Intonation

It might be. It might not be.

Variations in the manufacture and condition of the strings will dictate how the position of the saddles will appear when the intonation is correct.

 

The strings may be beat to crap like the bass, resulting in the somewhat odd placement of the saddles.

There's no way to tell from an image.

 

Looks to me like it was done on purpose.
Makes the statement "I'm an artful goofus"

 

Some players don't understand intonation. Seems odd, but if the price is right, are you going to say no because you have to turn a screwdriver?

 

This ^

"Setup perfectly" is most likely just a sales pitch from someone who doesn't really know what that means. Chances are you'll restring it and need to adjust intonation anyway. There is plenty of room on those saddles to do it. If you've never set intonation, its easy. Just Google what to do, all you need is a screwdriver and a tuner. The only issue here is that the seller clearly doesn't know about bass setup. Id be more concerned that they don't know about truss rod functionality, can you play it before committing to buy? Is it returnable? Is it a good deal?

 

You shouldn’t worry so much. It’s not healthy.

 

Prolly not. But it could be. Easy enough to fix if it isn't. You'll probably restring it and have to redo the intonation anyway, right?

Anyway, this is no huhu. I'd be much more interested in if the truss rod adjustment works.

 

Added to that is player preference, “setup perfectly” only ever means “setup perfectly for me”, you may need to tweak it to your liking even if there’s nothing ‘wrong’ with the bass as is.

 

I’ve read that the string core wire size may result in bridge saddle setup not conforming to the traditional saddle positions. Coincidentally I have a 45-100 set on one of my 4 strings that somewhat resembles that bridge. The 45-105 set I took off had saddles located as expected for proper intonation. As always, YMMV

 

Easy enough to check it or set it. But this looks like a pattern. Pretty symmetrical. If the neck is good it wouldn’t turn me away. Just means the last owner didn’t know what they were doing. So you want to check other areas where they could mess things up. I’d assume if someone makes an art project out of the rollers they probably don’t mess with the neck. But definitely check the electronics.

 

They put those mutes on Fender Roadworns? I would really suspect that the E string may be sharp up the neck.

 

Nothing unusual about that. Many commonly used strings intonate VERY differently from the expected "diagonal line".

 

saddles being that low doesn't tell me anything..if the neck is good and it's in tune at the 12th fret as well as any other open string...

 

Those mutes could be affecting intonation. Minor variations in the pressure on the strings could have a significant effect.

 

Another reason I play FL - no psychiatric impacts from hours and hours with a tuner wearing holes in my 12th fret instead of playing.

Though honestly this would be about at the bottom of the list of concerns I'd have about a used fretted bass either. You have to keep in mind that every time you fret a note you pull or push it a little different every time and therefore the tune of the note too anyway. Especially in the upper registers. So don't spend more than maybe 1/2 hour intonating your bass. In fact, you don't really need a tuner; just do it by ear using harmonics from the other strings and you'll get well close enough to sound fine.

L

 

"Set up perfectly," is obviously a subjective statement. Maybe he is referring to string height and action and doesn't know diddly about intonation? Maybe he just means nothing buzzes? Looking at it, and this could just be the angle, but that D string looks like it's a different height than the A and G over that pickup. It's just one of those things, you know? Like when people ask a seller if a guitar "plays well." That's a relative thing. Some prefer high actions for whatever reasons (maybe they pick or pluck hard and heavy and want to avoid pickup strikes) and some prefer a nice low, easy action because they are smoother and lighter with the touch.

If you are thinking of buying it, try it first if you can.

 

The strings look like D'Addario Chromes which don't usually intonate in that pattern on my basses -but how can anyone even know if this bass is perfectly intonated from a photo alone?

It's rather unlikely that the industrial, cookie-cutter body making machine at Fender decided to place the bridge 'out of whack' on this one to prevent proper intonation...