Linus27 Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 I have a fretless Musicman Stingray and the G string has little sustain and sounds like it's being choked. If I play certain notes on the D string, the sustain can last 10 seconds or so but when I play the same notes on the G string, the note can die off after 3 or 4 seconds. I've tried 3 different sets of strings from roundwounds, flats and tapewound strings and the results are the same. The bass has a brass nut which I'm not sure if that's standard on a fretless Stingray with a Pau Ferro board. I'm wondering if the issue is with the nut. Anyone got any ideas or had anything similar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor J Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 The nut has no influence on the sound of a fretted note, it's all between the bridge and the finger which pushes down on the string. Is it a dead spot you're talking about (usually around the B to D range, frets 4 to 7) or is it every note along the length of the G string? Have you checked the neck relief and string height, that the string isn't choking when you fret it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 8 hours ago, Linus27 said: I have a fretless Musicman Stingray and the G string has little sustain and sounds like it's being choked. If I play certain notes on the D string, the sustain can last 10 seconds or so but when I play the same notes on the G string, the note can die off after 3 or 4 seconds. I've tried 3 different sets of strings from roundwounds, flats and tapewound strings and the results are the same. The bass has a brass nut which I'm not sure if that's standard on a fretless Stingray with a Pau Ferro board. I'm wondering if the issue is with the nut. Anyone got any ideas or had anything similar? Hi mate, is this a new bass? You know what you're doing with fretless so I'm assuming you've already checked the factors @Doctor J identified? As soon as I hear the words G string and Stingray in the same sentence I'm assuming the classic weak top string problem. I'm going back a very long way, but when I had this I used one of those headstock weights that corrected it to a degree (I forget the name). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 Here you go, Fender Fat Finger https://www.fender.com/en-GB/accessories/miscellaneous/fatfinger-guitar-sustain-enhancer/0992180100.html ....and a chat chat about it being used to correct the same problem as yours on TalkBass https://www.talkbass.com/threads/fat-finger-works-but-worth-it.1423115/#google_vignette Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linus27 Posted February 18 Author Share Posted February 18 Thank @Doctor J and @Beedster It's not a new bass and I have checked the string height and neck relief. I've given it a bit more relief as the neck was quite flat but the strings height if anything if a little higher than it could be. It is also noticeably worse around the 4th - 7th fret but generally, overall the whole string doesn't sing or sustain as well as the other 3 strings. I'm gonna take it to the Bass Gallery at some point to ge looked at but I'll also look into the Fender Cat Finger as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
three Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 I'd be very interested to see what Martin (Gallery) says and can do to help here. I have a very similar problem with a fretless four, though it's the E string, and to a lesser degree, the G string that are problematic. Dead spots from B to E/F on the G, but the E is just generally lacking sustain. A plucked open E dies much more quickly than A/D/G and it feels like there's something absorbing or countering the energy in the string (there's a peculiar sort of counter vibration that I can feel in the neck). I suspect it's a truss-rod issue (or a loose components somewhere) so probably off to a good tech in the next week or two - I'll update when I know more, and good to hear the Gallery's opinion on the MM 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linus27 Posted February 18 Author Share Posted February 18 2 minutes ago, three said: I'd be very interested to see what Martin (Gallery) says and can do to help here. I have a very similar problem with a fretless four, though it's the E string, and to a lesser degree, the G string that are problematic. Dead spots from B to E/F on the G, but the E is just generally lacking sustain. A plucked open E dies much more quickly than A/D/G and it feels like there's something absorbing or countering the energy in the string (there's a peculiar sort of counter vibration that I can feel in the neck). I suspect it's a truss-rod issue (or a loose components somewhere) so probably off to a good tech in the next week or two - I'll update when I know more, and good to hear the Gallery's opinion on the MM Will update for sure. My E, A and D are absolutely perfect, just the G but it also has these weird overtones/harmonics on certain notes on the G. Mine also feels like there's something absorbing or countering the energy in the string on certain notes. Either way, I'll update as well when I know. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulThePlug Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 Deadspots n stuff... not a lot to do Other stuff that may be more pronounced at a given freq? Check all Neck/Body Screws (Slacken and Tighten with a bit of string tension is OK, may help to Seat the neck to the back of the pocket) Bridge Mounting Screws, Tuner Mounting Screws and Tuner Peg Screws and String Retainers.. Just a nice Nip-Up Twisted String, Witness Points at Bridge and Nut? Maybe try a Rizla paper in the nut slot and/or Bridge Saddle? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulThePlug Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 7 minutes ago, Linus27 said: Will update for sure. My E, A and D are absolutely perfect, just the G but it also has these weird overtones/harmonics on certain notes on the G. Mine also feels like there's something absorbing or countering the energy in the string on certain notes. Either way, I'll update as well when I know. Overtones, Chorusing? Maybe pickup Height, High Mag Field stifeling the G string... other strings with higher mass are less susceptible. Try dropping the pickup way-down on the G side? - count the turns so you can put it back... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueMoon Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 @Linus27 is the sustain issue also evident when played without amplification? Is the Musicman Stingray preamp 2 or 3EQ? Folklore suggests the weak G-string dead-spots are worst with the 3EQ and vary between examples. Curious what others have to say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHM Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 Fat fingers are useless and look stupid clamped on the headstock. The only way to get rid of a dead spot is to get rid of the bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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