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"A" string intonation

thandy

thandy

Mar 29, 2011
23
16
Nipomo, CA
#1
Hey folks, I hope I can get some advice. I play a Fender Jazz bass. I love the bass but lately I have been having intonation problems, particularly with the A string (and a lessor amount on the E) and especially with the first 4 or 5 frets. I took it to a reputable guy and he said that it is fine but I am pushing down too hard on the fret causing it to go sharp. I am very skeptical. It doesn't happen anywhere else. I have also tried other strings but it's the same. It may be my imagination but the A string sounds brighter than the rest. I play D'Addario flat chromed lights and mostly jazz or blues. Suggestions? Appreciate any imput i can get.
 
#2
Hey folks, I hope I can get some advice. I play a Fender Jazz bass. I love the bass but lately I have been having intonation problems, particularly with the A string (and a lessor amount on the E) and especially with the first 4 or 5 frets. I took it to a reputable guy and he said that it is fine but I am pushing down too hard on the fret causing it to go sharp. I am very skeptical. It doesn't happen anywhere else. I have also tried other strings but it's the same. It may be my imagination but the A string sounds brighter than the rest. I play D'Addario flat chromed lights and mostly jazz or blues. Suggestions? Appreciate any imput i can get.
 
#6
You may be talking about two different issues. Is the issue intonation (the strings playing in tune) or timbre (the strings don't have even volumes or don't match tonally)?

Intonation is easy enough to check/verify as long as you have a decent tuner (strobe tuners work best). Since your issues are in the low frets you may have an issue with nut slot height. If your open string is in tune and the first or second fret is noticeably sharp then your nut slot is too high (assuming you don't grip the neck like an ape on steroids).

If the E & A strings have uneven volumes or sound really different that the D & G strings you can try adjusting the pickup height slightly but more often than not the problem is in the string, possibly caused by the way the string is installed.

One last, easy test: to make sure it's the bass and not a technique issue, go try another bass or two at the local music shop.
 
#8
That's folks. I will try all these. The main issue is intonation but it still seems that A is slightly different in brightness. I will go check out some other basses.
Killed_by_Death said:
I don't know if this will help you, but there was a guy locally who was complaining about a similar thing with his E string.
The local luthier showed him that he wasn't winding the string down far enough onto the tuning peg, thus not giving it a good enough break angle.
Click to expand...
Killed_by_Death said:
I'm having deja vu, as I'm sure I just saw and replied to this topic.
Click to expand...
I tried it and helped! Thanks very much. One problem seems that if I cut the string too short it's harder to wind it lower on the peg. I pushed it down as low as I can get and it definitely helped! Thanks!
 
#9
thandy said:
One problem seems that if I cut the string too short it's harder to wind it lower on the peg. I pushed it down as low as I can get and it definitely helped! Thanks!
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, if you cut the string too short it might not stay put for long after you push it down; it might slide back up toward the top of the post (depending on the design of the post). You might wind up (no pun intended!) having to replace the string(s), this time making sure to cut it/them long enough to ensure several wraps around the post(s).
 
#10
Finally, after all the above, check the nut slots to see if they are too high, or don't have a good "witness point" on the fingerboard edge, and a slightly sloping groove back to the tuners.

Now -- after everything else above has been tried -- the epilogue -- sometimes, some strings are so stiff that occasionally the nut needs compensation as well as the bridge:

Stephen Delft's Compensated Nut

I had to do this on my custom half-fanned P/J. I didn't have to do it on my inexpensive Ibby 2011 SRA305. Go figure.
 

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