So, in my experience, an unwound G string has always had a bad sound on Gibsons. I really want to fix this issue because otherwise, Gibsons have THE best tone imo. I would describe the G string sound as an unpleasant metallic thud. It gets worse with a higher gauge the G string. It's only for fretted notes and seems to get worse as you go higher on the neck. I've encountered this on TOM bridges and with wraparounds.
With a set of 8s, I can almost get rid of it. For some reason, with Fenders, I don't have this issue. Although, I imagine I would if I used some really heavy strings like 12s or 13s. On a Fender, with a set of 9s or 10s, the G string "snaps" just like the B and E string. On Gibsons, with a set or 9s or 10s, the G string thuds.
Does anyone know of the cause of this? And is there a fix? My thoughts of what it could be:
-shorter scale length
-Gibson frets (all the ones I've played have had short, rounded frets)
-neck angle / break angle at the bridge (maybe the neck angle and the pressure it creates on the bridge makes it harder for the G string to snap like the B or E so it "thuds" instead)
-string getting snagged in someway inside the slot of the bridge.
-string break from the nut to the tuner causing the issue somehow
Thankfully I found a video demonstrating it:
You can hear it at:
0:37 - 0:40
0:54 - 0:57
2:29 - 2:31
4:56 - 5:01 - maybe the best example
Also, I'm pretty confident it's not the pickups' magnetic field and I don't want to switch to wound G strings to avoid the problem.