One last thing @jerichodog2k.
Did you check intonation?
With the set up that high, you may need to adjust more, but check first.
First check the 12th fret, and see if it gets the same reading as the open string. If it does, you are close enough for my ear, possibly yours too.
If you want to go further you can check every fret, and or get a pro involved.
If the 12th fret does not match the open string. You will need to search YT for instruction.
Dan at Guns and Guitars has a good set up your bass video that goes over it at the end, and many others do to.
Hoping it’s good, or close, sounds like the person that set that up at the factory was hitting the pipe that day.
The intonation is not bad, I may have someone check it to be sure.
So with the lowered action and the new strings I was able to get past the tough bit and finish module 3. After that I messed about with some 12 bar blues, then worked on Folsom Prison Blues. I’m almost ready on that one. Thanks all for the advice
That is great. Honestly, if you are holding tune by your tuner, you are probably fine. It is true it may be a little “off” by high caliber tuners that have been calibrated, but Iknow I could not tell the difference.
And the best part is that your bass is now playable, and you can continue the lessons.
Great job so far, keep up the good work👍🏻
I was doing the lesson regarding major scale, but on the higher octave, I think C Major it was and I felt like Gollum trying to do anything with my pinky that high on the fretboard on the E and A string. I couldnt find any comfortable position with my hand to play the scale somewhat fluently and I can’t really figure out what the real issue is.
Maybe my strap is too long?
Maybe my hand is to cramped?
Maybe my pinky to short?
I jsut noticed that the only position I could comfortably play the 15th fret on E or A is when sitting down and resting my base between the legs like this: https://imgur.com/a/AYCglmr
but normally I prefer to play while standing so this is no long-term solution.
Playing in that position is fine, but if you prefer to play standing up, have you tried putting your whole left hand in front of the bass when you play high up? I mean, instead of having your thumb on the back or on the bottom, just curl it up with your hand. I found that made it, not super comfortable, but much more possible to play up there. It feels “illegal” but it’s fine.
That’s the position all classical guitar players use.
Also, if you live above the 15th fret routinely, you have the wrong instrument. Fender has a habit of creating a huge obstruction, called a body, at the back of the neck in that area, and pretty soon after, the instrument runs out of fretboard. Even my €20 Cort gives me a lot more room to work with…
If you take a look at Josh’s Peavey Cirrus, you’ll see how it should be done.
Spacing is no issue on my Yamaha TRBX 304, the cutout is pretty good.
As @tamaraster said, having the thumb below the neck feels a bit illegal but it works a bit better. same with trying not to use the pinky at all.
I can deal with it I think and if not, so what, I mostly play the bass to enjoy those deep rumbly notes anyways
He paid for those frets and he will use them, darn it!
I don’t think that there is anything illegal to put the bass in this position while standing up. You can make this change for the songs that need those frets and then go back to horizantal position…
Just be careful not to hit the drums or the drummer!
Play with thumb lower, or in front like suggested and USE your pinky.
With time your pinky will get much stronger, and you will not have to go all the way out in front of the bass.
You will find the right thumb position after your pinky is working better, and in time it will become more natural for you to go to that position when playing that high on the neck.
It is the better option then excluding your pinky because you will have a harder time training your pinky for one, and it takes longer to build the strength in it as well, and it will slow down the strength building in your whole hand if you opt not to use the pinky when you can / should
Other than just more consistent practice using the index and middle fingers to pick with is there a best way to ensure consistency between the two fingers. Seems like I pull a little harder with the middle, I figure if I can hear the difference, so can everyone else.
I guess that is why “the right hand technique” is so important. Correct plucking makes the most difference in the tone it seems.
I have been noticing that when I am just starting to learn a song in a lesson I pluck with much less confidence being focused more on fretting the right notes so they sometimes sound so dull and even muted at times… It even makes me doubt my setup of pickup height (I go check every time and it sounds OK by itself)
After a hard night’s work when I start going over the fast work out (generally!) I feel more confident and the tone changes so much.
In one of the lesson comments Josh said that the plucking fingers will ALWAYS sound slightly different and no need to worry about that.
Think about chugging the root note through a song, comparing using only index finger and alternating index-middle. I guess alternating adds extra to the tone even if the pitch is the same…
I am super new to all of this so sorry if it is mostly noob bs ;D
not at all…thank you, granted I’ve only been at this a few months but I’m looking at the mantle of perma-noob as my right hand keeps wanting play like a guitar pluck with the thumb and pull with the index…I learned to pick a guitar this way when I was a teenager its called piedmont picking. So picking with the index and middle finger is foreign but trying to get a reasonably even pull from each is a separate beast all together. Thank you for the advice!! I’ll keep chugging along with it.
Well I have seen your question to Josh under the Single Pluck disco octaves lesson last night. Where he said it is OK! I have tried it and it was impossible for me to pluck with my thumb (my bass is my very first instrument in life)
When I see peope do that in you tube I admire it a ton because it looks chill as fuck!
This guy is a Turkish youtuber and happens to be using 5 string version of my bass.
wow…here I thought it was something I was doing wrong. It won’t stop me from trying to learn the gallop technique but I’m not going to worry so much when I fall back to piedmont picking on occasion…thanks again
You can do exercises for right hand plucking. Some is simple, like chuggung for endurance.
Others get more complex, and involve walking up and down the strings in various patterns.
You can really make your own.
Try alternate plucking, index middle on open E
Then index - middle on open A, then Index - Middle on open D, then index - middle on open G, and walk back down.
Then try Index - middle - index on open E to Middle - index - middle on A, to Index - middle - index on D and Middle - Index - Middle on G and back down.
When you start making shifts on alternating fingers, it will feel very very strange, don’t get discouraged, just start slow and work your way up.
There are others, hard to explain w/o video, but I can try later, I have to go get my daughter now.
Try adding these a couple min a day to your practice, it will help immensely.
