Sound post tweaks.

[Paddy Morris]

I had a bit of a search for this but couldn't find a result, so apologies if it's been covered in depth.

 

What is the effect of a sound post tweak? 

 

I took the nicer of my 2 cheap basses to the excellent luthier who did the initial set-up for me, to get bridge adjusters fitted.  He was going to 'tweak' the sound post too.  In the end he said it didn't need it.  So I still don't know what the effect would have been.

 

My other bass, a cheap plywood slapper which I love dearly, has never had a proper set-up and has always been slightly quiet on the A string - this has been true regardless of the various string setups I've had on it.  It might just be the limitation of a cheap bass, but I'm now wondering if a soundpost tweak might improve the situation?

[JoeEvans]

I got my bass looked when I bought it and the luthier offered to move the soundpost a little, saying that it was in a position that would emphasise the higher end of the register. I said yes and sure enough it came back sounding more full and bassy with a richer tone on the low notes, at the expense of a slightly less bright tone higher up.

[Paddy Morris]

That's interesting Joe, thanks.  I might see if he'll have a look at it then.  Also I don't think the nut has ever been set-up for the thicker, low tension strings I tend to use, so I wonder if maybe the A is it bit tight in the slot.  It arrived with thin Chinese steels on it.

 

Part of it is, the guy builds £10,000 basses and I'm slightly embarrassed by my plywood and car body filler box! 

[JoeEvans]

Since the set-up I've done some more work on it myself including filing the nut grooves down a tiny bit lower, thinning and reshaping the bridge a little and replacing the tailpiece. The sum of all these tiny adjustments is a bass that's much easier to play and that sounds loads better, so it's definitely worth the effort!