Intonation on E string

StanleyAccrington

So....I've had bass 3 months. Decided to go from as bought set up to maybe a more user friendly set up. Have changed relief to about 0.4mm (it had hardly any neck relief prior to this). Took the actions at 12th fret to E=3mm and G=2.5mm. Checked the intonation....have got the open strings and 12th fret notes pitching the same. Albeit with the use of my pedal tuner! All good.......or so I thought. BUT, the first 3 frets on E string are playing sharp! HELP!!

steamabacus

I'm not good with the numbers (I set up by feel/sighting) but 0.4mm sounds quite a lot of relief? Did it play in tune before?

Also, playing sharp over the first few frets is normally a sign of the nut slots being a little too high. If you fret the string on the bridge side of the2nd fret, the clearance between the top of the 1st fret and the string should be very slight (again, not good with the actual numbers).

ICBM

Yes, that sounds like the nut is too high.

You don't need to know the numbers, just fret the string at the third fret (so it's also resting on the second) and have a look at the gap between the string and the first fret. Any more than about a tenth of the string diameter is too much on a bass - just by eye, it doesn't have to be accurate. There should be a gap, but tiny.

sweepy

Agreed, too high an action at the nut is a common cause of intonation issues

StanleyAccrington

Have tried fretting string at third fret and looking for a tiny gap between first fret and string. It isn't tiny....it's a whopping 0.30mm!! Thanks all for the advice.