Bass sounds weak

[Witheld]

Hey all

 

So my main bass is an Ibanez SR 1000, an old model (2008) that's 100% active, you can't turn the pre-amp off. It plays and feels wonderful, but the pre-amp sounds weak in standard tuning.

 

I know it sounds weird, but no matter the pre-amp settings, the bass osunds weak when it's in E Standard, flat, no life, but whenever i downtune, it sounds huge and super aggressive, which i love. It's such a weird thing, but it's bothering me, i always have to add gain to the amp to have a good sound

 

Anyone knows why ?

 

Thanks

[Beedster]

Perhaps you just prefer the sound of a downtuned bass, perhaps you have a instrument that - for whatever reason (resonance?) sounds better down-tuned. Who knows, but if you like it, keep it for down-tuned and get another bass for E-tuning. that way you have another bass which is always good  

[thisisswanbon]

If you have an EQ pedal, try a small boost around 60hz and slightly larger boost around 150hz.. I do this with my jazz bass and it makes a huge difference. Personal preference of course so YMMV.  That being said, I had an active jazz recently that I couldn't EQ the thin/brightness out of.  Sometimes it's just in the wood as mentioned above.

[itu]

Do you tune down an ordinary string set? Loose strings get closer to pickups. Raise the pickups a bit (count the turns, and you can get back) and try again.

[Baloney Balderdash]

Could be the strings got too high tension and are too stiff to vibrate properly in standard tuning.

 

Tuning them down would lower the tension and make the strings less stiff allowing for them to vibrate more freely, resulting in a more lively tone with more harmonic content, higher output and longer sustain. 

 

Try a set of strings of lower gauge and see if that helps.

 

Edited June 16, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[Witheld]

58 minutes ago, itu said:

Do you tune down an ordinary string set? Loose strings get closer to pickups. Raise the pickups a bit (count the turns, and you can get back) and try again.

That might be it! It's a regular 45-105 set, the bass was set-up in E standard in a shop, so it's possible

[Baloney Balderdash]

44 minutes ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

Could be the strings got too high tension and are too stiff to vibrate properly in standard tuning.

 

Tuning them down would lower the tension and make the strings less stiff allowing for them to vibrate more freely, resulting in a more lively tone with more harmonic content, higher output and longer sustain. 

 

Try a set of strings of lower gauge and see if that helps.

 

 

7 minutes ago, Witheld said:

That might be it! It's a regular 45-105 set, the bass was set-up in E standard in a shop, so it's possible

 

Try re-stringing your bass with a gauge .100 - .080 - .060 - .045 set of strings (and of course re-set the neck relief, string action and intonation accordingly).

 

Edited June 16, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[xgsjx]

That’s not an old SR1000, mine’s a 1989 model. Try changing the strings first. I’ve become a fan of flatwound strings. 
The other thing I did recently was change the pickups & preamp for Aguilar ones. Big change & sounds fantastic. 

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

Sounds like a good excuse to buy a new bass.

 

I'd second the suggestion to try lighter strings

[Paolo85]

On 16/06/2023 at 17:08, itu said:

Do you tune down an ordinary string set? Loose strings get closer to pickups. Raise the pickups a bit (count the turns, and you can get back) and try again.

Good one. Yes I would totally check how pickup height change when you downtune. And make sure I compare the sound with identical height, noting that each half mm matters