pickups are simply incredible!

[TKE96]

Thanks for all the help. With a little tweaking last night, I was able to self correct the problem. The pickup distance seemed to be set for the E string, which was much lower then the A. So since this was the case, I never popped on the E, and alot on the A. I raised the E slightly, and dropped the pickup a bit on the side of the A string. I would have never probably had the confidence otherwise. Thanks everybody.