Sliding Help?

Hi everyone! I'm a beginner and have been going through the exercises and basics in the videos on the site. Things have been progressing well, but I came to a problem with a technique that seems like it should be really simple.

In the video for learning to play Come Together, there's a slide on one of the strings from like the 7th fret down to the 12th, or some such. Unfortunately, my bass won't make a sound when I do this. I hit the note on the fret, but the downward slide instantly freezes the string, and it goes dead quiet. I can slide on say fret 3 down to 7...no problem, and it makes a nice slidey sound. But sliding past like the 7th or 8th fret, and the string mutes immediately.

I have an Ibanez SR305DX. and have tried messing with both pickup knobs, as well as the treble and bass knobs on the bass itself(Active pickups), as well as all of the EQ knobs and volume levels on my amp. Nothing helps. In fact, if I simply try to pluck strings while holding frets, like the 10th or 12th on the higher strings, the notes will not ring out. It gives a short, sharp "Plunk" sounding note, then silence.

What do I need to adjust or fix on my bass to get these sounds from the higher numbered frets?

Higher notes do not sounc, you say? Looks like the strings are muted by the fretboard. Try setting your intonation (you do this by fiddling with the bridge, Google will know how). If that doesn't work, take it to the shop. Because if a bass has good intonation, it should function properly.

ThreeLetterSyndrom wrote:Higher notes do not sounc, you say? Looks like the strings are muted by the fretboard. Try setting your intonation (you do this by fiddling with the bridge, Google will know how). If that doesn't work, take it to the shop. Because if a bass has good intonation, it should function properly.

Thanks for that advice. I found a simple website with easy tutorials on setting up the hardware on a bass. I'll give this a try and see if it cures this issue. I was sure there was some kind of hardware issue since the strings were stopping dead, but I'm new to bass and had no idea where to begin sniffing about. Sometimes it's hard being just a dog.

One thing you definitely have to bear in mind is that you need opposable thumbs in order to set up a bass. I recommend either beguiling a human into doing the work for you, or killing a human and stealing his thumbs.

Pippynip wrote:One thing you definitely have to bear in mind is that you need opposable thumbs in order to set up a bass. I recommend either beguiling a human into doing the work for you, or killing a human and stealing his thumbs.

It is quite a handicap to overcome. Luckily, as a cute dog, many humans are eager to aid me. If it came down to the thumb theft, however, dogs are digging stars, and can dispose of a body in a hole with ease. Also, humans never question dogs when they see them carrying bones around.

Adjusting the intonation seems to have helped. All the strings now make a nice harmonic ring on all the frets. Two of them are still a little less ringy and I think need some more tweaks(It's hard to be sure, though, being just a dog and all), but they do now make slidey sounds, too. Thanks again for your help!

Here's another suggestion, but for this you really should take it to a technician - adjusting the neck.

Even us opposable thumb types can have great difficulty properly adjusting truss rods.