G string driving me crackers

[thisnameistaken]

Is it normal to find that every other open string sounds in tune, then the open G sounds effing horrible?

It's driving me to distraction. In fact everything on the G sounds out of tune to me until I get up towards D. Am I just fingering the notes wrong on the D or do I have a bad string or... Grr. It's so annoying. Everything sounds lush and then I play the G string and it sounds like I sexually abused someone's cat.

I have a new-found respect for violinists.

Honestly everything is golden except the G string in the lower positions. Is this me, the string, or normal neophyte bass student toss I just have to work through?

[Musicman69]

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='801459' date='Apr 10 2010, 02:30 AM']Is it normal to find that every other open string sounds in tune, then the open G sounds effing horrible?

It's driving me to distraction. In fact everything on the G sounds out of tune to me until I get up towards D. Am I just fingering the notes wrong on the D or do I have a bad string or... Grr. It's so annoying. Everything sounds lush and then I play the G string and it sounds like I sexually abused someone's cat.

I have a new-found respect for violinists.

Honestly everything is golden except the G string in the lower positions. Is this me, the string, or normal neophyte bass student toss I just have to work through?[/quote]

Its just you, you are quite mad :-)

[ezbass]

"G string driving me crackers" I'd swap to Y fronts . I'll get my coat .



On a serious note (no pun here) is this a new problem and have you checked your intonation set up? To be fair without a compensated nut all the lower positions are a compromise, especially the G (this is where you'll normally see the most dramatic saddle position, on all my basses this saddle is the furthest forward) but you should be able to find something that sounds OK. Could be a duff string of course.

[velvetkevorkian]

^It's a DB, so no compensated nuts or adjustable intonation here!

[Duckyincarnate]

Is there a teacher or an experienced DB player who could help you? It could be many things, including your own (developing) hearing for intonation, fingering, dead string, and so on.

Does it happen both when bowing and plucking?

[PedalB]

Hi,
could be any one of a number of things going on here , suggest you start by seeking the advice of an experienced player , let that person have a play
on your bass ( both pizz and arco - important !). Failing that work by process of elimination and change the string first , be interested to know how you
get on.

good luck

[keeponehandloose]

Maybe you have a wolftone going on.
Try damping the after bridge string length.Cheap option is tie a rubber band around it,or more expensive buy a wolftone eliminator.

[Grambo]

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='801459' date='Apr 10 2010, 02:30 AM']Is it normal to find that every other open string sounds in tune, then the open G sounds effing horrible?

It's driving me to distraction. In fact everything on the G sounds out of tune to me until I get up towards D. Am I just fingering the notes wrong on the D or do I have a bad string or... Grr. It's so annoying. Everything sounds lush and then I play the G string and it sounds like I sexually abused someone's cat.

I have a new-found respect for violinists.

Honestly everything is golden except the G string in the lower positions. Is this me, the string, or normal neophyte bass student toss I just have to work through?[/quote]
What sort of bass do you have? - I know that logic will tell you that a string should sound "right" if the length and tension are correct, but you could be hearing overtones generated by the bass itself. If the instrument is carved out of wood then a good repairer should be able to sort it. If it's made of ply then the whole thing becomes a bit more tricky ('cos you probably dont want to spend loadsa dosh on it - innit?) Make sure the bridge and bass bar are in the right positions to start with, and check for cracks/splits/loose bits.

Mind you - you probably just have a duff string..........

[TPJ]

[quote name='Grambo' post='802176' date='Apr 10 2010, 09:47 PM']Mind you - you probably just have a duff string.......... [/quote]

+1

I put a new set of strings on and the everything on the G is a tad sharp when tuned properly. I asked my luthier and he said that it's probably the string that's faulty if all the others are ok.

You could try buying a new single G to see if that cures it.

[thisnameistaken]

Thanks all. A guy's been supposed to be coming over with a bow for me for a few weeks but it never seems to happen. Hopefully he'll show up at some point and we'll see if he can play my G in tune.

[Damo200]

Yes, I have a Hawkes bass which has a temperamental G. The nearest I can get to explaining, is that it whines between the b and d in neck positions and probably caused by a wolf issue. It got alot better once I had a C extension fitted (don't ask me why?!) Also, try a softer string such as belcanto or obligato as this helps too.