wishface

[quote name='GregBass' timestamp='1346965760' post='1795552'] Did the flappy E string start when you changed the strings? If so, it sounds like a duff string. When you lowered the E string, did you make sure that the E is not a lot lower than the A? That would cause the imalance in volume. [/quote] It's been like this for as long as I can remember. It might be a duff string, I can't be sure. The E string is about level with the A string. All the strings are pretty much level.

[quote name='mushers' timestamp='1346963640' post='1795517'] there was an offer a few pages back where a member offered to have a look and tweak on this bass take up that offer or pay someone to do a set up you dont seem confident in making the adjustments yourself and your not alone there, im not sure how you can label a bass crap ive played some bad ones but there still playable i even still own a couple of them EDIT when was the last time you changed the strings in the 10 years you have owned the bass ? [/quote] about two months ago which was the first time in a couple of years.

Right i've just dug the pickup out and there was only a tiny bit of foam glued to the bottom which i've scraped off as best I can. It hasn't really made any difference to the height at all, nor to the sound of the E string. Replacing it wasn't easy and I've a horrible feeling ive squashed the wired by screwing it back as the springs around the screws came loose. Fortunately it all still works. But there wasn't anything there to work with, removing the foam hasn't made any noticeable difference at all, but then it was screwed in tight anyway.

[quote name='Evil Undead' timestamp='1346959795' post='1795433'] No disrespect intended, but if it's still not right, then you haven't tried everything. It just seems to me as though you're finding reasons to not sort the issue, and therefore you're finding reasons to be unsatisfied with your instrument. I also don't understand how this is your only bass, you say you've had it for ten years, yet NOW you're fighting against it. If it really is a case of not being the right bass for you, how have you been ok with it for so long? In my opinion, you either need to spend the time and effort learning how to set the bass up properly, or trade it for a different one, be unhappy with the set up on that one, not bother sorting it, trade that one... etc. [/quote] The only thing I haven't done is take the pickup out. Why my reluctance to do that, when I don't particularly want to remove the strings, should be taken as laziness is completely beyond me. I have taken up every suggestion that's been made and that includes not fiddling with the truss rod all at once. I have made a slight, as was suggested, adjustment, and now it is 'resting', again as was suiggested. Again do NOT tell me that I am or am not doing anything, that is exceptionally rude and needlessly provocative.

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1346961593' post='1795471'] My clear impression throughout this thread is that Wishface is in bad health. If true, it's not gonna help him if we claim he just can't be arsed. That said, I think WIshface should be open about this aspect - if applicable. best, bert [/quote] Excuse me? Isn't that a little bit rude?

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1346959174' post='1795420'] You only lower it on the E string side, not both sides. [/quote] The E is noticeably louder than even the A string, lowering it there will also affect the A string. I just tried raising the pickup under the G string and it made no difference. Granted I can only raise it so far without taking the strings off (assuming there's a great deal of latitude anyway), but i didn't notice a difference.Maybe when I next change strings I'll dig the pickup out. But I'm not in any hurry to take the strings off right now anyway. I also don't want to end up unscrewing the pickup and finding myself somehow unable to replace it or some other nonsense. Regardless of how easy it may actually be, this is the only bass I have and if I get it wrong I'll be the one that loses out.

[quote name='thebrig' timestamp='1346954049' post='1795334'] Every now and then, you can get a 'dead/rogue' string in a pack, maybe this is the problem. [/quote] It's certainly possible; the flappiness of the string I think is the cause of a lot of my low E anguish. It simply moves too much. Lowering the action certainly helps, but that won't ease the problem at the source: the size of the string itself. I don't pluck particularly hard so it's not vibrating harshly because of the way i play, it's just moving across a lot of space which i think is the issue. So presumably a smaller, ie lighter, string would help. Maybe I could get a single string and see.

[quote name='thebrig' timestamp='1346953846' post='1795329'] Well you could start with taking the foam out from beneath the pickup if it wont go down any further. You say "[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][i]it's as low as it's going to get. I'd have to completely unscrew it which means taking the strings off entirely. I can live with it as is[/i]".[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]I don't want to sound harsh, but almost every suggestion made to you, you come back with a reason not to do it.[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][b]So what[/b] if you have to take the strings off, how long is i[/font][/color][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]t going to take?[/font][/color] But anyway! you don't need to take the strings off completely, you can just loosen them off enough to pull them away to the each side of the pickup, then you can get to the pickup easily. You can either replace the foam, of try trimming it down so that the pickup screws down further than what it did, and then just keep adjusting the height until you get all the strings balanced correctly. It should take no more than 30 minutes or so. [/quote] I have tried everything. You didn't read what I wrote. I have adjusted the truss rod and i have altered the intonation. The only thing I haven't tried is completely taking the pickup out which, reasonably I think, I am more reluctant to do. Quite honestly I don't want to take the strings off right now, it took me a while putting these ones in as they kept slipping tuning because when I removed the strings the bloody nut fell off! I had to glue it back in.Lowering the pickup won't address the volume imbalance as all the strings will be equally farther from the pickup. So the problem might be the actual quality ofht epickup itself, but electronics is most certainly not my forte.

the neck width will certainly be less of an issue if i can sort out the e string. but i don't know where to start with the volume issue.

[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1346936718' post='1795021'] Just because a bass is cheap doesn't make it unplayable or unfixable. Yes you can pay £1,000s for a handmade bass, but you're usually paying for the expensive materials and the persons time. A cheap bass will be made by machines using basic materials and have had very little 'human' time spent on the set-up (This is why they are cheap - not because they are crap). The 'low quality' part is often to do with the set-up, rather than the country of origin or the materials used. My go-to recording bass is made from the cheapest parts I could find, the whole thing cost me less than £200, it plays like a dream and considerably nicer than my £1,200 US Fender I might add, which is caked in dust... What it saved me in ££s though it cost me in time, I spent a long long time learning how to a) build it, and set it up properly. Now I do set ups for lots of people for beer money. At first I was scared of breaking it, but you know what, its pretty difficult to irreversibly adjust a bass to the point of destruction. Don't be gung-ho, but don't be scared either. Who knows, if you put in some time and effort into it, you might end up getting yourself into a sideline in setting up basses, or giving advice out on here to other folks with cheap as chips 'low quality' instruments. [/quote] It's obviously not unplayable as I've been playing it, but that wasn't the point I was making. What I was saying was that if I have to fight theinstrument then the instrument is a problem. Not every bass is suitable for every player. Sometimes that's because the bass itself is crap, sometimes it's because the player has to get used to it. That was the point of the original question. If instrument issues can be addressed then all to the better. Now, other than the balance in sound levels across the strings (which is an issue), i haven't mentioned the tonal quality. I wouldn't expect it to be great anyway, but then it doesn't have a lot to work with: one tonal control and one pickup tha quality of which I do not know. Could be a decent pickup, or it could be the reason why the E is noticeably louder. Raising the pickup under the G string wouldn't be desierable because it would get in the way of my fingers.But with respect I'm not saying you can't make a decent bass 'cheaply'. I have no idea what your bass is like. It might well play like a dream, but then it's equally possible that I might find it difficult to play while you find it smooth. For instance if you look at Jaco's muting technique, he uses his 3rd and 4th fingers (big hands) to mute the e and a strings as he plays. I cannot do this at all, my hands aren't big enough and it totally shuts down movement on my picking fingers. Instruments can be just as temperamental as their players.

[quote name='thebrig' timestamp='1346934748' post='1794985'] To me, you do appear to be defeatist, most of us on here probably started off with basses far worse than a 'budget' Spector that cost about £300. I've had basses that I picked up for less than £50 which were virtually unplayable, but I did some research and found out how to service my basses, and made them all perfectly playable. I'm no expert by any means, and even now I still google or go on youtube to find out how to do things, and for many years I steered clear of adjusting the truss rod, but once I plucked up the courage, I've never looked back. You are getting some really sound advice on here, why not just give it a go yourself, and experience the pleasure you get, when you have done a good job of setting up your own bass. If I can do it, then so can you! Just give it a go. [/quote] Fair enough. I have tweaked it and it is somewhat better. My point is that a) i don't want to damage the only bass i have and the overall design of the instrument limits how far you can tweak it. I can't reduce the width of the neck, nor can i change the fact it has one pickup of whatever quality. I would have preferred a pickup, as an achor point, slightly less centrally placed for instance. It is what it is. I can tweak it and adjust that, but in the end it's all sows ears and silk purses.

[quote name='Sté' timestamp='1346931521' post='1794915'] If screws doesn"t work or become hard to turn, that could be the foam under the pickup (if there is foam); just low the thickness. [/quote] it's as low as it's going to get. I'd have to completely unscrew it which means taking the strings off entirely. I can live with it as is.I don't mind tinkering. I just don't want to f@~* things up. But there of course going to be limits. It's not being defeatist to say this; it's a cheap bass that's the fact of the matter. This isn't some £1000 quality instrument!

Go on then, how much would you pay for this instrument? Let's assume it's all in GWO.

It's not about giving up. The instrument is intoned pretty well to be honest. What remains is the weird nature of the E string compared to the rest of the strings. IT has always felt a bit odd; flappy too, in a way the other strings aren't. I'd like the pickup to sit a couple of mm lower but I don't know how you'd do that or whether you can.

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' timestamp='1346854361' post='1794070'] Read this carefully a couple of times: [url="http://www.jerzydrozdbasses.com/akcndfr54jdhrei567/Ultimate_Guide_ver100.pdf"]http://www.jerzydroz...uide_ver100.pdf[/url] You're doing something wrong, the saddle has to move back and forward (closer tothe bridge or the neck) even if it needs to be pushed in place with the screwdriver. [/quote] That's what I did, only the saddle doesn't move you have to turn the screw them nanpipulate the saddle directly.

screw it. I've had a bit of a tweak. Not sure there's a huge world of difference. It's eased it a bit. I think it's as good as this bass is ever going to get. It's not a world class instrument nor was it ever going to be. But at least it's not in a thousand pieces. The tuning is as intoned as I can get it. A few cents won't make a world of difference, and it's not as if i'm about to step onto wembley arena (thank god, i hate crowds and the sound there is toilet).</p>

[quote name='Evil Undead' timestamp='1346875465' post='1794436'] If you're anywhere near Gloucester I'd be happy to set your bass up for you. Being ridiculously fussy has turned me into a pretty decent tech if I say so myself [/quote] sorry but unlike dr foster that's nowhere near me. thanks anyway.tbh i think i have the intonation as good as its going to get (without fiddling endlessly). I'm not sure i want to fiddle with the truss rod just yet certainly not now that the intonation is pretty decent. The A and the D are solid, while the e and the g are just a fraction of a couple of cents out, but frankly you wouldn't hear it. i'v lowered the action on the E as far as I reasonably can. Maybe tweaking the truss would sort that, but I don't know. In fact i'd say it's lower than the guy on that video recommends (can't be sure as i don't have those measuring tools, and the action height he recommends seems quite high by comparison).Thanks for the help.

So if the neck is bowed, is the act of straightening to either lower the sides down or raise the middle of that bow up. If it's the latter, i don't see that helping.

[quote name='clauster' timestamp='1346860109' post='1794145'] No need to take the neck off - just unscrew the cover plate on the headstock at the end of the fretboard. No specialist tools. just a reasonably long allen key of the right size. Clockwise for less bow, anti-c/wise for more. Don't do much more than 1/8 turn at a time and put a bit of pressure behind the headstock (just a bit) to take some of the strain off the rod before adjusting. Let it settle for a few hours and repeat again (and again) if necessary. [/quote] ok, so it's a right handed bass that means pulling the screw towards me would be anti clockwise and would increase the bow. What does that do? What am i trying to do here?

[quote name='lowdowner' timestamp='1346854972' post='1794079'] Looks like the action is quite high (from the photos) so you might be in need to some work on the setup anyway - playing with a very high action is a real pain [/quote] indeed. i have never liked high action. but then i dislike fretbuzz.But which is worse...?

I'm sure I could learn to adjust the truss, but that's heavy duty work. I'd have to take the neck off and, assuming that specialist tools aren't required, monkey around! Bit of a risk. I'd rather have this bass than no bass.

It's clearly a low budget instrument. Im' sure their more expensive instruments are much better. I'm not slagging them off. I've had this bass for ten years. I just would like to know what to expect from the instrument. It is what it is. I've managed to improve the intonation somewhat on the E, and i've lowered the action a bit more. Given that I pick over the pickup I can't lower it too much. I think it's probably as good as it's going to get without getting into looking more deeply, such as examining the truss rod which I'm not going to do. To be honest the tuning test for intonation didn't produce wildly divergent results, to my ears the fretted 12th and the harmonic on each string sounded identical anyway. Thanks for all the help

ok, adjusting the saddle just moves the screw without moving the saddle back or forth. This can't be normal. If i loosen it (the screw is already as far as it's going to go so I can only loosen it) it just moves the screw so that, if i keep loosening it, it will eventually come off completely.

Is it easy to adjust intonation? Maybe it's something I can try myself.

[quote name='TheRev' timestamp='1346832960' post='1793669'] I can't really see what would prevent your thumb from moving up the neck when playing at the 12 fret position. Is it possible that you're keeping the upper arm of your fretting hand too tense, so that your elbow stops against your waist as you move up the neck? I suspect your issue is caused by your playing technique rather than your bass, but I'm happy to have a look at your bass for you (I'm also in Bristol). I'm on holiday this week so it'll have to be sometime next week. Dave Thanks. Maybe we can work soemthing out, but I don't actually live in Bristol I live some ways outside and I don't have transport.[/quote]