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Plunky tone on a 5 string bass


DFlather

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I'm hoping someone can help here. Had a 5 string (passive) Spirit for over 10 years and loved it. Dialed back the tone and played it thru a Hartke 12 kickback and it was as deep, dark and warm as a summer night.

 

Just took the plunge, bought a 5 string Synapse custom from Sam Ash.

 

The new bass doesn't sound anywhere near as good as the old one. It sounds extremely thin, hollow, and frankly... *cheap*.

 

I have the piezo turned off, humbucker at 100% and even when I roll the treble to off and the bass to 100%, it still sounds super plunky.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks in advance.

- Doug

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Doug,

 

being a guitarist I cannot really help with a Synapse bass (although I own other Steinberger basses, but not a Synapse). One thing that comes to mind is the general difference between passive pickups (on a Spirit) and active pickups (on a Synapse). In general all active pickups - also on guitar - deliver much more of the higher frequencies, which has a simple electric background: capacities of cables dampen high frequencies, especially with high impedance outputs. Active pickups have an onboard preamp and deliver a low impedance output, which is not influenced (to the same degree) by cable resistance and capacities. This has an effect that I often see among guitarists: they plug a guitar with active pickups into their amp for the first time, play a few chords, and put it away with comments like "cold, sterile". Or I guess this translates to "plunky"on the bass. ;)

 

The thing to know is: amp and EQ settings of a passive instrument will NEVER match the signal of an active instrument. You simply can't use the same settings for both and expect the same results. It usually takes some time to find the new settings that work for an active instrument, but then you will notice that you've actually gained a much wider range of frequencies, from which you can select by tweaking your amp settings.

 

If this explanation is not sufficient, I'd recommend asking in a place where a lot of Steinberger bass players are hanging out, the Steinberger World group. There's a lot more life than here, and answers will come from those who have experience with your problem. Not necessarily guitarists ;)

 

Bernd

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm hoping someone can help here. Had a 5 string (passive) Spirit for over 10 years and loved it. Dialed back the tone and played it thru a Hartke 12 kickback and it was as deep, dark and warm as a summer night.

 

Just took the plunge, bought a 5 string Synapse custom from Sam Ash.

 

The new bass doesn't sound anywhere near as good as the old one. It sounds extremely thin, hollow, and frankly... *cheap*.

 

I have the piezo turned off, humbucker at 100% and even when I roll the treble to off and the bass to 100%, it still sounds super plunky.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks in advance.

- Doug

 

I've had 5-string Synapse for quite a while. I love the feel of it, but I've tried a WIDE variety of strings (round, half-round, flat, varous brands, etc) but still haven't bee able to get a good sound out of it either without resorting to external effects/EQ. All the sound guys I work with complain about trying to get a decent sound from it when I plug into a DI box without effects. If anyone has been able to improve this I'd love to know as well...

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  • 2 months later...

Doug,

That was my same impression when I got my 5-string Synapse bass earlier this year.

I think the problem lies mainly in the strings. When they're new they sound much too bright.

After some use, however, you find this brightness tends to fade.

In addition to this, you eventually find your way towards the right kind of sound.

Now it sounds great.

Hope this helps!

Ed

 

I'm hoping someone can help here. Had a 5 string (passive) Spirit for over 10 years and loved it. Dialed back the tone and played it thru a Hartke 12 kickback and it was as deep, dark and warm as a summer night.

 

Just took the plunge, bought a 5 string Synapse custom from Sam Ash.

 

The new bass doesn't sound anywhere near as good as the old one. It sounds extremely thin, hollow, and frankly... *cheap*.

 

I have the piezo turned off, humbucker at 100% and even when I roll the treble to off and the bass to 100%, it still sounds super plunky.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks in advance.

- Doug

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Doug,

I also have a question for you,

I bought mine in Germany.

It's made in Korea.

It weighs some 4.3 Kilos, which I find heavy for a small body bass.

Can you tell me how much yours weighs?

 

I've had 5-string Synapse for quite a while. I love the feel of it, but I've tried a WIDE variety of strings (round, half-round, flat, varous brands, etc) but still haven't bee able to get a good sound out of it either without resorting to external effects/EQ. All the sound guys I work with complain about trying to get a decent sound from it when I plug into a DI box without effects. If anyone has been able to improve this I'd love to know as well...

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Another thing to consider is that the Synapse is active, whereas your Spirit is passive.

Normally an active instrument should sound all right in a passive input. But I suggest you try it on other amps with active inputs.

 

Doug,

That was my same impression when I got my 5-string Synapse bass earlier this year.

I think the problem lies mainly in the strings. When they're new they sound much too bright.

After some use, however, you find this brightness tends to fade.

In addition to this, you eventually find your way towards the right kind of sound.

Now it sounds great.

Hope this helps!

Ed

 

 

 

 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

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