E String sustain problem - Evah Pirazzi Weich's

[henrywillard]

Hi all,

I've had a set of Evah Pirazzi Weich's on my bass for probably just over two years now, and had them fitted by Malcolm Healey, who has always done any work required on my bass.

I can't recall if the 'problem' was immediate, but for as long as I can remember, I've always had a sustain problem with the E string when playing pizzicato. It's fine open, and I get good sustain up to and including a low A on the E string, but anything from a Bb upwards above just sounds pretty dead and the sustain drops off after approximately 3 seconds, whilst the sustain on the E string up to and including the low A, and all across the fingerboard on all the other strings lasts at least 6 seconds.

Does anyone have any ideas what the cause of this 'problem' could be? Could it just be that the string needs replacing??

I have attached some photo's to show the heights & cut of my nut & bridge, as well as fingerboard distance and my bridge feet/adjusters.

Any thoughts/advice/recommendations of things to tweak or test etc would be greatly appreciated! It's a problem I've been meaning to look into for some time now!

Many thanks in advance,

Henry.

[neilp]

I don't know if it's related to your problem or not, but that nut looks crazy high and needs cutting! getting the strings closer to the fingerboard at the nut will make it all round easier, so I'd start there...

[henrywillard]

[quote name='neilp' timestamp='1460129799' post='3022931']
I don't know if it's related to your problem or not, but that nut looks crazy high and needs cutting! getting the strings closer to the fingerboard at the nut will make it all round easier, so I'd start there...
[/quote]

Oh really?!
Where the fingerboard meets the nut, from the fingerboard to the bottom of the E string, is well under 1mm. It's probably around 0.5mm..

[bassace]

Doesn't look high to me. I'd be interested in the outcome because in the past I've had basses with dead spots, or at least lack of sustain, up the fingerboard on the A and D.. I've never figured whether this is down to the string or the bass itself. Perhaps an experienced luthier would have an opinion.

[iiipopes]

Because of the thickness of E strings generally, they can be stiff and inertial in the higher positions compared to the A-D-G strings. I don't think it is a "problem," rather, an inherent aspect of the nature of the string. It could be that particular string has something wrong internally, or has too much damping material in the windings. If the notes that seem to die out on the E string resonate with the proper intonation, articulation, tone and fall-off on other strings in lower positions, then it probably is not the bass.

The best way to find out if it is the bass or a string: put a 3/4 T-I Spiro Mittel (T-I part number 3885,5) on the bass and see what happens, since T-I Spiros tend to have a long, long pizz sustain by comparison to almost all other double bass strings, and are known for their pizz character.