Starfire evenness of notes

WisconsinDead and I have both noticed that the A string on the first 5 or so frets seems to be weaker than a lot of the other areas of the bass. Our basses are from the same year but have different construction (maple vs. mahogany) and different pickups (Bisonic vs. Alembic S II) and I've used various strings on mine over the years and always noticed this to some degree. Anyone else notice this? Ideas? Thoughts?

Never noticed but it that could be because I never looked for it. Could you define "weaker" in terms an idiot could understand and then use when playing to see if the A really is weaker?

In the meantime, is the geometry of a fretted A string with respect to pole pieces obviously different?

I'm very sensitive to this sort of stuff when it comes to my basses... it's been about 3 years since I owned my 1966 starfire, but I'm sure it would have driven me crazy if I had picked up on something like this. I'll let you know when I get my 1967 sometime this month hopefully!

Bump.

I know more of you out there own Starfires!!!

Your experience is appreciated

bump

I think there could be a lot of reasons for this. I am not surprised more than one person has the same experience here, but would be surprised if all Starfire basses were like that. I will pull one of mine out of storage in the next few weeks (along with a couple other toys...just moved...yet again...). And will try to remember to ask Cat. My guess though, is those 5 first frets get played the most, so on the one hand it is unlikely Cat, for one, has any current issues with hers. On the other hand if someone has a bass from the 60s and those first 5 frets are worn, it may affect the tone or signal somehow, even if it appears the (fretted) string is clear of all the higher frets, so possibly a (re) fret issue or a borderline or partial refret issue...and/or truss rod tweakage....or some combination of such, or a rosewood saddle thing, bridge tweakage...Starfire basses are awesome but not necassarily low maintenance, especially if they are played a lot. But I am just speculating. I like chrome flat strings but not nearly as much when they are worn in. They sound and feel best to me fresh (maybe 2-4 x a year fresh for a regular player). But the (very?) old TI flats on the one SF bass seem just fine.

I think that worn frets could certainly contribute to a deader tone. Speaking of, does anyone know the original fret height?

well the frets are certainly a bit worn. Part of me is beginning to think that the broken headstock has caused dead spots. Though why would Edwin experience this when he has an undamaged starfire?

Still don't have my '67 -- moving 1500miles south in 2 months so I will just have it sent there once I've moved, rather than adding yet another large item that I somehow need to transport.
The interesting and relevant thing is though, I picked up an Epiphone Jack Casady signature bass a few months back... sort of impulsively but I fell in love with it at the store. I have noticed that a few areas on the neck (especially on the A string though) some of the notes don't seem to resonate and sound as "big" as all the others. Now, this is a brand new bass that has been wearing flats since the day I bought it... so there's no way the thinner, less resonant notes are caused by fretwear. Eventually I just ended up attributing the issue to the wood itself... just like "dead spots" I've had with other basses (mainly bolt-on neck Fenders).
I debated returning the bass, but I then found that playing the bass through my MXR bass compressor more or less seemed to solve the un-even volume issue. So, because of how much I absolutely love the feel and overall tone of this bass, I decided to hold on to it and just use it with the compressor.
Maybe that would help with your Starfire basses as well?

Thanks for the input dude. I've been running my bass through a Eden WT400 jsut recently which has a built in compressor but it doesn't seem to solve the issue (obviously its not a great/advanced compressor). I think determining the right EQ in addition to the compressor will help me get almost there.

I wonder if you think of the issue as more related to specific notes or the string as a whole. I've come to realize that the issue is predominately explained by increased boominess towards the bridge. Additionally, while listening to the new grateful dead release where Phil Lesh is playing his starfire I am nearly convinced I can hear the same thing with his bass. Tough to say obviously lol but I got a feeling I am hearing it

I was killing some time a little while ago at a guitar shop and noticed this same phenomenon on other basses (though much more subdued), P bass, J bass had it the worst of those I played on (stingray and EBO didnt have it).

I might go check out a starfire about an hour and a half north of here tomorrow. Its going for a decent price tho it has some issues. I want to see if it has the same problem as mine.

I think with my Casady bass it's a matter of particular notes being slightly less resonant because of the construction of the instrument, as opposed to being a particular string problem. I feel like I remember reading that the original Gibson Les Paul basses that the Casady was modeled after often had resonance issues too. It might just be a bug that's somehow inherent to the design... not sure. The first Casady I owned was terrible in the resonance department and I returned it within the first day. I will say about my current bass, it's the all around best Casady bass I've played --which is probably why I bought it on impulse, but it still has its quirks.
There are a few things out there for the Gibson/Epiphone 3-point bridge that are supposed to improve the over-all tone/functionality... one being a little bar that extends the string farther back behind the bridge saddles and the Hipshot supertone bridge which has more mass and is fully adjustable. Might end up trying one of those options, but not fully convinced yet

Right on.

I will add that after playing it through a 4x10 rig this past weekend the dynamics of the string output is vastly different compared to my 1x15. In fact the A string problem was just about all cleared up where the output on the E string seemed to drop a good amount. I didnt mess with the EQ section (specifically upping the bass) and seeing if that brought the issue back to life. Additionally, when playing my friends ibanez 5 string, the output on his E string was also a good deal lower with the same settings on the 4x10.

How much of this is the bass and amp/cab? time will tell...

Played through a MarkBass lil mark III connected to the 4x10 i mentioned above and it was the best this bass has ever sounded, at least with respect to my issue. Deep and full at the low registers. The high mids (800 hz) and treble (10 khz) were boosted slightly. The saga continues. Amp, cab, bass, room, pickups!?!?! what could it be!? Either way its good news.

Just an update. I'm pretty sure this issue is not related to the Starfire. I've been playing through a number of different cabs and the issue almost always seems to be related to the cab. If it isn't a deficiency in output at the low end of the A its somewhere else. I'm currently awaiting parts for a fEARful cab so hopefully this will alleviate me of these sonic issues.

Interesting. Thanks.

What kind of speaker is in the 1x15? Is it old?

Well its a TC Electronic BG250 115 combo amp. I'm not sure what type of speaker it is. I bought it used, so its probably 2-3 years old. I've had it for the past year.

Right on WD...I am no expert on amps, but your 1 x12 I'm sure has its limits...and the vintage SF bass may be showcasing them. Bring the bass into a guitar store and plug into an ampeg full stack! That may solve all problems! Seriously though the smaller ampeg combo and the orange terror combo sound good with the SF bass. Have heard it thru several half stacks as well- Aguilar, fender, sunn, GK...u might just need a little more juice/speakers

sounds great in the Guild Thunderbass as well! But those factory speakers are garbage for bass

This issue has made me so sensitive to it that I listen for it when checking out other bands now. The other night it was dreadful for this bassist. I'm sure the room had its roll as well in addition to his cab/amp, but his A string made the whole room resonate so much while the E and B were all but inaudible. Drove me nuts. Excited to get my fearful done...