bass question

[cheyen]

HI,

I have a new bass and the pickups still got their plastic cover on top of it,.
does the plastic cover affect the way my bass will sound? I was thinking of leaving it on,...

also, if I tune my bass open string B,E,A,D,G its okay,....but after it's tuned, when I press the 12th fret,. it registers as B#,E#,A#,D,G..
is there something wrong with my bass or this normal?

Thanks!

 

[deathism]

ur intonation is off...u have to intonate ur bass...

 

[cheyen]

thanks deathism,

how do I actually do that? intonate my bass??

 

[Z3r0_G]

http://www.tunemybass.com/bass_setup/setting_bass_intonation.html

it helps to do some net searching C=

 

[cheyen]

Thanks Z3r0_G,

I have already tried to play around the screws at the back of the bridge,
but Its stil the same,..
my neck is not straight though,.. is it because of the neck itself?

Thanks in advance,

 

[exin]

cheyen,

you should go setup your bass. A good setup will fix alot of the intonation problems that you face.

 

[stewartbass]

'I have already tried to play around the screws at the back of the bridge,
but Its stil the same,..
my neck is not straight though,.. is it because of the neck itself?'

you just need to intonate and not 'play around' with the screws ath back of the bridge.

use a strobe tuner, i recommend a KORG only 22 dollars from anywhere.

plug your bass in to the tuner,

play the open 'A' check in tune then fret the harmonic on the 12th fret -
if the 12th fret is flat (the strobe needle points to the left tighten the screw (righty tighty) at the bridge until it is in tune....same for the rest.

to check for neck 'in line'-ness (straight though never 100%) fret the first fret, 'F' then fret with the right hand the 22 or 24 th fret, you will notice an elliptical space between the fretting surface of the neck and the strings, if the sapce is too wide use the supplied hex wrench and tighten slightly and slowly until u can slide a namecard between the fretboard and the string at the 'A' fret.
ifthere is no space then you have to loosen-lefty loosey.

do it slowly and be patient.

 

[prophecy6972]

Bass set up

Setting up your bass needs patience. If you're not sure about the straightness of the neck, do send it for a proper setup. You'll have to fork out some cash for that. It's better to get this done before playing the bass seriously. Otherwise having a wrong feel and uncomfortable playing will put you off.

I had to spend an entire week to set my bass up properly. A few things I did.

1. Took out all strings and loosened the both truss rods (mine's a 6 string). This is to let the wood set to it's original position. Leave the bass unstrung for a couple of days.

2. String the bass. Once this is done, check the neck relief. If it's bent too far inwards, adjust the truss rods so that you get a straight enough neck.

3. Tune the strings. While tuning, check intonation as well. This will take some time.

4. Let the bass neck set for a couple of days. After that, tune the bass again. It'll probably be slightly out of tune. Once it's tuned up, it should be ok.

Do take note that my method may not be the correct one but it worked for my bass. Since mine's a 6 string, the neck is much wider and there are 2 truss rods to work on. You can use these steps as a reference and may not need to follow it to the letter. Hope you're able to set it up nicely.

 

[g13nn]

HI,

I have a new bass and the pickups still got their plastic cover on top of it,.
does the plastic cover affect the way my bass will sound? I was thinking of leaving it on,...

also, if I tune my bass open string B,E,A,D,G its okay,....but after it's tuned, when I press the 12th fret,. it registers as B#,E#,A#,D,G..
is there something wrong with my bass or this normal?

Thanks!

One possible culprit could be your action set to high causing the pressed notes to go higher than the open string. The neck should not be straight. There should be a relief (slight bow) on the neck.

If all fails for you, its time to bring it to a professional to set it up. If you are using old strings... this will affect intonation... its best intonate with new streched strings.

Good luck