Unwanted distortion

[wazz]

I have spent quite some time trying to figure out what was causing my sound to be distorted.
It tended to get worse the further into the set we got. Generally I play harder as my ears start to shut down as the set goes on.
Turns out the pickups were set too high and I was overloading the pickups resulting in a weak and nasty sound.
I've lowered the P/U hight on all my basses now and get a lovely sound with plenty of volume once more..

Has anyone else experienced this type of distortion?

[BOD2]

Not specifically but from what you are saying it might be worth considering some ear protection ? If your ears are "shutting down" as you get into the set then you might be setting up hearing problems for yourself.

When I played guitar in a heavy rock band years ago I noticed a similar problem in that the guitar sound seemed to get steadily worse as the set went on despite not changing any settings. Like you, I put it down to my ears gradually blocking out some of the frequencies as the night wore on. That band didn't last long enough to damage my hearing though !

[wazz]

funnily enough I am having a fitting for earplugs tomorrow!! long overdue actually.

The ears do start to shut down to protect themselves over time which is why we all turn up as the gig goes on to maintain the 'volume adrenaline rush'

[bass_ferret]

[quote name='wazz' post='260058' date='Aug 11 2008, 03:38 PM']...The ears do start to shut down to protect themselves over time which is why we all turn up as the gig goes on to maintain the 'volume adrenaline rush'[/quote]
Did not work with mine