Intonating a bass?

Denis · January 25, 2010, 01:16:09 PM

Thinking about trying this myself so I can do it as needed. Is this particularly difficult or time consuming? Figured you guys would all know this one!

Highlander · January 25, 2010, 01:20:18 PM

I always do it by ear - harmonics at the twelth - probably (who am I kidding

) more accurate with a tuner...

Not much of a problem with the fretless...

patman · January 25, 2010, 02:25:33 PM

I do all my basses...it's not hard. I use a tuner.

With a fretless, I use a credit card to push down the string.

FlatEric · January 25, 2010, 02:54:58 PM

Denis, Hi. It's dead easy with a half decent tuner.

Tune all the strings, give them a bend, pull, stretch - tune again.
On "G" gently fret the 12th (G an octave up - obviously) and on the tuner, that
should also be a "G" (double check open "G")
If the octave is "Flat", move the saddle towards the neck, if it is sharp - go the other way. Do "D" "A" and "E" and then check them all again, just to make sure.
This is on the basis that you are happy with the action. If you lower it, your adjustments will be "Flat", if you raise it, the octave will become "Sharp"

Takes me about 10 - 15 mins to do - you can't go wrong.

You can double check - e.g the 5th on "G" should be "C", exactly!
The 7th on the "D" would be "A" etc, etc.

Have a go - let me know how you get on.

Cheers.

Pilgrim · January 25, 2010, 03:06:56 PM

There are stickies at Talkbass.com at the top of the hardware, Setup & Repair forum...one of them is: "ALL BASIC SETUP QUESTIONS ANSWERED HERE."

Well worth a read!

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=125382

hieronymous · January 25, 2010, 06:54:00 PM

Also, be careful with really old strings - sometimes fret damage can make them difficult to intonate properly.

It's a good idea to be able to do your own intonation in case you change string gauges adjust the truss rods/action. Just hope you aren't trying to intonate a Rickenbacker or an old Gibson!

PhilT · January 26, 2010, 06:11:42 AM

Thing I wonder is how badly out intonation would have to be before any normal person would notice. Last bass I took to a tech guy, his job sheet said the intonation was out by several zillion percent. It sounded ok to me, before and after he fixed it.

Denis · January 26, 2010, 07:30:29 AM

Thanks guys!

Past a certain point of being out of intonation, I can tell. If it's just a tiny bit I may miss it. The weather in NC has been so mercurial lately that even with the windows shut and the heat on, it changes enough to throw things out. Keeping the basses in the cases has definitely helped.

Pilgrim · January 26, 2010, 08:28:49 AM

I see a lot of posts on TB from people who aaaaaaaagonize over trying to get their intonation absolutely 100% perfect - never considering whether they or anyone else can hear the difference. I figure that if the intonation is good enough that it wounds good to me in the part of the scale where I play, it's good enough. I have a couple of basses with primitive bridges (no relation to Lloyd Bridges) that don't intonate perfectly, but they're close enough that I am sure no one will ever hear the difference.

patman · January 26, 2010, 08:40:17 AM

The e strings on my Danos always run a little sharp towards the 12th fret.

Found that out the hard way when we did some recording

Had no business playing up that high on the e string anyway...

Pilgrim · January 26, 2010, 10:04:08 AM

Quote from: patman on January 26, 2010, 08:40:17 AM

Had no business playing up that high on the e string anyway...

EXACTLY!

The 12th fret on my basses is lonelier than the Maytag repairman. Never gets visited at all.

Psycho Bass Guy · January 26, 2010, 11:02:21 AM

Quote from: Pilgrim on January 26, 2010, 08:28:49 AM
I see a lot of posts on TB from people who aaaaaaaagonize over trying to get their intonation absolutely 100% perfect

I guess they must play with a feather touch and never bend a string either. Unless you have a completely compensated and scaled neck and bridge like a Dingwall, it's ALWAYS going to be off to some degree.

hieronymous · January 26, 2010, 12:40:59 PM

I actually find slightly-off intonation to be charming, as long as it's not too bad. There's a section or two in Chris Squire's Fish Out of Water solo album where the intonation is really questionable, but you get used to it after a couple of listens. Equal temperament tuning is perfect anyway - there's always compromises...

chromium · January 26, 2010, 02:26:23 PM

Quote from: FlatEric on January 25, 2010, 02:54:58 PM
Denis, Hi. It's dead easy with a half decent tuner.

Tune all the strings, give them a bend, pull, stretch - tune again.
On "G" gently fret the 12th (G an octave up - obviously) and on the tuner, that
should also be a "G" (double check open "G")
If the octave is "Flat", move the saddle towards the neck, if it is sharp - go the other way. Do "D" "A" and "E" and then check them all again, just to make sure.
This is on the basis that you are happy with the action. If you lower it, your adjustments will be "Flat", if you raise it, the octave will become "Sharp"

Takes me about 10 - 15 mins to do - you can't go wrong.

You can double check - e.g the 5th on "G" should be "C", exactly!
The 7th on the "D" would be "A" etc, etc.

Have a go - let me know how you get on.

Cheers.

That's basically how I do it too. Use new, or newish strings as was mentioned and stretch them real good to tighten up the windings around the posts. That way you're not working against a moving target. If you end up getting a bass that's way out of whack, you can measure from the nut to the center of the 12th fret, and then position the bridge saddle that same distance from 12th fret center. That will at least get you to a ballpark starting point.

To this day, I still use the same little portable guitar tuner I had as a kid. It does the job and I'm not picky about it being uber-accurate. I have been wanting to get a strobe tuner, though, mainly so I can tune instruments a bit more consistently prior to recording. I've been looking on-and-off at the Peterson tuners, and came across this Sonic Research strobe tuner which looks like a good value compared to the other options: http://www.turbo-tuner.com/

uwe · January 27, 2010, 04:53:42 AM

While you're doing it, be careful that the strings are not too close to a pup because the magnetic pull will make intonation all awry and your tuner fluttering like a wounded bird. If you run into that issue, lower the pup. Also consider how hard you press down the notes on the fretboard in the upper registers. If you touch lightly while intonating and then grab full force when playing, notes are going to be a little sharp. That said, a bass sounds better a little sharp than a little flat. Playing doublestop octaves and/or root/fifth power chords up high will immediately tell you whether the bass is properly intonated or not.