Fretless Bass Problem

[badboy1984]

I bought cheap 5 string acoustic bass recently. The bass construction and feel is good, i'm not gonna bash it since i pay around $30 for it second hand.

the bass already got thomastik flatwound string so is pretty much a bargin really ........

The bass sounded good acoustic but abit low volume due to flatwound.

Here is the problem:

The volume on each string is uneven really ........ the E, D and G string is same volume but the A string is really loud compare to the other string. The B string is disaster, only use the B string as thumb rest.

Is it the preamp on the bass sucks or is the pickup on the bass sucks? Will changing the pickup will solve the problem? if it does, what acoustic bass pickup is good without spending tons of money?

Also can acoustic fretless bass adjust intonation to match the dots?

 

[mikezimmerman]

Uneven string volume on acoustic guitars and basses that have undersaddle piezos is a fairly common problem and usually result of the bridge saddle not putting even pressure on the pickup. Any decent guitar tech that works on acoustic guitars will be able to level out the bottom of the saddle to even out the string volume.

As for the intonation, there's not really much room for adjustment, and a lot of cheaper instruments have the side dots in the same position they would be on a fretted bass, rather than in the location where the fret would be. A decent tech should also be able to put new dots in if that's the problem.

Mike

 

[badboy1984]

thanks for the input man, I think I going to get it setting and put new dots in to see how it goes before start modding stuff like upgrading pickup etc.