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musicman stingray neck adjustment


big rob
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Hi all,
just picked up a great stingray slo special HH 4 string. Have put a new set of 30-90 strings on and all is good, however the string height seems a little high to me, however between the 1st and 4th frets there is a hint of fret buzz. At the 12 fret the gap is about 2.5 / 3mm.
what would be the best coarse of action in setting up this great beasty.

thanks in advance for your help.

Rob

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Sounds to me like there's not quite enough relief in the neck, quite likely if the new set of strings is a lighter gauge than what it was wearing previously. If this is the case then you just need to slacken off the truss rod a little. You'll probably be able to lower the action when you've got enough relief in the neck as well.

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+1 To the HowieBass suggestions!

Oh - look along the string and see if you can see a backbow or forward bow (relief) in the fretboard. There are straight edges and gauges to do this precisely but just by sighting along the string from the headstock towards the bridge you should get a clear picture of how much or how little relief is there. I'd aim to get it dead straight or with a tiny bit of relief. [url="http://www.fender.com/en-IE/support/articles/bass-guitar-setup-guide/"]http://www.fender.com/en-IE/support/articles/bass-guitar-setup-guide/[/url] has more info on ballpark measures.

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Well all here was my approach and i at happy with it:

1: Hold down 1st fret with a capo (or wife or child like i used) and the last fret.
2: Measure the gap between the E string and the 8th fret.
3: I had no gap so had to raise it by turning the truss rod wheel to the left 1/4 of a turn.
4: Measured gap again with feeler gauge at 8th fret trying to get a 0.3mm gap, gap was 0.3 (luck).
5: String height seemed and felt high to me at 2.4mm (the suggested height by most videos on you tube).
6: Adjusted the saddles so the strings were 2mm from the fret-board at the 12th fret.

All seems to be working fine.

This is the first time i have ever done this in 26 years of playing as i thought it was voodoo. I would suggest to all to not be afraid of this it was easy as, If you follow the instructions above i don't think you can go wrong. String height on the saddles is personal preference but i like mine low.

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I like to get the neck as flat as possible with the bass tuned up then just let a smidge of relief in so if you hold down the 1st fret and 13th fret you can just about get the string to ring out when tapped in the middle (thumb on 13th and 1st finger to tap), once that is set you cant do anything else and most ebmm basses already have a shim in the neck pocket, adjust the saddles to what you want, I use an allen key (2mm I think) under the 12th fret wire and the back of each string across the board, tune and intonate until it rings like a bell :)

My 2010 SR5 has a slightly high fret that needs a tiny dressing if anyone wanted it super low but its fine for me and if it rsttles I know its time to adjust the truss for the seasonal change, I see people suggesting people altering the saddle heights to restore basses back to normal but once you have it nailed all you EVER need to do is turn the wheel of fortune to make it play and intonate perfectly, brilliant.

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I've never measured to be honest, alter the bass side and the whole pickup level until you are happy that it has a good output on the E with a good full sound not being choked by the magnetic force or the pickup stopping the string vibrating, then adjust the treble side until you get a good even output across the whole bass, do all that with a flat tone if you can, if in a band mix you feel the D and G are getting lost raise that end a bit at a time until it is sweet, I keep a suitable driver to hand at the following practice after any pickup fiddling :)

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Cheers Stingray Pete,
I think my e string maybe a little close to the pickups as it seems a little dull at times even with the new strings i just put on this beast. Will try lowering that side a little and see how i get on, gap looks about 4 mm at the moment.

Cheers again
Rob

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