Warbling, wolf notes?

[mcgraham]

I've noticed on a number of basses, typically the higher quality ones, that certain instruments have a bizarre sonic artefact that sounds like 'warbling'. This seems to occur most on the low B and E strings, rarely the higher ones.

Every time you play a note, something like a dissonant harmonic also appears to be sounded on top of the note you just plucked. Sometimes it's the result of unsuitable taperwound/exposed core strings used with the bass and the string just isn't ringing true. Part of me says that it's the wood combination, but then that should produce one or two wolf notes, i.e. odd notes that match with the resonance of the bass. Another part makes me think it's the pickups, as they are the only thing that affect the vibrating length of the string regardless of what note is being played.

Has anyone ever encountered this issue? If so, did you ever ascertain what it was?

Mark

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

Have you tried lowering the pickups? If its the same sound I had on a bass once this will solve it. I think it was caused by the magnetic pull on the string.

[BassBod]

+1 - I've only had this once or twice, and I think its the magnetic pull from the pickups? Lower them a touch and it usually goes away.

I've also had a similar "rattle" sometimes, but this is duff strings (normally the E) where the windings are coming apart from the core, inside the string.

[bremen]

[quote name='BassBod' post='318315' date='Oct 30 2008, 12:52 PM']I've also had a similar "rattle" sometimes, but this is duff strings (normally the E) where the windings are coming apart from the core, inside the string.[/quote]

I just experienced that for the first time, on a brand new string (Warwick red label). Bloody annoying.

[BassBod]

Yes, I'm sure the only time I tried Warwick strings was the first time ....and later a set of Rotos

[mcgraham]

Those are my thoughts as well.

On one bass I've heard it get worse higher up the fretboard, but it existed all over the fretboard to a lesser degree the further down the neck and the higher the strings. I lowered the pickups to about an inch away from the strings but it didn't seem to affect it. It was acoustically audible as well.

There are only four things that (I can think of) that can affect a bass's sound on all strings on all notes: pickups, bridge, the bass itself, and the strings themselves.

If the pickups are too powerful that could account for it, and it's the most likely culprit, as the sound I'm referring to sounds like a constantly dissonant harmonic(s) superimposed on the sound of the bass, almost as if there was another speaking length of string sounding at the same time. If the pickups were creating that 'imaginary' secondary length it could explain something. However having lowered the pickups and it not being substantially affected left me puzzled.

The bridge could have a weak witness point, leading to an incorrect/inconsistent speaking length, but I imagine that other problems would present themselves as well.

The bass itself would mean a resonance issue, but this should be damping of notes, not the introduction of additional harmonics into the sound.

The strings themselves is plausible, but only at the very highest frets on the highest gauge strings when the string cannot resonant in an ideal way. But I can't account for it occurring even on an open B string.

Mark

[budget bassist]

More than anything i find it's WHERE the amp is, not WHAT the bass/strings are. I've had this before in certain places. I got it at college in one of their practice rooms, but the bass didn't do it anywhere else. I also got it when i was moving house and i was playing bass in my bedroom which at this point was pretty much totally empty, but it didn't do it before. Have you tried moving your amp to a different room?

[The Burpster]

Proper tech question that so off you go......

[MoonBassAlpha]

If it were on a specific guitar, I would say check the truss rod has tension on it. I know this may sound a bit daft, but I'm wondering if many top end basses have very stiff necks, what with graphite reinforcing rods etc. so that they don't require much (any?) tension on the rod to produce the required relief. If the rod is loose it does create a nasty sounding resonance.
The reason I mentioned this is I have a bass that does exactly this (the one in my avatar) To stop the rod resonating, the relief has to be set t about nil, even with 45-105 strings on.

Cheers
Jules

[johnnylager]

I had this on me Geddy Lee at the first rehearsal with me ABM rig, anywhere between 3rd & 7th fret on the E - couldn't dial it out no matter what I did. I was convinced the valve had gone, amp was f***ed - the usual post purchase paranoia, but it was just amp position in the room. Never had it since.

[6stringbassist]

I've heard of this sort of thing with LaBella exposed core strings, but it's not something I've personally experienced.

[mcgraham]

[quote name='6stringbassist' post='319800' date='Nov 1 2008, 08:13 PM']I've heard of this sort of thing with LaBella exposed core strings, but it's not something I've personally experienced.[/quote]

Likewise, but it wasn't this.

To those who've said amp position, I heard this acoustically and through a headphone amp.

Mark

[warwickhunt]

With wolf notes the obvious one is pup height but what one person describes as a wolf note might be something completely unrelated... Have you tried tuning your bass a tone lower and identifying if the 'noise' is affected in any way (moves to a different point on the neck/goes away); you could also use a capo to eliminate if it is a rogue fret not quite seated correctly.

Just throwing ideas out.

[mcgraham]

FYI it's not actually my bass, I had the one in question in my possession for a short time and I tried virtually everything adjustable to sort it. I lowered the pickups a full inch away from the strings and it didn't help, though I believe now that removing them from the cavities totally would be a good test (they were Nordstrand Dual Coils, powerful magnetic field by all accounts, if it were strong and inhomogeneous this could [i]perhaps [/i]introduce a virtual 'second' speaking length of string).

It wasn't the strings as I tried two different sets, and in two different tunings (High C vs Low . Didn't affect it. As it occurs on all notes, in two tunings, with different strings, it makes me think it's not a resonance issue. I understand that bad resonance issues should present as a dead note or a couple of dud notes, but this was a total issue, which makes me think it's something like the pickups or bridge.

Mark

P.S. The bridge was also swapped out in experiments for a different one, issue still remained. Tres bizarre no?