Low B Intonation Problem

[Jibudo]

I Have a Yamaha BB 615 strung with Rotosound's Swing Bass 66 and i have some intonation problems on my low b string.

When i intone it properly (12th fretted note equal to the harmonic at 12th fret), the notes on the first 3 or 4 frets stay a little sharper.

Anyone had the same problem?
Sollutions?

[Hollywars]

Old strings don't intonate well. The truss rod might need to be adjusted. Could be many things. B's are a little weird because they are so big that I've heard you always want it to be a little sharp or flat, I'm not sure.

[Jibudo]

The truss rod is just fine, the strings are 6 months old, but the problem appear even with new strings

[gumtownbassman]

depends on the string guage, i have some slightly heavier guage strings, and to set the intonation for the 'B', i find the adjustment saddle ends up that far back that it is impossible to change that string.
The frequency being that low on the 'B' string, it really is hard to differentiate the low notes correctly. With this string, i set the intonation the best i can out of the average of all notes up the fretboard.

[Steve Bennett]

Make sure you have a good 'witness point' at the ends of the string, especially at the bridge end. Push down on the string until there's a nice, sharp angle where the string comes over the bridge saddle, rather than a rounded hump. The fatter the string, the more important this is.

[Jazzerbone]

Tapered core. Makes it alot easier for me.

[isko]

Check the nut height as well.A high nut will cause the first few frets to go sharp.

[anonymous101511]

I intonate the B and E strings a little flat, myself. If I intonate right on at the 12th fret harmonic, it( especially in the upper register) always SOUNDS sharp when playing normally.
I don't think the strings have much to do with it.
QUOTE=Jibudo;8837390]I Have a Yamaha BB 615 strung with Rotosound's Swing Bass 66 and i have some intonation problems on my low b string.

When i intone it properly (12th fretted note equal to the harmonic at 12th fret), the notes on the first 3 or 4 frets stay a little sharper.

Anyone had the same problem?
Sollutions?[/quote]

[deaf pea]

Originally Posted by Jibudo

...the notes on the first 3 or 4 frets stay a little sharper...

That is a very common "problem" on Fender basses . . . probably common to ALL basses . . .

when all of the strings are "in tune" AND the instrument is "intonated correctly", the 1st fretted note on all of the strings is a little bit sharp . . .

AFAIK, it's basic physics . . . . . .

[BassLife77]

I had that same problem when I first bought a 5 string. I couldn't get the B string calibrated. When I changed from a .130 to a .125 the problem went away

[boyet]

Originally Posted by BassLife77

I had that same problem when I first bought a 5 string. I couldn't get the B string calibrated. When I changed from a .130 to a .125 the problem went away

Yep. The same thing that I did.

[walterw]

Originally Posted by Steve Bennett

Make sure you have a good 'witness point' at the ends of the string, especially at the bridge end. Push down on the string until there's a nice, sharp angle where the string comes over the bridge saddle, rather than a rounded hump. The fatter the string, the more important this is.

this!

make sure that string is dead straight along its vibrating length, rather than curving down at each contact point.

Originally Posted by isko

Check the nut height as well.A high nut will cause the first few frets to go sharp.

and this!

very important. it should be almost as low at the first fret as it is at the second fret when pressing down on the first fret. any higher and the string gets stretched sharp when pressing on the first few frets.

Originally Posted by deaf pea

That is a very common "problem" on Fender basses . . . probably common to ALL basses . . .

when all of the strings are "in tune" AND the instrument is "intonated correctly", the 1st fretted note on all of the strings is a little bit sharp . . .

AFAIK, it's basic physics . . . . . .

nope, it's one of the results of a too-high nut, the other being an instrument that's stiffer to play than it should be.

when you walk into an average music store, there's a good chance that not a single instrument in there has the nut cut low enough. it's something that the factories just don't do.

[anonymous101511]

Originally Posted by vail_bass

I intonate the B and E strings a little flat, myself. If I intonate right on at the 12th fret harmonic, it( especially in the upper register) always SOUNDS sharp when playing normally.
I don't think the strings have much to do with it.
QUOTE=Jibudo;8837390]I Have a Yamaha BB 615 strung with Rotosound's Swing Bass 66 and i have some intonation problems on my low b string.

When i intonate it properly (12th fretted note equal to the harmonic at 12th fret), the notes on the first 3 or 4 frets stay a little sharper.

Anyone had the same problem?
Sollutions?

[/quote]

[Chasarms]

Originally Posted by Jazzerbone

Tapered core. Makes it alot easier for me.

Agreed. I always get better results with tapered Bs.

[deaf pea]

Originally Posted by walterw

...nope, it's one of the results of a too-high nut, the other being an instrument that's stiffer to play than it should be.

when you walk into an average music store, there's a good chance that not a single instrument in there has the nut cut low enough. it's something that the factories just don't do.

Thanks for the info . . . . . .

[Jibudo]

Thanks for all the replys guys, i filled the nut a little and the problem just got away. The notes feel and are in tune now.

Thank you all!