Fender American Standard 2012 P Bass

[Mr Fretbuzz]

[quote name='Evil Undead' timestamp='1339620881' post='1691754']
Would it be considered hijacking if I were to post a pic of mine? I'm so proud of it
[/quote]

Nope, any P Bass is good by me..... Any bump on the previous posting of mine though?

[Mr Fretbuzz]

Bump. ... Need help with my E String but my G String is ok :-)

[Highfox]

[quote name='Mr Fretbuzz' timestamp='1339620073' post='1691740']
I had a noodle tonight but before I started I thought I'd check the intonation, G D were spot on, A a little off and E quite a bit off. I checked it on the 12 harmonic and the open string. After I adjusted it I was finding that most of the notes at the top of the E were very sharp and the notes from the middle spot on my Korg Chromatic tuner..spot on the green light in the middle.... The F note was over +20 on the sharp side. Virtually all of the notes on the D and G were on green, most on the A. I noodled to my Stage 3 songs and afterwards all of th strings were off and I guess I put that down to stretch. I've managed to get the F note to less than +10 by slightly flatting the open E.

There is a little triangle either side of 0 on th tuner at about +20. Does this mean that if you can't get perfect intonation anything under +20 closest to 0 is ok? I checked all notes on all strings and they are correct, most hit the green light and any others are slightly sharp.

The Bass is far heavier than my Fender Squire P Bass and it's so low it's unreal......I've got a punk pop song to play mostly on frets 1 and 3. I had the volume knob on the Bass set to max and rolled off all the treble.... I had to turn it up almost to full as it was so low... I've only got a 15 w basic fender bass amp.

What I've found though is that I've discovered harmonics that aren't even on my harmonic chart...is that possible? All harmonics are crystal clear and easy to find even for me including the half fret ones :-)

I know little to nothing about Bass but it seems awesome. ....... A little fret buzz as normal :-) .... The strings don't like sliding but I guess they are brand new,
[/quote]

I'd suggest getting it set up properly with the strings and gauge you intend to use., maybe the nut needs some work? In my experience USA Fenders only come out of the factory half ready with regards to the playability I like.
I have a Luthier that sets all my basses up and he does a 100% better job than I can even after years of tinkering... neck adjustment, proper intonation, string heights, levels and smooths the frets (even my brand new 2009 USA Jazz needed work done on the sharp frets) , nut work, saddle adjustment, pick-up heights and anything else that needs doing, all for €50 and does it all while I wait and test. It puts my mind at rest once he's looked at them.

[Evil Undead]

I recommend new strings, and a good setup, make sure the relief is minimal and the action is nice (I always go for less than 2mm @ 12th). Also, you may need the nut lowered slightly on the E side but get a luthier to check that.

Also, I know this sounds lame, but make sure you're not fretting too hard - that can really knock the intonation out.

I second the above post that Fenders factory setup isn't exactly optimal. I mean, it's ok for most I guess but for us fussy folk it needs a decent amount of tweaking. I had to restring mine, adjust the truss rod, set it up nicely, and I still wasn't quite happy - I ended up putting a very thin shim in the neck pocket! It's perfect now

[Johnnyc]

Yeah thats true, my Fender USA Deluxe Jazz is about to go in for a setup; the factory setup has way too much tension on the strings. Played it through the PA with my BDDI the other night and it actually sounded a bit like a double bass when I played fingerstyle much eq'ing needed! & new strings haha. Although I restrung a few weeks ago and the strings were completely dead in two days!

[Lozz196]

I`d go along with the re-string and set-up opinions. I`ve always found stock Fender strings to be very tinny and fret-buzzy, and although I`ve bought a fair few Fenders new, only one bass (Classic 50s Precision) was ever set up properly, without intonation etc needing attention.

[Mr Fretbuzz]

Thanks for all your advice guys..I've fixed it :-) one thing I didn't check last night was the action..it was far too high, I've lowered all 4 strings and each note each string are spot on now :-). ..... And no fret buzzes either :-)

[Evil Undead]

[quote name='Mr Fretbuzz' timestamp='1339703130' post='1693116']
Thanks for all your advice guys..I've fixed it :-) one thing I didn't check last night was the action..it was far too high, I've lowered all 4 strings and each note each string are spot on now :-). ..... And no fret buzzes either :-)
[/quote]

Excellent

I've posted a couple of pics in a new thread so as to not derail yours, feel free to have a look

[leebassplayer]

i get my olympic white one delivered this week, can't wait!!

[Mr Fretbuzz]

Ace....rosewood?

[gsgbass]

I just had mine delivered 10/31/12. I wanted to get the Candy Cola / Maple for a while. It sounds great I love it. Best of luck with yours.

[Grand Wazoo]

I have a luthier that sets up all my basses for free, his name is me! I bought a 2011 AMST P bass (as well as the exact same colour Jazz Bass 2011) and they needed very little work on delivery from the factory. These basses come with a very heavy string gauge, Fender 8250M wich are 45/65/85/110tw (tapered wound) they sound very good with these basses because the extra thickness of the 110 gauge on the E string gives them a pretty hefty bass presence, but they are not everyone's cup of tea, me included, so changing back to EBMM strings with a 45/105 gauge meant I needed a little trussrod adjustment and a slight saddle intonation.

Now I would give you a few tips, you should not really test the intonation at every fret, because doing so, you are seldom going to get a 0 reading. Put it this way, fret slots are machine cut and a builder like Fender would have their home work sorted, so there is little doubt that their frets would be even minimally out of placement. All you really need to ensure is that intonation is measured between open string and the harmonic on the 12th fret. The slightest finger pressure when fretting a note would alter the pitch in either directions, that is why your reading on the tuner can be all over the place, depending on your fretting pressure, as a result I wouldn't go by the fretted note. And rest assured no human ear can tell the difference in pitch between fretted and open anyway unless the sadlles are set way beyond the sweet spot.

You will discover that it is impossible to get every single fret perfectly in tune. This is normal. Fretted instruments have a natural flaw where they can’t be perfectly intonated. You can just get really close. If you’re interested in why, look up “equal temperament” or “just intonation” in a music dictionary.