Question about Bass setup

[gemini8026]

Tonight I did a little work on my super cheap Dean Bass. Was 120$ at Music123 a few years back. Now, here's the issue. Ive set the intonation, but on the low e-string it jumps around from note to note, but on the 12th fret, it's the same as an open note without tons of pressure while fretting. Is this caused by a bad string?!? The strings are likely almost 2 years old, so would ponying up 30$ be my fix, or is there anything else I should check like the nut slots?!? I dont wanna spend too much.

Either way, Id like to upgrade this now that Ive played a little more bass. It's a cheap bass, and id like something of a little more quality!

[xenophobe]

Check frets for uneven wear and put on new strings... it definitely can't hurt.

[gemini8026]

spent 30$ on new strings..... stretched, re-intonated and bullshit. Open fret and 12th fret the same, but the 5th fret is 7 cents flat at normal pressure...

God thats frustrating. Frets are fine, its been barely played. Chalk this up to a cheap bass with mis-aligned frets?!?!?

[straycat]

Mis alinged frets? Fist time I've heard that one.

[gemini8026]

hehe, well im speculating that the shoddy construction of the bass may have frets not perfectly in their positions. Thats what my local tech suggested over the fone *shrug*

not a big deal, id like a nice new bass anyways!

[straycat]

You should be able to make up the diff in the intonation.Are you sure about the scale length?

[Newc]

Well, if you remember that guitars (and basses) cannot be perfectly intonated......