Floppy 5 string

[Progzter]

A couple of months back I bought an Ibanez 455QM (5 string if you didnt know) shipped from colorado to NY. The low B was flopping all over the place on the fret board, and i just assumed it was because it had not been set up. I got the thing set up with some elixir strings and the B is floppy and I have a bunch of fret buzz.

Like, if i try to dig into that B and play faster it slaps against my fretboard when im playing even closer to the bridge. Kinda bothers me, is this a bad set up? or do most 5 strings behave this way?

 

[Progzter]

sorry im new to this forum and i just noticed that i should have posted this under setups and repair. please respond if you will, though

 

[ggunn]

A couple of months back I bought an Ibanez 455QM (5 string if you didnt know) shipped from colorado to NY. The low B was flopping all over the place on the fret board, and i just assumed it was because it had not been set up. I got the thing set up with some elixir strings and the B is floppy and I have a bunch of fret buzz.

Like, if i try to dig into that B and play faster it slaps against my fretboard when im playing even closer to the bridge. Kinda bothers me, is this a bad set up? or do most 5 strings behave this way?

No, not all 5 string basses do that. You could try a heavier gauge B if a setup didn't help.

 

[need4mospd]

Like, if i try to dig into that B and play faster it slaps against my fretboard when im playing even closer to the bridge. Kinda bothers me, is this a bad set up? or do most 5 strings behave this way?

Avoid digging in on the B string as hard as you would on the other strings. Set it up a bit higher than the E string. Try a thicker guage B.

 

[Progzter]

yeah i just looked at my b and its even lower than my E, but i dunno if i should touch the action myself, i dont know what im doing XD

 

[allexcosta]

Find professional help.

 

[Double Agent]

yeah i just looked at my b and its even lower than my E, but i dunno if i should touch the action myself, i dont know what im doing XD

A lot of low B are setup lower than the E because the theory is that it follows the natural radius of the fingerboard. What I have found is that the B needs to be setup to the same height, or even higher than, the E string. I have found that the B string, because of its thickness, needs more space to vibrate. This is especially true is you have an aggressive right hand.

You probably just need to raise the B string a little higher at the bridge. If you don't know what you are doing, you have two choices 1)learn how to do it yourself or 2)take it to someone who knows how to do it. For this, if you have an allen wrench you should be able to figure it out. But, if you aren't confident there is no shame in taking your bass for a pro setup. Tell the person doing the setup to pay particular attention to the B string and tell them the problem you are having. Hope it works out!