Help me unfuck my ibanez..

[GSR]

soo... ever since i put new strings on... i don't like how my ibanez feels... the strings feel good.. but the setup is whacked... they sound really rattlely and just.. not good...maybe its the action? i like it low, so i lowered the strings to where you could fit like a credit card through.. but that just made em more rattlely... and i have no idea what the knobs do on it.. so i can't mess with the sound... rather, i don't know which knob is which.. i know the volume one... but one the other two is tone.. and the other i dunno.. the only reason i'm playing the ibanez is because i'm on a wooten kick thanks to mike and i can't slap my fretless.

[Bartender2424]

You need to mess with the bridge, it happened with my bass too. I took it to my moms friend, who owns Milford Music, and he tightened something on the bridge and it was alll better.

[GSR]

i can't do anything with my bridge.. cept lower/raise the strings..

[Macht]

*pulls out soundgear ibannez*

this sonuvabitch was made for slappin'!

I would guess it would be your strings

Umm you sure you can't do anything with the bridge? You don't see screws or anything?

[street fish]

If I'm understanding you correctly, your strings are set waaaaaaaayy too low. The lower your action, the more rattles and buzzing you will get. The quality of the neck, material it is made of, and fretwork also are a factor.

This link provides a good guide to setting up your bass: http://www.mrgearhead.com/faq/basssetup.html

Yes, it is geared toward Fenders, but it is still a good place to start. Keeping in mind that the dimensions they give are only intended to be a starting point that you would tweak to suit your playing style, it says the distance from the top of the 17th fret to the bottom of the string should be in the 5/64-7/64 of an inch range (just under 1/8 of an inch). For me, even that feels low. I also like a bit more relief in the neck (set by the truss rod).

If you don't know what any of this shit means, take it to a music store and ask for a full setup (truss rod, intonation, action). If you're slapping, tell them that you want a low setup geared toward slapping (it will probably end up around the dimensions on the page I linked to).

Nothing is more discouraging than a poorly setup bass. And on the same note, I took a cheapo SX bass, gave it a good setup, and it actually felt and played pretty nicely. A good setup is even more important than how much your bass costs.

[street fish]

Regarding the site I posted, at this point you don't need to worry about shimming or tilting the neck. That is a last resort measure. Also, even though it doesn't hurt to check it, your intonation is probably fine.