Setup Advice Please - Notes 'Choking' If Played Too Hard

[allighatt0r]

Hello all,

I've recently got hold of a new (to me) bass, a 70s Japanese Hondo II Proffesional (doublecut shape with a Dimarzio P pickup and maple neck and 3 point Gibson style bridge). Really quite nice it is too. When I received it the bridge was bent and knackered, and the G string saddle had been replaced with a 5p piece that had been bent in two and a couple of knotches cut out(!!!).

Anyway, cutting to the chase, I bought a replacement 3 pointer that came off of a Thunderbird, got it installed and set up, and the bass plays really rather well, nice action, intonated perfectly, lovely.

Only problem is, I've noticed something that doesn't tend to happen on my Washburn, and that is that notes tend to 'choke' (for want of a better word) if I play too hard with my right hand. It's not the sort of buzzing that I would get from the action being too low, it's something else, the note doesn't sustain and loses the bottom out of the tone.

I wondered if this is likely to be a problem with my setup of the bass, or whether it is just a characteristic of this particular bass, whether it's a P pickup sort of thing (the Washburn is a double humbucker bass). Any advice please? Thanks.

[gary mac]

5p coin for a saddle, well that's a first.

so assuming your action and relief are correct, is everything good at the nut?

[allighatt0r]

I think the nut is OK, open notes seem ok. How would I check? I have a set of feeler gauges, what clearance do I need at the first fret? The notes choke on fretted notes, would the nut affect those?

[gary mac]

I dont know what clearance is required on that bass, try a google search

[BanditSid]

It might be worth checking the height of your pickups, if they are too close to the string the magnetic influence may affect the string resonance.

[allighatt0r]

Cool, thanks guys, I will check these things out. How close is too close for pickup height?


Thanks

[HowieBass]

Choking might be eliminated by a very minor increase in action height, not so much change in string height that you'll notice it when playing but enough to let the string vibrate fully when struck hard... talking less than a full turn of the saddle adjustment screws.