PDA

View Full Version : The 12th Fret



Elmeaux
12-06-2010, 03:23 AM
I had posted before that my strings were out of tune farther up the neck - mostly past the 7th fret.

My E string was as long as it could possibly be - the spring was tightened as far as it would go.

I found out what my problem was. D'uh...

I have always fooled around with setting a deep curve on the strings, since I (occasionally) like to play with a violin bow. I would overshoot the radius of the fretboard, really tenting up the centre two strings and lowering the outer two.

Well, stupid me, I'd never properly reset the strings back to a decent radius. I'd only reset them by sight - I thought it would be enough. Boy, was I wrong.

So I have just printed and cut out one of those radius testing things and measures the radius of my board/strings. I found that my setting of the A and D strings seemed not too badly set for a sight fix, but my E and G strings were out of whack.

I have now reset the strings back to their proper places.

My neck is now in tune to the 12th fret - within a hair or two of perfect. The needle on my tuner waggles slightly from green to red, but so slightly that I'm not even going to worry.

Ahhh...so nice to be back in shape again.

So, what lesson did I learn? That even though my bass is a cheapie, it's still an instrument of music, and can't be treated like junk.

Did I mention his name is "Patches"? He's going to look great with his neon yellow strings...

Sorry for treating you like a hobo, Patches...

SilverFlame46
12-06-2010, 06:29 AM
Patches will reward you for bringing him/her back to perfection. Keep your ears tuned and you will hear!!!:cool: