/ Register

  1. Search results will be severely limited for the remainder of Thursday. A corruption forced us to rebuild the search index. Reindexing is in progress but will take several hours. Thank you for your patience!

Ashbory intonation problem.

Discussion in 'Hardware, Setup & Repair [BG]' started by =^..^=, Dec 8, 2001.

  1. Dec 8, 2001 #1
    =^..^=

    =^..^=

    Jan 25, 2001
    Stuck on a rock !
    Ok just got my ashbory and the intonation is way off - If I tune it properly then fretting the fifth fret on the E gives me a Bb, five on the A gets me about 20 cents above D, etc etc.

    Basically the fifth fret on each string is sharp, but you have to fret on the fourth fret of the E string to get an A - which is way off !

    I'm not new to fretlesses (or URB's) but at least on those I can move the bridge pieces to make sure the intonation is right.

    In addition the G string seems really 'tight' so much so that it has stretched to so thin that it doesn't sit in the nut properly.

    Am I making a very basic mistakes and its not tuned E A D G ? Or is there some handy hint and tips that you can impart ?

    Thanks guys. The sound from it is pretty good but its very difficult to play in tune set up like this.
     
  2. Dec 8, 2001 #2
    downstairs

    downstairs

    May 13, 2001
    Pasadena, MD
    it probably needs to be set up by a professional, and if it was set up by someone go get your money back. but if you got it straight from the manufacturer, it needs a setup.
     
  3. Dec 11, 2001 #3
    Suburban

    Suburban

    Jan 15, 2001
    lower mid Sweden
    Is it brand new?
    From what you tell, I'd say the strings are overtightened, so that they plasticise.
    Or, the painted fretlines might be misplaced.:rolleyes:
     
  4. Dec 11, 2001 #4
    bassmonkeee

    bassmonkeee

    Sep 13, 2000
    Decatur, GA
    Have you been playing it for a while, or is it new to you? It is possible that you are dragging the string sharp, or flat. Do you use baby powder on your hands when you play to reduce friction?


    Or, is it possible that the strings are old? The rubber can be overstretched after months, and months of tightening, and loosening.

    I found that my Ashbory wouldn't stay in tune when I got it, and then I realized that the guy I bought it from didn't have the strings on correctly. Once I fixed that, it would stay in tune for pretty much the whole gig.
     
  5. Dec 11, 2001 #5
    =^..^=

    =^..^=

    Jan 25, 2001
    Stuck on a rock !
    It is brand new, I've only ever tuned it with my tuner so I don't think its been tuned high, or at least tuned sufficiently high to overstretch the strings.

    The strings appear to have been fitted as per the ashbory site - but I may get some new ones just to check.

    The tuning is wandering less with playing, but its not something I was expecting.. My basses rarely go out of tune and my URB never did (in 4 years)

    As far as the intonation goes I may not have explained myself very well.

    This is not tab - imagine if you were looking at the fret board from the front
    Code:
          1    2    3     4     5
G|----|----|----|-----|-----|
D|----|----|----|-----|----0|
A|----|----|----|-----|----0|
E|----|----|----|-----|-0---|

The "0" is where my finger is on the string
    The 0 on the E string is an A
    The 0 on the A string is a D
    The 0 on the D string is a G

    I hope this shows what I mean - If I was playing a run which went from C to G and back to C I couldn't simply bar the E and A strings - I have to fret the notes individually as the fingering positions don't line up.

    In addition the fifth and seventh harmonics are slightly out in relation to the frets.

    Does this make sense ? If I could adjust the intonation it would be simple to correct. I think its a lovely bass with a wonderful sound - I suppose I'll get used to this 'undocumented feature' but I'd rather not have to !

    Taking the bass back is kinda difficult as I bought it from Germany...

    Thanks for your replies guys - any more thoughts ?
     
  6. Dec 12, 2001 #6
    Suburban

    Suburban

    Jan 15, 2001
    lower mid Sweden
  7. Dec 12, 2001 #7
    Rumblin' Man

    Rumblin' Man Inactive

    Apr 27, 2000
    Route 66
    How odd, both my DeArmond and Guild Ashborys are pretty good up until around the 10th fret or so. It goes a little sharp then but the notes are so close due to the short scale that it doesn't take much finger movement to correct it, or to get worse for that matter.

    I rarely play that high on them so it doesn't matter that much to me. Besides, if I don't look at the lines I hardly notice it...;)
     
  8. Dec 23, 2001 #8
    Joshua Pickenpaugh

    Joshua Pickenpaugh

    Apr 16, 2001
    ICT
    When I've tuned my Ash' to standard tuning EADG I've ended up stretching and ultimatly breaking both the G and D strings. I'm thinking that the bass could survive as a bari-bass (BEAD).

    I remember seeing T.Levin playing his with Robert Fripp back in Colorado during the projeKCt 4 tour, but he just did slides on the thing, nothing that would clue me into any specific tuning.