sweetspot questions

[spacey]

Do you remember the rail basses where you could move the pickups ?
I dont recall them jumping to life when you found that secret position.

[Prime_BASS]

[quote name='ikay' timestamp='1369079583' post='2084673']
I;ve drawn up a couple of graphics showing string vibrations of the first 7 harmonics and some common pickup positions.

The vertical line for each pickup shows how much of each harmonic is being sensed. For example, in the first diagran, a J neck pickup gets a good dose of the first four harmonics but hardly any of the higher harmonics. By contrast, the bridge pickup gets a much more even spread but with less lower harmonics and more higher harmonics.

The first diagram shows vibrations for an open string. The second shows vibrations for a string fretted at the 12th fret. This clearly shows that the mix of harmonics being sensed by the pickup is substantially different for open and fretted notes.

For ref the pickup position measurements are as follows (all measured from nut):

J neck - 27.9"
J bridge (60s) - 31.45"
J bridge (70s) - 31.84"
P bass (centreline) - 28.61 "
Stingray (centreline) - 30.5"

[attachment=135170:string harmonics + pickup position 1.jpg] [attachment=135171:string harmonics + pickup position 2.jpg]
[/quote]

Yes that has been by far the most benificial comment.

Maybe I should have started the Op by saying the "musicman sweetspot" maybe it could have saved a lot of everyone time.

[Beer of the Bass]

Just to go back to the earlier digression, the double bass tailpieces with variable or compensated length aren't about adjusting either the pitch of the playing part of the string or it's compliance. The afterlengths behind the tailpiece on a double bass vibrate a surprising amount when playing, and their tuning affects the sound of the bass, especially with the bow. On my own double bass, I had a terrible wolf-tone on one note, which was almost entirely tamed when I added a small weight on the A string afterlength, tuning it so that the afterlength resonated at the pitch of the dodgy note when bowed. I don't pretend to understand these interactions in great depth, but I'd guess that this acted to absorb some energy at that frequency to even out the response of the bass.

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1369861179' post='2093748']
Just to go back to the earlier digression, the double bass tailpieces with variable or compensated length aren't about adjusting either the pitch of the playing part of the string or it's compliance. The afterlengths behind the tailpiece on a double bass vibrate a surprising amount when playing, and their tuning affects the sound of the bass, especially with the bow. On my own double bass, I had a terrible wolf-tone on one note, which was almost entirely tamed when I added a small weight on the A string afterlength, tuning it so that the afterlength resonated at the pitch of the dodgy note when bowed. I don't pretend to understand these interactions in great depth, but I'd guess that this acted to absorb some energy at that frequency to even out the response of the bass.
[/quote]
Ok, that's starting to make sense.

[stingrayPete1977]

Maybe that's why mine makes a terrible noise but I fear it might be a different factor, human error!