Tuning Trouble

[DeanT]

I just bought a used Tokai .38 Special jazz bass. It's a great bass. But I'm having trouble getting it to tune correctly. The open strings tune fine, but on the A and E strings, when I play at the 5th and/or 12th frets, the A and E strings are way sharp. I realize I won't be able to get everything to tune perfectly, but how can I get these two strings to tune closer to normal?

I've adjusted the intonation, string height, truss rod, etc but nothing seems to work. It has a string through body and bridge.

Here's what the bridge looks like:



Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[202dy]

One cause could be that the frets are not crowned (or the crown is worn) correctly. It could be that TDC is forward of the center of the fret under E and A.

Interesting that it is on F5 and F12 since those are the first and second harmonics of the open string. It makes me wonder if there is something going on with pickup height. It is possible that pickup is pulling on the strings and causing some weird things to happen. Try lowering the pickups on the bass side and see if that helps.