A couple of Sunburst Fullertons from 1983:
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Fender Fullerton Reissue club
- Thread starter mrpackerguy
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Nice one man! If you ever want to sell it please pm me. Thanks and enjoy that baby!!
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I have a 1983 Fullerton Jazz bass, and I am having trouble intonating the E string. I am about the snatch myself bald with frustration.
I intoned the Carvin bass, and all of my electric guitars with no problem. But no matter what I do the bottom E string always sounds sharp.
I watched some videos on intonating Fender basses, and I am doing everything right, but I still can't get it to sound in tune. Is it just me or is there some Jedi mind trick that I must perform?
Oh, and can I join? I have this lovely 1983 Jazz bass that I bought last May. You guys actually gave me some great advice then (when I first bought it). I wasn't sure I had made a good deal and you all looked at the pictures and assured me that I got a good deal. Been a fan of this club ever since.
I intoned the Carvin bass, and all of my electric guitars with no problem. But no matter what I do the bottom E string always sounds sharp.
I watched some videos on intonating Fender basses, and I am doing everything right, but I still can't get it to sound in tune. Is it just me or is there some Jedi mind trick that I must perform?
Oh, and can I join? I have this lovely 1983 Jazz bass that I bought last May. You guys actually gave me some great advice then (when I first bought it). I wasn't sure I had made a good deal and you all looked at the pictures and assured me that I got a good deal. Been a fan of this club ever since.
I guess it wouldn't hurt to be more specific.
I know that the strings will go slightly sharp as I fret them because the string is being pushed down over the fret wire. I can get all of my strings to register the same on an electronic tuner at the 12th fret. I can get the harmonics at the 12th fret to read perfectly in tune with the open string on my electronic tuner. What I can't get is chords above the 12th fret to sound in tune. The bottom E string sounds sharp no matter what I do. And it gets sharper as I move up the fret board.
So the question is: is this just my bass or does anyone else with a Fender jazz have this same problem? I have had it set up by an excellent tech with decades of experience. It plays great, but it has never had the best intonation on the low E. Any suggestions?
I know that the strings will go slightly sharp as I fret them because the string is being pushed down over the fret wire. I can get all of my strings to register the same on an electronic tuner at the 12th fret. I can get the harmonics at the 12th fret to read perfectly in tune with the open string on my electronic tuner. What I can't get is chords above the 12th fret to sound in tune. The bottom E string sounds sharp no matter what I do. And it gets sharper as I move up the fret board.
So the question is: is this just my bass or does anyone else with a Fender jazz have this same problem? I have had it set up by an excellent tech with decades of experience. It plays great, but it has never had the best intonation on the low E. Any suggestions?
Try changing the E string.
See if you can get the E string to actually sound flat above the 12th fret by maxing out the intonation screw, then work your way back from there. Use your ear as well as a tuner.
See if you can get the E string to actually sound flat above the 12th fret by maxing out the intonation screw, then work your way back from there. Use your ear as well as a tuner.
I have D’Addario Chromes flatwound 45-100. The adjustment screw is just about max. I plan to measure the distance from the nut to halfway of the 12th fret, and then halfway from 12th fret to where the E string meets the saddle to see how far off it is. It has never sounded right so maybe that will give me a clue. This is a puzzle.
Max all the way forward? or back? The “E” should be the saddle most backward
The low E is most back, it is almost touching the cloth windings of the string that are above the ball end.
I’ve had overtones confuse my tuner before, maybe you should make a rough measurement and go from there.
I haven't had a chance to get to it yet but I think that is the answer. It just sounds so far out when I play the chords above the 12th fret that it bugs me. The tuner shows that it isn't very far out of tune, just enough to make me cringe. I'll get it figured out, I just wondered if there was some little trick that you guys knew for fine tuning above the 12th fret. No worries. I love the bass and it sounds and plays great. This one thing is the only thing that bugs me so of course I can't help but fixate on it.
Interesting to see how in 1984 the Jazz Bass body outline has now changed compared to ‘82 & ‘83 models. Fullerton’s “router hump” has now gone while the pick guard and control panel are more recessed , also the lower horn was slightly more rounded . Leftover stock featuring these later Fullerton bodies would find their way on to early Corona reissue models .
Photo 1 - 1982 Jazz.
Photo. 2- 1984 Jazz.
Photo. 3- 1986 Corona ,Sea Foam Green Jazz.
Photo 1 - 1982 Jazz.
Photo. 2- 1984 Jazz.
Photo. 3- 1986 Corona ,Sea Foam Green Jazz.
It’s funny, when I received the ‘82 I thought it was a fake! Another difference is the placement of the tuner holes - the ‘82 has them closer to the edge of the headstock, the backing plate is actually proud of the headstock
