P-bass lacking low end

[mikebass78]

I bought a HighwayOne P-bass as my first 'grown up' bass a couple of years ago, being inexperienced it initially sounded great compared to the no-name bass I'd started on. However after a little time I find that there's a lack of sub-bass coming through the sound, it's impossible to get anything close to the growl I've heard from other Ps and pushing the low end just sounds wooly or flabby depending on how i've set the action/tone/eq. I don't have a problem getting a clear sound generally but the E does sound a little dead at the moment (fitting new strings today). I've ordered a set of SD quarter pounders and I expect that will help to a degree but having played other Ps I find the Highway physically lighter and lacking resonance through the body when played accoustically. Partly this may be because I play with the action 1-2mm higher at the bridge (badassII) to accomodate an enthusiastic playing style, or it might be because of the wood used?
The bass says made in USA in-05 or'06, but I've heard that it may have actually been made in mexico and that could mean a basswood body, can anyone shed any light? I've looked into it some and I'm also considering having a mahogany body made. has anyone had similar experience?
At the moment a new bass is out of the question, I play an all-in-one amp with a single 15" (I heard that) so a new head would mean a cab as well so that's also a no, plus I'd like to work this one out, any help or ideas would be appreciated,
cheers

[bassanton]

This problem may be due to a lot of reasons, from a bad pup to inexpressive woods.

A common issue on Fenders is strings not aligned with pup poles. This is a structural prob, but you or an experienced luthier can fix it. In vintage style bridges, an easy way of 'fixing' this is putting a little coin between the right saddles (in your case it would be between the E and the A string saddles). With a Badass this is not an option, unfortunately.

Try to raise the upper pup 1-2mm to compensate the higher action. Don't have much hope on this, though...

Cheers

[Noisyjon]

Maybe some detailed pictures of the bass with some close ups of the bridge, pickup, headstock, etc will help us see if there's an obvious problem with your bass.

Also this will help identify what P bass you have exactly.

Regards,
Jon

[alexclaber]

How does it sound when you play it unplugged in a quiet room?

Alex

[Cat Burrito]

Hopefully the SD pup will sort it. I've had Basswood bodies and they have given me no issues. A good set up whilst fitting the pickup will hopefully give it some life

[Protium]

[quote name='bassanton' post='647962' date='Nov 7 2009, 11:33 AM']This problem may be due to a lot of reasons, from a bad pup to inexpressive woods.

A common issue on Fenders is strings not aligned with pup poles. This is a structural prob, but you or an experienced luthier can fix it. In vintage style bridges, an easy way of 'fixing' this is putting a little coin between the right saddles (in your case it would be between the E and the A string saddles). [b]With a Badass this is not an option, unfortunately.[/b]

Try to raise the upper pup 1-2mm to compensate the higher action. Don't have much hope on this, though...

Cheers[/quote]

With the Badass II you cut slots in the saddles to correctly align the strings

[bassanton]

[quote name='Protium' post='648116' date='Nov 7 2009, 02:52 PM']With the Badass II you cut slots in the saddles to correctly align the strings[/quote]

Thanks Protium. I'll remember that.

[dave_bass5]

The HW-1 P is Alder as far as i can tell (its no the Fender website).
I assume this is a HW-one if it has a BAII although if its second hand it could be an older HW1 thats been upgraded.
The HW-one's are well respected and are made in the USA, not Mexico (again, its on the Fender website). I believe the body and neck are shipped over form Mexico though but its all assembled in the USa, together with the electronics.

I had a HW-One P and it sounded fantastic (to my ears).

Could also be the amp. Are you trying to get a certain tone that a maybe larger rig is producing, if so the bass could be irrelevant (just a thought).

Edited November 8, 2009 by dave_bass5

[mikebass78]

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='648837' date='Nov 8 2009, 03:15 PM']The HW-1 P is Alder as far as i can tell (its no the Fender website).
I assume this is a HW-one if it has a BAII although if its second hand it could be an older HW1 thats been upgraded.
The HW-one's are well respected and are made in the USA, not Mexico (again, its on the Fender website). I believe the body and neck are shipped over form Mexico though but its all assembled in the USa, together with the electronics.

I had a HW-One P and it sounded fantastic (to my ears).

Could also be the amp. Are you trying to get a certain tone that a maybe larger rig is producing, if so the bass could be irrelevant (just a thought).[/quote]


Cheers for clearing that up for me, and thanks for the advice everyone. It's a recent HWone, bought new three years ago. I've played through a bigger rig, a Trace Elliot through marshal 4x10, and it's a comparably brighter sound to my friends P played through the same rig on the same settings.
I've got the setup giving a clear sound, with the action as low as I can without fret-buzz when playing hard. I'm including some pics of action, bridge, string positioning and headstock in case I'm doing something fundamental wrong.
I've installed the new PUPs and rewired completely (pots, jack + cap) it has upped the output and given a rounder tone with a nice mid punch that's given me more confidence in the sound, but it's still lacking the resonance I'm chasing - amped or accoustically.
I got scientific last night and compared the weight of my P against my friends and it's noticibly lighter with a lot less weight in the neck, could this contribute? Has anyone replaced a neck? Is it something I should even attempt or should I be heading off to the nearest recommended luthier (cheers for the list in the other post)
thanks again

[dave_bass5]

It could well be the weight of the bass i guess.
I was going to point out that the bass uses the grease bucket tone control. This means that when you back off the tone the lows don't increase like a traditional P bass but if its the same acoustically then it cant be that.
The HW's also have a different finish on them that is supposed to let the natural tone of the wood shine through, so i would imagine this will also make the bass sound different from the more traditional P bass acoustically as well as plugged in.

I did notice quite a difference in tone between my HW-One P (even with my HW1 Jazz neck on it) and my Lakland Duck Dunn. The DD was very heavy but of course had a different pup as well. I did like both though and both were very usable (for me at least).

[mikebass78]

So I think, I had the problem backwards. Rather than lacking low end, the sound was actually too bright and resisted any attempt to pull up the low end, it just made it sound wierd.
Part of the problem was the greasebucket tone control, replacing the pot with the pups solved part of the problem, however the new SD Quarter Pounders where incredibly hard to control once I got the setup right, with a load incidental noise.
After coming across a thread about high mass bridges (my P has a badass II) I figured that could be causing the unwanted harmonics as well as adding to the brightness of the sound. So I lifted the bridge and put some fabric (a 2cm strip of bandage to be exact) between the bridge and the body of the bass, It's killed a fraction of the sustain but that's more than made up for by the pups anyway but more importantly it's taken just a fraction of top off the sound and deadened the unwanted harmonics. Will take it into the practice room soon, but I think I've solved it as far as I can (until my new DHA VT2-twin arrives of course)

Thanks for your help all.

[mrcrow]

[quote name='mikebass78' post='647923' date='Nov 7 2009, 10:52 AM']I bought a HighwayOne P-bass as my first 'grown up' bass a couple of years ago, being inexperienced it initially sounded great compared to the no-name bass I'd started on. However after a little time I find that there's a lack of sub-bass coming through the sound, it's impossible to get anything close to the growl I've heard from other Ps and pushing the low end just sounds wooly or flabby depending on how i've set the action/tone/eq. I don't have a problem getting a clear sound generally but the E does sound a little dead at the moment (fitting new strings today). I've ordered a set of SD quarter pounders and I expect that will help to a degree but having played other Ps I find the Highway physically lighter and lacking resonance through the body when played accoustically. Partly this may be because I play with the action 1-2mm higher at the bridge (badassII) to accomodate an enthusiastic playing style, or it might be because of the wood used?
The bass says made in USA in-05 or'06, but I've heard that it may have actually been made in mexico and that could mean a basswood body, can anyone shed any light? I've looked into it some and I'm also considering having a mahogany body made. has anyone had similar experience?
At the moment a new bass is out of the question, I play an all-in-one amp with a single 15" (I heard that) so a new head would mean a cab as well so that's also a no, plus I'd like to work this one out, any help or ideas would be appreciated,
cheers[/quote]

starting with the string..the E new or old...should have as much as you can get break angle at the tuner
if you have a higher action check the pup heights as per fender instructions..

you could be chasing moonbeams if you dont get the fundamentals right
we all yearn for that special bridge, pup, nut etc and drool over power management systems...heads cabs etc
the woods can make a difference and i suspect you think because your bass is light its not got the balls you need
but keep a cool head and dont rush forward too fast...
acoustical checks are not always a definite indication of electrical output and sonority...wait till you have the 1/4 ' on and give it some time to come together..

Edited November 25, 2009 by mrcrow