HELP! Intonation Woes!

[theironfreak]

when i bought my bass, its action was too low for my liking and intonation was perfect. then at home i raised the action and readjusted the intonation until it was perfect again. it stayed that way for a while, and then the intonation went off. i lowered the action again back to the original height, and then readjusted the intonation. then in was perfect for about a week, before it went off again. everytime the intonation goes off, some strings are sharp, so everytime i adjust the intonation again i have to keep tightening the saddles, as in pull that towards the tail. i never touched truss rod AT ALL.
-why does the intonation keep going off?
-where did i go wrong?
-is this normal or is it a serious problem?
-what should i do so solve this problem before the saddles touch the tail?

 

[TidesOfBlood]

if the bass is that new, it might be that the wood has yet to season. and especially with a climate like Singapore's.. might be a problem.

i'd just give the one-size-fits all answer; get a proper set up done.

 

[cherns]

Wow... that's interesting.

The only reason that I can think of for your intonation woes would be due to very high action.

Very high action = strings need to be stretched further to fret = sharp notes.

You might want to lower the action slightly. If that doesn't work, then heavier gauge strings might.

 

[shinobi]

saddle height affects string tension. and string tension affects 2 variables: the intonation and the bow in the neck. as a result i think you need to adjust the truss rod because i would imagine that since these 4 factors are inter-related, a change in one would result a change in all, all of which need to be rectified.

when you raise the saddle height, you increase the string tension because the distance between the nut and the saddle becomes further. the tension causes the strings to become sharp. it also causes the bow of the neck to increase.

when you adjust the intonation, you have mentioned that you moved the saddles backwards. that would aggravate the tension in the neck. whether or not appropriate tuning would compensate for the increase in tension, we dont know for sure. but let's assume it is not.

due to the truss rod not being properly tightened, the neck will start bowing. because of the nature of wood i believe that it could keep bowing for a period of time before it gets 'seasoned' to the change. that would explain the week duration before things start to go awry. you possibly realised that your bass was flat after a few days, and after tuning it, find that your intonation was off

 

[theironfreak]

yeah... you seem to be right. so what should i do now? do i have to send it to a shop for re-setup or is it something i can do myself?

 

[niteblade]

mmmmmhmm. judging from what happened after you adjusted it yourself.

my advice is to go to a guitar tech for a setup; AND ask him about the problems and what he did to remedy it so that you can solve it yourself in the future

 

[theironfreak]

ah yes thanks so much. btw, how much would a setup cost? like i bought the bass at sweelee so there is a year's warranty, does it cover?

 

[niteblade]

a basic bass setup would be 40 onwards i guess.

as for the swee lee warranty part. you'll have to contact them to find out

 

[shinobi]

yeah guitar tech is the best solution. you seem to have freaky needs, and i think the techs work best when you are able to tell them exactly what it is that u want

 

[engz]

setup ur bass twice a year... tats wat i heard... though i tend to stinge a bit and stretch it to once a year =P

 

[DarkRed]

hi... just wondering if the problem was that the strings had not seasoned, not the bass. newer sets of strings don't keep in tune well, and need to be readjusted every now and then, whether you adjust the action or not.

i usually over-tighten my strings when i first put them on and play hard to stretch them. re-tune, repeat a few times.