Where's the bass?

[Chip Booth]

Hi All,

I recently bought a used Gibson F5 that had a huge low end chunk. You could really feel it against your chest, and this is a big part of why I bought it. Today I took off the ancient strings that where on it and put on some J74s and now it's all gone! The basic mid and highs are still there and the overall tone is the same but all chunk in the low end is absolutely gone! I replaced the strings one at a time so as not to move the bridge or cause any big changes in tension on the neck. I have no idea what strings were on it of course, though they appear to be bronze and roughly the same gauge as what I put I on. Any thoughts what the heck is going on?

Thanks for some thoughts http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif
Chip

[John Flynn]

My guess is the strings haven't broken in yet. I find new J74s start off with great highs, but the bass takes a few days of hard playing to start coming out and a couple of weeks to get really good.

[Flowerpot]

If you have the old strings, measure the guage if you can. Sometimes a mandolin will not respond well to being overloaded; others will sound louder the heavier the strings you use. It might just take a change from 0.040 to 0.039 or 0.041 to make a difference.

[Chris Baird]

It is typical to lose the bass for up to a week after a string change.

New wound strings have more of a Tinny sound until they breakin.. Just a Fact of life

[Chip Booth]

Thanks all for the info. I can already tell a little difference as I played the heck out of the mandolin today hoping that the strings needed to break in. Sorry to ask newbie questions but it's my first real mando http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif Note to self, don't change strings anytime near a gig or recording session.