Why do certain notes on the neck give booming bass and how to solve this

[Oscar67]

Notes played on (approximately) the 6th to 10th frets of both the low E and the A string are louder than the surrounding notes and tend to sound booming. All of my guitars do this although it varies how much they do it. But perhaps it’s not the guitar but the resonant frequency of the speaker cab…? I’ve learned to work around it by picking those notes softer and that’s become sort of second nature. But I wonder if the bass response in this area of the neck could somehow be tamed..?

[SOLR]

All of my guitars do this although it varies how much they do it. But perhaps it’s not the guitar but the resonant frequency of the speaker cab…?

Certainly warrants a more in depth investigation as all the guitars do it...Trying different amp/cabs would be my first choice.

S

[Gitterbug]

The room also factors in. Do you experience this everywhere or is it pronounced in the space where you do most of your playing?

[pingu]

Notes played on (approximately) the 6th to 10th frets of both the low E and the A string are louder than the surrounding notes and tend to sound booming. All of my guitars do this although it varies how much they do it. But perhaps it’s not the guitar but the resonant frequency of the speaker cab…? I’ve learned to work around it by picking those notes softer and that’s become sort of second nature. But I wonder if the bass response in this area of the neck could somehow be tamed..?

Only happens plugged in ?
next
Try headphones ….
this will tell you if it’s the Speaker/cab
or not

[rpjazzguitar]

All the guitars do it? Probably whatever they have in common, then. Like the amplifier.

I think the next step is to try a different amp or a set of headphones, as has already been suggested. If that eliminates the problem, then clearly it's the amp. If the amp has a speaker-out, you might see if the same thing happens with an external speaker. If it's okay with the external speaker that tells you that it's not the electronics.

I don't know how to fix it, but, that said, I'd tighten every screw in the amp to see if I can change the resonance without doing anything risky or expensive. I wonder if sitting on it while you play might change the resonance.

[bluejaybill]

The room also factors in. Do you experience this everywhere or is it pronounced in the space where you do most of your playing?

Exactly, my money would be on a room anomaly. Try the amp in a different room. If it persists, it would probably be a cabinet thing, for which I defer to Gitterbug.

[KirkP]

Probably the room or the speaker cabinet. Change one thing at a time to isolate the issue. The first thing to try is different placement in the room, especially moving away from corners, walls, and raising off the floor. Then try another room—preferably a larger one. If nothing improves the resonance, try another speaker cabinet. Etc.

[gvurrdon]

Notes played on (approximately) the 6th to 10th frets of both the low E and the A string are louder than the surrounding notes and tend to sound booming. All of my guitars do this although it varies how much they do it. But perhaps it’s not the guitar but the resonant frequency of the speaker cab…? I’ve learned to work around it by picking those notes softer and that’s become sort of second nature. But I wonder if the bass response in this area of the neck could somehow be tamed..?

I have noticed the same issue, and it's interesting to note that someone else is affected.
There hasn't been a chance to to try with headphones but I did use a different amp (Fender instead of my Vox) in a practice room and noticed the same problem.

[Strat-itis]

My theory is that shortening the scale of the string that sounds can actually richen the bass response, within a threshold before becoming too high of a note up the neck.

Also more bow in that area of the neck can make the resonance of the note in the guitar deeper and punchier.

So those are my 2 suggested causes, why it's always in that lower mid range of the neck.

[vintagelove]

+100 on the room, the amps placement, and your placement in the room.

[Strat-itis]

Why would it be a resonant frequency of the cab or the room when frets 6-10 on the E and A string are most of the notes of the chromatic scale? -100 on logic there. :P

[CliffR]

I noticed the same on my archtop on the low E string, but restricted to around the 6th to 8th frets. I've not noticed it on any of my solid bodies. I just assumed the guitar was particularly resonant at that frequency and dialled down the frequency range with a parametric EQ.

[gvurrdon]

I wonder if anyone who has noticed this is using flat or roundwound strings. All mine are flats.

[Tal_175]

The frets 6 to 10 on low E and A strings have the same frequencies as the frets 1-5 of A and D strings. Not sure why the amp or room resonance issues happen only certain areas when frequencies are the same. These are also not bass registers, but low mids.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Notes played on (approximately) the 6th to 10th frets of both the low E and the A string are louder than the surrounding notes and tend to sound booming. All of my guitars do this

That spans Bb to G (116-196 Hz). It’s highly unlikely to be a single mechanical resonance in a room or speaker cabinet, and it’s even less likely to be the same resonance in multiple guitars. If it were the room, it would affect everything heard there, so music from an audio system would have the same peak and sound “boomy”. The fundamental frequency range of male voices (about 90 to 150 Hz) is within this octave, as is the lower half of the female voice range. So voices would also sound different in the affected room.

As usual, there are many unanswered questions, starting with the history and characteristics of the sound. How many guitars are doing this? Is it 2 or 20? How long has it been happening? Did it start suddenly or come on gradually? If it started suddenly, something specific is likely to have happened to cause it - something you changed, bought, added, removed, etc.

Did it start in all your guitars at the same time? Do others hear it when they play your guitars? Is it there both amplified and unplugged? Are all the affected guitars the same type (eg archtop) or do you hear this on archtops, flattops, and solid bodies? Are they all the same scale length? Does construction make a difference, eg carved solid vs laminated? Do other people’s guitars sound right to you when you play them in the same place that yours sound wrong?

Has this been happening long enough for you to have bought another guitar after it started? Did the new acquisition start doing the same thing as soon as you brought it home? If so, was it immediate? If it’s every guitar you own, there has to be some factor common to all. Do your guitars sound the same no matter where you play them (eg other homes, gigs in different places, etc)? Are all your guitars set up identically? Is the problem the same regardless of strings, setup etc or does it change with different strings, relief, bridge height etc?

[EDIT]. Since it’s also limited to a well defined area of the fingerboard, this could be related to hand and arm position. If fretting in that narrow strip of board is a slight reach or strain, you might be tensing both hands a little and picking a bit harder. I know that sounds a bit far fetched, but your problem is also very unusual. [/EDIT]

Since the affected notes are a continuum through most of a defined octave, it could even be your hearing - especially if it came on gradually and / or you also hear it when you play others’ guitars. But I think it’s almost certainly not room related unless you have a very oddly shaped room and the problem only happens there. If it were a cabinet peak, it should go away if you use a different amp / speaker. There are too many unanswered questions to draw any solid conclusions.

[Oscar67]

My theory is that shortening the scale of the string that sounds can actually richen the bass response, within a threshold before becoming too high of a note up the neck. Also more bow in that area of the neck can make the resonance of the note in the guitar deeper and punchier.

So those are my 2 suggested causes, why it's always in that lower mid range of the neck.

Thank you. This was exactly my thought before starting this topic. Actually it’s still my main thought, although I will experiment with amp placement and try some of the things suggested in the thread.

Regarding the argument that the same notes can be found in other positions: then you’re purely talking about pitch and not about timbre, string thickness, distance from nut/saddle, neck bow etc. The guitar is an amalgam of 6 separate musical instruments. Their pitches overlap but the overlapping notes sound way different.

[wzpgsr]

Your positioning in the room matters as well. I notice a difference in booming notes depending on where I am situated, and even whether I am standing or sitting in the same location. You should be able to hear quite easily the quality of the sound change as you move around the room.

[pauln]

What are the tone settings on the guitar and amp (and what kind of amp)?

[ombudsman]

You're probably getting this for multiple reasons. All stringed instruments sound very different when played at shorter scale lengths, you lose upper harmonics and get more midrange focus.

Also your drivers, cabinet, and room will normally tend to contribute to bass and low mids, maybe your eq settings also.

The goal then is to balance the sound so that the upper frets aren't too boomy and the lower ones aren't too thin in comparison. They will never be the same, which is good since it gives more options.

If possible I suggest recording yourself in the room (not right on the speaker) and looking at the frequency response (I use Logic with the analyzer built into the eq plugin). The region where they are different, probably around 100 to 250hz, is where you could do a modest cut with a good parametric eq pedal.

[Strat-itis]

Thank you. This was exactly my thought before starting this topic. Actually it’s still my main thought, although I will experiment with amp placement and try some of the things suggested in the thread.

Regarding the argument that the same notes can be found in other positions: then you’re purely talking about pitch and not about timbre, string thickness, distance from nut/saddle, neck bow etc. The guitar is an amalgam of 6 separate musical instruments. Their pitches overlap but the overlapping notes sound way different.

You're welcome. Yes, that's what I think it is. It's not only the low frequency of those upper bass notes, but also the timbre of the thick E and A strings and being in a punchy area of the neck. Both being towards the middle of the string makes it punchier, and being towards that area of the neck in the focus of the bow makes it punchier.