Peter Wright

Ok, so I ordered a new set of LaBella strings, they arrived today, and I fitted them... exactly the same problem. I've also looked up fret positions, and as far as I can tell with a tape measure, they are in the right positions. I also compared to another 24-fret bass I have (which plays nicely in tune), and the fret distances seem to be the same. I tried lowering the pickups as far as they would go, just to make sure that they weren't causing an issue, and it made no difference. Unfortunately with these strings, you can't fit them the other way round, the eyelets are different sizes and the larger one doesn't fit at the 'nut' end. This is bizarre, this bass seems to be defying the laws of physics. I'm torn between taking it to a tech or contacting the retailer.

Thanks - yes, I will try some new strings I think. I don't know exactly what they are, but yeah the ones that come with are bound to be super cheap ones. I spoke to a guitar tech earlier and he said the first thing to try was new strings. Hadn't thought about looking up fret positions though, that's a good point. Thanks for your help.

Yes, that was all part of the setup I did when I first got it. I did truss rod, action height, intonation and pickup height.

Yeah, the action is definitely not still high, so really does seem like the frets are not in the right place. I could also try replacing the strings. All 4 strings are sharp at the last fret through (although to varying degrees), so doesn't it seem weird that all 4 strings in a set would be bad?

Hi, thanks for your reply. Perhaps I wasn't clear - I did exactly what you're saying, compared the fretted note to the harmonic (or used a tuner). I didn't compare to a fretted note. If I set the intonation so that the 12th fret fretted note is in tune with the 12th fret harmonic, then the 24th fret fretted note is very sharp compared to the 24th fret fretted note. If I set it so that the 24th fret fretted note is in tune with the 24th fret harmonic, then the bass plays flat lower down.

I recently bought an XT-2 4 string bass (from new), and in most respects I love it - the sound, the feel of the neck, the weight. But, I'm having trouble with the intonation. If I set the intonation by getting it in tune at the 24th fret as recommended in the manual, then it plays flat at the lower frets. If I set the intonation at the 12th fret then the first octave is good, but from about the 16th or 17th fret upwards it gets progressively more sharp. One of the first things I did when I got it was to set it up, as from the factory the action was too high for my liking, so I didn't notice whether the intonation issues were there before I set it up. Anyone know if this is normal for this bass? My other basses have much more solid intonation, although admittedly they are more expensive basses. This is an inexpensive bass, but is this normal? Thanks in advance for any replies.