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Intonation woes on my warwick

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puddin tame

Aug 14, 2010
1,102
10
#1
So i've been setting up my basses for a while now but i've just encountered a problem that's got me stumped.

What has happened is I have gone from using warwick EMP strings on my corvette (5 string, german version) to chrome flatwounds for reasons of tone. The first obstacle I had was that the non-tapered B string did not fit in the saddle... a bit of careful filing solved that problem and it now (mostly) comfortably rests, no rattling and consistent sustain with the other strings. I've got the neck and action just how I like it, thats all good in that department after I adjusted for the extra tension.

The problem is my intonation on this pesky B string! All the other strings are perfectly fine, but when it came to the B string I found the intonation was way out. When I did the harmonic vs fretted note test, the fretted note came out significantly sharp. I thought that's OK, i'll just move the saddle back to make the string longer (how I think of it, sorry if self taught terminology is confusing) but now my problem is that the saddle is back as far as it will possibly go and the intonation is still sharp by just enough to really annoy me!

Is there a way I can further correct the intonation or am I just screwed here? if it comes down to it I can just keep the chromes on and not play the b string up high (pretty much never would anyway) but would love to hear if there is a possible solution. Almost had the same problem on the E string but intonation became just acceptable as the saddle maxed out on that one.
 
#2
Had that problem with my Corvette. I ended up removing the spring. Not sure if it is the best solution but worked for me. Another option is that it could just be the string. I've had some that just didn't completely settle in right. Hope this helps :)
 
#6
Have you given the string a good hard stretch? Also, are you sure the string is moving freely in the bridge? I had to file my Corvette 5 string bridge to get a new flatwound in there (silk ends got in the way). If you didn't file away enough, it might not be moving freely in the bridge.
 
#7
i had the same problem with my passive german made 5 string corvette......i changed string gauge and problem solved as far as the intonation was concerned but left with a floppy b string, never thought of removing the saddle screw at the time...dohh me.
 
#8
Havent stretched it. How much should i do it? Im always scared of breaking the things.

I think ive filed sufficiently, i was having issues after my first attempt where the string wouldnt sustain as well as the others and seemed to drop in pitch on the decay, but after round 2 with my file it now behaves consistently with the other strings
 
#9
puddin tame said:
Havent stretched it. How much should i do it? Im always scared of breaking the things.
Click to expand...

You can hang your bodyweight off that string and not break it. If it couldn't take it then it could never stand coming up to pitch.

I used to grab the string, pick up the bass by it, and shake it violently. I stopped doing it that way, but you should bring it to pitch, pull on it firmly (but don't pull so hard as to hurt yourself or to make the neck move) to stretch it, bring it back up to pitch, and then stretch it again. Tune it and leave it; it's not gonna move again after that.

Most of what you're doing when you stretch it is actually just to tighten the windings on the tuner peg. The more winds, the more slack it has when first tuned up; the fewer winds, the more potential to slip off the peg. If you only wind the string around once you can actually pull it off the tuner while stretching it and that's one of the reasons why you should go around twice on E and A and 3 times or so on D and G.

Use the hole in the middle of the peg to stick the clipped end into. The sharp bend in the string coming out the slot when you put the end into the hole helps grip it, too. If you do that, you will NEVER pull that sucker off with your bare hands!
 
#10
Check the 12th fret harmonic against the open string. If the harmonic is also noticably sharp, you might just have a bad string.
Did you also have to move back the saddles for the other strings? Or just the B?
 
#11
gurensan said:
You can hang your bodyweight off that string and not break it. If it couldn't take it then it could never stand coming up to pitch.

I used to grab the string, pick up the bass by it, and shake it violently. I stopped doing it that way, but you should bring it to pitch, pull on it firmly (but don't pull so hard as to hurt yourself or to make the neck move) to stretch it, bring it back up to pitch, and then stretch it again. Tune it and leave it; it's not gonna move again after that.
Click to expand...

what he said. really yank on em. you won't break them, i promise. (unless you're some sort of power builder, in which case i'd still give you pretty low odds of breaking them.)

this is good practice any time you switch strings. if it were a tenor ukelele, you might want to dial back the yankage, but those strings are pretty solid as well
 
#12
Ill try the yanking when i get home, i thought you guys meant tune it really sharp so i wasnt sure what a safe pitch would be.

I had to lengthen every string when i went from the warwick emps to chromes but i figure thats normal cause theyre a totally different string, just none were troublesome as the b is being.

For the record I am getting an AWESOME tone out of my bass now. With the stainless rounds i had before it was cool but i often had trouble fitting into the mix if everyone else wasnt super clean and those nice solo overtones wouldnt cone throuh. The chromes are killing it in all the bands ive tried them with so far
 
#13
If you had to lengthen them all, then you may have simply run out of adjustment range for the B.

Check how the string is sitting in the nut slot. The take off point from the nut, where the
string actually leaves contact with the nut, needs to be at the fretboard side of the nut.
If the string is only contacting the nut slot towards the headstock side, the string will be
relatively long, and the 12th fret note will be relatively short and thus sharp.
 

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