Ian Hinrichsen

Don't you find that if its too low and you double time really fast, you get fret clatter?

I think Steve Harris has got the most fret clatter ive ever heard. I could never work out what that sound was until i started playing bass! 🙂

I think a lot of people would love to have action that low with no buzz or clatter, there's a knack to double timing on the B, like you said - very careful, but I'd still be looking at no less than 3mm.

Ok. If i double time on the B i have to be VERY careful or it clatters and i hate that. I would love to have an action like yours, but Im learning as i go along, but yours is enviable its so low. Must be great to play. I suppose i could file the offending frets down a little and that would help. I've also thought about raising the nut height, so i can take the neck lower via the truss rod. Coz if i lower it too much, the strings are too close to the fretboard around the 1st to 3rd fret, and it buzzes a bit.

I've never even seen a bass with such low action at the 12th fret - 1 - 1, 5mm? I doubt this could be achieved on a 5 string B?

And if you double time, don't you get fret clatter? My B string is about 3,5mm.

Hi, Is this 2.5mm when you are holding down the B at the 1st and last fret and measuring at the 12th fret or is 2.5mm without holding down the string?

Thanks so much, yes, they're great basses, but the Jazz bass bug bit and i sold it - they say you always regret selling a bass sooner or later! : (

Thank you very much! 🙂

Thanks Teebs! 🙂 👍🏻

Thanks so much! 🙂 👍🏻

Thank you! 🙂

Hi everyone, new guy here. I've only been playing for about 6 years, and i recently discovered something interesting when it comes to doing your own set up (I've slowly eased myself into it as I didn't want to break anything) Due to lazyness, i suppose, I like to have the action as low as possible, but on a 5 string it can be really frustrating as the B in particular, clatters on the frets if you play really fast double time sort of stuff. I've discovered, however, that lowering the saddles tends to make this worse than lowering the action using the truss rod? Lowering the action via the truss rod has brought much better results, so I'm in the process of actually raising the saddles a bit (as they were very low and the B saddle was almost all the way down!) Has anybody else ever come across this? It's really been a huge learning curve for me, i suppose that it might differ from instrument to instrument, but I'm now able to get the action far lower, than by just lowering the saddles? Very happy! 🙂

Ok, so I know this will sound absutely REDICULOUS to some of you, but here goes : Us 5 string lefties here in South Africa have virtually nothing available to us (at the moment there are only 2 left hand hand options available to us in shops - the Cort B5 Plus and the Ibanez SR305EB) I've more than had my share of Ibanez basses for now so was itching to get something completely different. Us lefties in SA are beggars, not choosers - i kid you not. So out of desperation, I decided to Google lefties playing upside down basses! I discovered to my surprise that it's not that uncommon. So that was it. I decided to buy a right hand bass and set the nut strings and bridge to left. I bought an SX VTG Series P bass that has jazz pups. It s the 1st passive bass I've ever had and weighs a ton, (like the Fenders), but the tone was better than any Ibby I've ever played, and the sustain is amazing. So I had the conversion done by a luthier here, and I'm SO dissapointed. The B string now, from the 5th fret down to the C is powerless. I've put Da"Adarria strings on it and they sound tinny (I was expecting that) I've used the exact Guage that is specified for that bass. It had Ernie balls on before, but because it's now strung upside down, the Ernies won't fit. Here's my question : Will the B be better when the strings wear in? And also, should the pickups also have been changed around? They are closed jazz pups. I've also raised the pickup height a bit on the B string side.

Thanks everyone!

My names Ian, and I live in Cape Town South Africa. I'm a drummer but I've been playing bass now for about 4,5 years - it just crept up on me, and all of a sudden I was desperate to learn to play bass - wierd. My 1st bass I bought was an Ibanez GSR205L (L for left handed) it's a Gio, not the greatest but it was ok for then. Then I bought an Ibanez SR605L, and a few days ago bought a 2nd hand SX PB 5 String. It has the P bass scratch plate but has jazz pups. I love it. It sounds and plays 10 x better than my Ibbys, it's also a lot heavier and bigger - i can now see how Fender get their "tone" - i think it's all in the body mass? Anyway, I love playing bass. I've never taken lessons, and learnt the hard way, by messing up a nerve in my elbow (I think) by trying to look cool and slinging my bass low, causing an unnatural curve in my wrist. Yeah, real dumb. One day, if I have time, I'll take lessons. I play in a cover band and we have a lot of fun and make good money too. I like listening to all types of music (well, almost) especially rock and metal, but, strangely enough don't like playing very heavy stuff. A guy I really admire is Roger Glover from Deep Purple, the bluesy, rock and roll type runs he plays are very inventive especially on the Machine Head Album and the other early stuff. I'm not really into listening to guys ripping up the fretboard, but I admire their talent. Billy Sheehan et al.