uneven sound

[bongo]

I have a Vantage Bass with 2 J-style pickups. It seems the notes I play on the D & G strings don't sound or "feel" like the same notes played on the E & A strings-the lower strings seem to have more punch.
I notice it much more when I'm playing with a drummer & keyboard.
Is there a problem with my pickups?
If the bass is properly set up shouldn't the G note played on the D string sound/feel the same as the G note played further up on the A string?

[Bob Rogers]

Probably a couple of reasons. When you play the same note on a heavier string, the pickup is closer to the center of the vibration, so you get a bit more of the fundamental. The heavier string and the shorter, less "floppy" length may also contribute to the difference in tone as well. I don't really think of this as a problem as much as a choice of tones.

[Tim Armstrong]

Bob's right. I'd also check to see if your pickups are further from the D & G strings than the E & A. In addition, your D & G strings may be dead, which would make that difference seem worse...

Tim

[4mal]

You can always back off the E 'n'A side of the pups, or do a little compression. I'd think you might be on a string swap as well. It isn't unheard of to get a bad couple of strings in the pack. I like D'Addarios a lot as for me, they have been real consistent over the years. I don't use them exclusively but 3 out of 5 basses in the house have them. Chromes for flatwounds and XL's for round. XL's do have a pretty short life span for me but they aren't very expensive and I do like the tone. I also like the TI Jazz Flat and Fender Stainless Flats as well.

[maxvintage]

Uneven string response drives me nuts--more than anythng else, it's what i look out for in an instrurment. You can eq to get nearly any tone, or vary your playing style a little, but you can't get an instrument that doesn't resonate evenly to even out.

J basses are pretty notorius for this. Try lowering the E and A side of the pickups and raising the D and G. Some jbass pickups have staggered pole pieces--the E and the G are lower than the A and D. I have one like that i got from Jason Lollar--it helped a lot. Some people try to push the pole pieces up or down to adjust their height--on a traditional fender style pickup, you can sometimes get away with this, but sometimes it shorts your pickups

Beyond that, sometiems changng your eq qill make a difference--you ca de-emphasize the bass a liitte