Volume for higher bass notes?

[Diminished Triad]

Our bass player is pretty good about playing "active" and not ever resting on a "1-5" routine.
She does very well with accompanying our vocalist up the register and with higher notes. A number of ballads from many genres rely upon this technique to lay a heavy bed for the singer and improve the overall sound of the vocals. We encourage her to continue with this style and similarly she (once in a while) plays some lead parts high up on the neck.

The problem is there is a noticeable drop in volume with her playing as she goes up and higher on her bass neck.
Is this just her playing style or should we adjust the pickups on her bass? She plays a Warmoth guitar with vintage P pickups in the neck area and a J pickup in the bridge position. Is there a way to produce a higher volume for higher notes without a substantial increase in the over all volume of the bass guitar? I enjoy turning her volume on the mains up, but of course this means that we also hear at a much heavier level her lower notes - and her higher notes still seem noticeably more quiet.

Thanks for any recommendations you will share!

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Volume for higher bass notes?

Hit the strings harder.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Volume for higher bass notes?

Sounds like a job for a compressor.

 

[Falloffthebonetone]

Re: Volume for higher bass notes?

Damn it. They already beat me to it.
Yes to both of the above.
I suppose she could also change string gauges of her top 2 strings and see if that helps.
Thicker strings usually have a more powerful signal but thinner strings are usually brighter and that can help cut through more.

 

[EDX]

Re: Volume for higher bass notes?

a compressor and a booster should be enough to level the things

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Volume for higher bass notes?

Might be an EQ problem. When you're playing really high up on the bass you're getting into guitar territory . . . and most bassists scoop out the mids pretty heavily on their amps. Try messing around with the mid and high knobs a bit while getting her to play up on the neck to see if that makes things better.

 

[Kamanda~SD]

Re: Volume for higher bass notes?

Sounds like a job for a compressor.

Yup. This. Hitting the strings harder will help, but will change the timbre which in a ballad, may not be the desired effect.

I would balance the pickups first, and throw a compressor in the chain.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Volume for higher bass notes?

The other element in the equation is the amplification. If the loudspeaker array is entirely 15" drivers, the high end is going to suffer disproportionately.

On an acoustic instrument, the only solution is mechanical.

 

[marcboomer]

Re: Volume for higher bass notes?

Finger style + increased compression + Bass EQ Pedal = more even string volume. (Seymour Duncan's next pedal is a bass compressor. I've been beta testing it. It will be replacing a couple pedals on my board)

 

[Diminished Triad]

Re: Volume for higher bass notes?

Great info!