Octave pedal query.

[jonnythenotes]

Love the sound of my bass, but is there some way to boost the sound the higher up the G string you go. The only way I can sort of explain is comparing it to this smart four wheel drive stuff. The more grip you need,the more drive is applied to the wheel, or wheels that are slipping. It's not always there, just as and when required. Is there an octave pedal that does a similar thing, recognising that on the lower notes, there is plenty of volume there, so an octave 'below' boost is not required, but as you start moving up passed 4th and 5th fret on the G string it feeds more and more in the higher you go to maintain the volume level. Three examples of all the bottom end collapsing are All Right Now at the bass solo bit, Knock On Wood for part of the riff, and I Feel Good, again as part of the bass riff. I don't like these 3 , but they are the 3 that spring to mind. Any Octave pedals I have heard seem to be either on or off, with no graduation in terms of an 'as and when needed' basis,or have I missed something.

[TimR]

Check your action on that string. It may be too high.

[RhysP]

I know Geddy Lee used to use a Boss EQ pedal to give him a boost when he went up the neck, maybe something like that would be useful.

[cheddatom]

There's no octave pedal like that, as far as I know. It's an interesting idea!

I think what you're experiencing is a lack of balance across the strings and up the frets, so certain notes are louder than others. Your strings, pickup height, amp settings etc will all play a part in this

I have a friend who's EUB was quite quiet on the G string no matter what we did with it. We managed to get around it to an extent using a multi-band compressor, which applies different compression to different frequency bands. This might be the way to bodge a solution

[Truckstop]

Sounds counter-intuitive, but if you cut a lot of bass on your EQ you should hear a much more even volume coverage over the whole fretboard.

[cheddatom]

yes, good advice truckstop

[jonnythenotes]

Thanks chaps.....some food for thought there. It's not a major issue, or a show stopper, but bugs the pants off me.

[spacey]

Sounds more like a mid cut issue, two pick ups scopping mid ? EQ on mid cut ?
You get to that area and it really digs the sound out.
A compressor pedal might even things out more, the Berhinger one does the job for £20.

[spectoremg]

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/250449-most-covered-classic-rock-song/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/250449-most-covered-classic-rock-song/[/url]
If you're playing those songs you need to check this out

[Graham]

Check your pickup hight and angle (if your bass allows that).

But thinking back to your question, would an octave pedal triggered by the sidechain of a compressor work? It's been a few years since uni, but I think that could work?

[jonnythenotes]

Hi Spector....I am not playing those songs....just used them as an example, but thank anyway.

[spectoremg]

Ok, just kidding.

[Dave_the_bass]

My setup would do what you want it to.

I run an Octamizer in the high frequency loop of a SFX X&M pedal. My crossover frequency is set so that it noticeably applies the octave to anything over the 6th fret on the A string but it's a variable setting.

HTH

[JapanAxe]

[quote name='spacey' timestamp='1426001337' post='2713274']
Sounds more like a mid cut issue
[/quote]

This.

Boosting bass tends not to help the fundamentals of the higher notes. Try cutting bass (and increasing volume) or boosting mids.

[xgsjx]

Wait a minute... Sorry, posting in the wrong thread! Oops.

Edited March 11, 2015 by xgsjx