Harmonicy D and G strings (flats)

[joescartwright]

On my p bass with flats the E and A strings sounds great but the D and G strings have a ringing harmonic of an octave above whatever note I play on them.

Have tried moving the pickup closer/farther and tried a couple of different string sets but it’s the same regardless.

In a mix it’s not noticeable but when practicing it bugs me.

Any ideas?

Cheers,
Joe.

[ikay]

What strings are you using? If the strings are new they should mellow out with a bit more playing and the octave harmonic will be less noticeable. The octave is a natural harmonic anyway so it sounds like the G and D strings are just a little more lively than the A and E. Rolling back the tone a bit may help.

Edited November 6, 2017 by ikay

[joescartwright]

Dunlop flats, they're pretty bright still, maybe 6 weeks old. They're definitely one of the brighter flats that I've played, I might switch back over to La Bellas, it was much less noticeable with those.

Could it be a pickup thing? It seems odd that it's the same (just to a different degree) with each of the strings I've tried on it.

I've not noticed anything like it using the same strings on other basses (not the exact same string but same brand etc).

[markdavid]

[quote name='Jhowhdheyieh' timestamp='1509993326' post='3403118']
Dunlop flats, they're pretty bright still, maybe 6 weeks old. They're definitely one of the brighter flats that I've played, I might switch back over to La Bellas, it was much less noticeable with those.

Could it be a pickup thing? It seems odd that it's the same (just to a different degree) with each of the strings I've tried on it.

I've not noticed anything like it using the same strings on other basses (not the exact same string but same brand etc).
[/quote]

It could well be, if the pickups are too close to the strings they can produce chorusy overtones

[markdavid]

[quote name='markdavid' timestamp='1510139677' post='3404198']
It could well be, if the pickups are too close to the strings they can produce chorusy overtones
[/quote]
Sorry just read your post again and you have said that you tried adjusting the pickups, I don't think it is the pickups anymore.
Might be a bridge issue or a nut issue or a witness point issue, try pressing playing the strings down at the bridge and nut end and playing a note and see if it dissappears

[Quatschmacher]

It can sometimes be due to where you pluck. If I remember rightly, there’s a harmonic node on the D and G strings right where the pickup is on a P bass. I can sometimes hear that strongly if I pluck right in that spot.

[ikay]

With open strings, and plucking directly over a pickup in the P position, the dominant harmonics are a 1st octave, perfect 5th and 2nd octave. But the harmonic content of a note changes depending on the LH fretting position.

It crossed my mind that it might be some sort of neck/body resonance causing the G/D string issue, but that would only affect certain notes/frequencies, it wouldn't be a general effect up and down the fingerboard.

I had something similar on my Hofner Club bass where the D string (Hofner flats) had a sort of hollow ringing sound around the 6th fret. Eventually traced it to the tailpiece which had a sympathetic vibration at that frequency. A small block of rubber carefully positioned under the tailpiece to damp the resonance fixed that.

Edited November 9, 2017 by ikay

[Quatschmacher]

Are you playing fingerstyle or picked? Could it be that the undamped other strings are resonating in sympathy?