SS Stingray nut puzzle

[2pods]

Not really a puzzle as such, more of a "d'you think this nut should be on a £700 bass ?"

 

I want to buy a SS Stingray, but there seems to be a lot of stuff on here about people receiving basses with faults, even suggesting that some may be seconds. After asking about I received a pic of this nut (dirty and rough looking), and this scratchplate (looks like scratches to me), but at least the controls were straight.

Could any SS Stingray owners put a photo up of an example of a good version (obviously the USA EB will be perfect, but I haven't got that kind of money) of said nut ?

 

I'm not usually that fussy about minor details with basses, and I know £700 isn't a lot compared to some basses I've had, but I can't get to a shop at the moment and after some of the comments I'd like to see what the BC hive mind thinks ?

 

I

[ezbass]

That scratchplate shows use, plain and simple. Regarding the nut, before fettling my own (it was high for my preference), the strings sat much lower than shown above, with none of that burring and with squarer shoulders. That one looks suspiciously like the strings have been used as a makeshift file. Bass Direct have a white, used one for £550 if you’re interested (hopefully the above isn’t that one). My only proper niggles were that the foam under the pickup wasn’t robust enough to stop it moving around under normal thumb pressure (I like to anchor my thumb there when playing the E) and that there was bit of slop in the tuners, they held well enough, but felt cheap. Extra, more sturdy foam under the pickup and a set of used Hipshot tuners fixed both of those issues. I also lowered the nut slots and rounded the shoulders off, redressed the fret ends after ‘rolling’ the fretboard edges and polished the frets (some were rather dull), but this was for my preferred setup, YMMV.

[2pods]

Thanks.

 

Not Bass Direct, though I think that's the one I've just bought advertised at £499 plus £12 Shipping 

 

Said it's setup with a medium action.

As long as the nut is OK, I should be able to deal with lowering it.

Edited November 10, 2022 by 2pods

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

You'd probably need to be Freddie Krueger to make scratches like that on the pickguard. I suspect it still has the peel-off protective film in place and the actual pickguard underneath is okay.

[Doctor J]

That's a used bass. It looks like the nut has been filed, crudely, and it is a little too low on the E string and someone has put a slip of paper in there to raise it up a bit.

[2pods]

[Cosmo Valdemar]

Looks like a typical nougat nut you find on a lot of budget basses these days. You can leave a mark with your fingernail.

 

The scratchplate looks like it still has the protective film on it.

 

[fretmeister]

Do the short scales not have the compensated nut then?

[ezbass]

28 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

Do the short scales not have the compensated nut then?

Not the SBMM ones, I don’t know about EBMM.

[2pods]

2 hours ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

Looks like a typical nougat nut you find on a lot of budget basses these days. You can leave a mark with your fingernail.

 

The scratchplate looks like it still has the protective film on it.

 

 

Wouldn't say £700 is budget......or is it ?

[2pods]

This was the action of another one

 

Edited November 11, 2022 by 2pods

[Cosmo Valdemar]

1 hour ago, 2pods said:

 

Wouldn't say £700 is budget......or is it ?

No, not at all! I just meant it's your standard generic nut. Disappointing to see it on a Stingray.

[Ralf1e]

Looking at that nut I did wonder if its been lowered with a hot iron. Fast method if you have the skill to wield it and tidy up the sprue afterwards. Only work on plastic though.

[mcnach]

Unfortunately I've seen many scruffy cut nuts like that. It's a relatively soft plastic. Hate it, but they usually work fine.

The pickguard however, I'm pretty sure there's still a protective film on that one and the pickguard itself is fine underneath.

[2pods]

Bought the used in in Bass Direct for £499. It should arrive tomorrow, so I'll have a good look at it.

Hopefully, whoever sold/traded it sorted any wee problems. Unless they weren't happy and just got rid 

 

Thought the action on the one in the photo was far too high.

I know it can be adjusted, but how are these things passing quality inspections ?

 

They're a great idea, but in a pretty sad state compared to the SS34, SS4s etc

[Ralf1e]

10 hours ago, 2pods said:

Bought the used in in Bass Direct for £499. It should arrive tomorrow, so I'll have a good look at it.

Hopefully, whoever sold/traded it sorted any wee problems. Unless they weren't happy and just got rid 

 

Thought the action on the one in the photo was far too high.

I know it can be adjusted, but how are these things passing quality inspections ?

 

They're a great idea, but in a pretty sad state compared to the SS34, SS4s etc

It's the get them out the door and worry about it later or not at all syndrome. Best guess is they don't get enough time allocated to the task to be done.

What is so difficult to get into peoples heads is that for every unit that ends up no good and gets shipped out like it with low profit margines you have lost the profit out of maybe as much as 100 good units to win that back.

[2pods]

Bass Direct's version arrived on Monday, and I'm a bit disappointed.

this was the action:

 

I contacted them saying I thought the action was far too high, and  I would normally bring it down as I used to with my Stingray via the truss rod (as per EB FAQ), but the truss rod was at it's limit, and the saddles are on the bridge plate.

 

I was told that they thought it was "setup nicely" but if I wanted to use the truss rod it was probably stiff. If I wanted it "super low" I'd have to take it to a tech, though after I replied, they said it was OK when it left them, there had been no problems with these basses before, been played in the shop a few times with no one mentioning it etc. and offered to try and sort it themselves, probably at my expense for shipping etc.

 

After going as far as I could I have it not too bad, but wonder if a shim could be the answer ?

I do like the wee bass, and after being fobbed off I don't want to trust Bass Direct.

 

It's a bugger, as it sounds great. 

 

 

 

[jezzaboy]

 

 

If you reckon they will want you to send it back down to them to do a set up, by the time you do that and pay for the return postage, you would be as well paying for a set up from someone local. Whether you should be doing that in the first place, only you can decide.

Edited November 19, 2022 by jezzaboy

[ezbass]

From the picture, it looks like a high nut might be adding to the issue. 

 

"Set up nicely," but for whom? One person's low action is another's unplayable.

 

What is the measurement at the 12th?

[Brucegill]

Surly when EB say you adjust the action via the truss rod (not read it myself, but this goes against anything I’ve ever been told or learnt), they assume you have a fresh bass from EB - so the actions been factory set and the Truss rod needs a tweak due to travel/climate changes  
 

I don’t get why you wouldn’t just adjust the action your self? (Via the saddles - AFTER checking neck relief and adjusting the truss rod). 

[Guest]

......

Edited November 20, 2022 by Ricky Rioli

[jezzaboy]

3 hours ago, Ricky Rioli said:

 

What I wrote on 19 Oct was this: "As it happened, there were things about the bass that I didn't like .... returning the bass and having the transaction reversed was smooth and 100% bs-free."

Much apologies for mis quoting you. I have deleted the quote.

[soldersqueeze]

6 hours ago, jezzaboy said:

 

 

If you reckon they will want you to send it back down to them to do a set up, by the time you do that and pay for the return postage, you would be as well paying for a set up from someone local. Whether you should be doing that in the first place, only you can decide.

 

Why on earth would anyone send it back to them for a setup if they've already "set it up nicely" and you could drive a bus under the strings?

 

I've bought a couple of small things from BD and each time they've left me feeling that I wasn't spending enough money to be a worthwhile customer. I suspect they don't even see a £500 bass as a sale and don't give a damn if it's playable or not.

[Brucegill]

8 minutes ago, soldersqueeze said:

 

Why on earth would anyone send it back to them for a setup if they've already "set it up nicely" and you could drive a bus under the strings?

 

I've bought a couple of small things from BD and each time they've left me feeling that I wasn't spending enough money to be a worthwhile customer. I suspect they don't even see a £500 bass as a sale and don't give a damn if it's playable or not.

How can you judge the setup?! There are no measurements to this thread, just some really hard to judge photos that show nothing you can make an informed decision on

[2pods]

Even though I've played both pro and semi pro for nearly 45 years, I couldn't give you measurements from a ruler if I tried. Just can't do it. I can never make my mind up what unit of measurement I'm supposed to be using.

 

I do know what a very high action is, and have on occasion, used it for various basses.

Sorry about the photos, I didn't think measurements would be needed. You just have to look at the gap to see what I mean. 

 

Anyway, I've got the relief in the neck down to a reasonably small gap (usual capos at first and 14th fret). Unfortunately, as I say, there is very little adjustment left to lower the saddles, which would have been my next step.

 

19 hours ago, Brucegill said:

Surly when EB say you adjust the action via the truss rod (not read it myself, but this goes against anything I’ve ever been told or learnt), they assume you have a fresh bass from EB - so the actions been factory set and the Truss rod needs a tweak due to travel/climate changes  
 

I don’t get why you wouldn’t just adjust the action your self? (Via the saddles - AFTER checking neck relief and adjusting the truss rod). 

 

I bought my first Stingray new in 1996. It was always on the EB website that action was should be adjusted by truss rod, rather than the saddles every time. Not just when new. This was their advice and it worked for me on their basses (2 One 20th Anni and a 98 "normal")

I don't know why, maybe they just meant relief first, then saddles, same as usual. I do know that's all I ever had to do to any of the stingrays I've had.

 

I have adjusted the action myself as described. On arrival the saddles were already on the bridge plate they're so low. Which is why I asked about the shim (See further up thread.) BTW this is a used bass, so not straight from the factory.

 

The only reason I asked about the shim, was that there are people on here who have had this bass, seen these problems, and sorted them. I wanted to know if there was a shim involved.

Having said that, I just won't use Bass Direct again. Not just because of this. Just their attitude