Help! Help with Stingray Setup

[LowerBavarian]

Hi all!

I bought a Stingray on 27th September 2013 from one of the biggest music dealers in germany, thomann. According to the Serial Number Database it was built in November 2011.
At first sight and first played keys i thought the action was way to high. Since then i try to set the bass up and it won't fit my liking. If i try to set the truss rod like described at the ernie ball faq(press 2nd fret and 12th fred, tap on the middle...) the string height is nearly 8mm on the e string. When i lower the saddle to the bottom of the bridge i get 5mm string height. This is way to high and i can't get it lower.
Is there a problem with the neck? I play now for 27 years and have many different basses. None of them has this high action not even the p or j basses i own.
Can anyone give me a hint what to do? I find it strange that many youtubers set the stingray basses up like p basses. (Daves World of Fun Stuff or Alexander James Guitars). And they got all a way better string height without buzzing of bent necks.

Any help appreciated!

Greetings from lower bavaria

 

[tbonesullivan]

How much clearance is there when you adjust the truss rod? Holding down at the 1st and 12th fret, there should only be about a thin guitar pick clearance around the 5th fret.

If the neck is straight, and the action is still too high, you need to change the shim in the neck pocket. Your bass may not have a shim, or may have one that is too thin. Have you tried taking it to a tech to see if they can shim the neck?

 

[LowerBavarian]

Hi tbonesullivan,

thx for your replay. I checked everything today again. The neck is completely straight. The clearance between 5th and 6th fret is 0.40 mm or 0.016 inch according to my feeler gauge. The height of the e string on 12th fret is 3.25mm or 0.1279" and the saddle is screwed down to the bottom of the bridge. Today i where at a local music store and had a look at four new stringray special. All necks looked like mine. But it seems that the necks are higher in general. If i compare the truss rod wheel on the specials it is definitve higher out of the body as of my stingray. can it be that the neck pocket of my stingray is to deep? All other strings are correct based on the specs of the music man website and to my 11" radius feeler gauge. Or do i have a different problem with my neck or body?

 

[tbonesullivan]

The angle in the neck pocket is far more important. Also the stingray specials have a lighter body so they cannot be compared to your stingray. You've got to shim the neck.

 

[LowerBavarian]

Thank you again for your reply. This is very sad and not a good solution for such a expensive instrument. Therefore i have to blame ernieball for a not well good made instrument.

 

[Bert]

When i lower the saddle to the bottom of the bridge i get 5mm string height. This is way to high and i can't get it lower.

Just put a piece of cardbord as a shim. StingRays often came with a factory shim.
View attachment 36694

 

[Bert]

If i try to set the truss rod like described at the ernie ball faq(press 2nd fret and 12th fred, tap on the middle...) the string height is nearly 8mm on the e string.

How much mm is the gap between the string and fret in the 8th position, if you press 1st and 14th fret?

 

[LowerBavarian]

Hi Bert,

thanks for the replies. The gap on 8th fret is 0.15mm or 0.006". How thick should the cardboard be or the size of it?

 

[Bert]

Hi Bert,

thanks for the replies. The gap on 8th fret is 0.15mm or 0.006". How thick should the cardboard be or the size of it?

Wow, thats is a nice action. Probably a bit too straight.

I often start with a folded piece of paper. Fold it 5 times and check, remove it and take another piece of paper fold it 4 times and check, until you find the right angle.

 

[LowerBavarian]

Hi Bert! Thank you again for your infos! Do you really think the action is to low when fretting 1st and 14th frets? May I ask you how big should the piece of paper be? Just a small stripe like the one on your picture or should it have the size of the whole neck pocket? Sorry for that but I never shimed any of my basses. There was never a reason for it. Have a nice one!

 

[tbonesullivan]

Thank you again for your reply. This is very sad and not a good solution for such a expensive instrument. Therefore i have to blame ernieball for a not well good made instrument.

I don't think that's a very fair assessment. Bass guitars are made of wood, and the two main pieces are held together with the pressure from bolts through the two pieces. Until you tighten them, you don't know how they are going to behave.

Shims have been used to fine tune the action and neck angle of bolt neck guitars probably as long as there have been bolt neck guitars. I still remember the infamous thread on The Gear Page about the $5000 custom shop strat that had a baseball card for a shim. This is also why Fender developed the micro-tilt neck years ago, which they STILL use on their American Professional series.

I have two EBMM basses, and two guitars. At least half of those have a shim. I haven't had the neck off my Stingray 5S or Steve Morse, so I don't know if they have a shim, but it wouldn't surprise me. They are a standard item used to properly setup a guitar.

 

[Bert]

Just a small stripe.

Yes. Like the one in the picture. Around: 40mm x 8mm.

 

[LowerBavarian]

Hi tbonesullivan! I know that Shims have to be used to fine tune neck guitars. I didn't mean that Ernie Ball / Music Man instruments are bad in general. I just think that it was not a good fine tuning on my Stingray. Simple as that. For me Stingray/Sterling basses are the best basses world wide. The have a good quality in general but sadly not mine. That can happen. My comment was about the quality management bevor the instruments leave the factory. Even when the bass was over a year in a shop laying around that setting couldn't be such bad due to temperature or moisture conditions at all. It was just a bad fine tuning. But thank you for your reply again! I really appreciate that!

 

[LowerBavarian]

Thank you! I will give it a try and post my results as soon as i have the time to shim my bass!

 

[five7]

I have been using blue painters tape for shims instead of cards. I can add the the right amount in small increments. Plus it sticks to the wood so I don't fumble with it.

 

[danny-79]

I have been using blue painters tape for shims instead of cards. I can add the the right amount in small increments. Plus it sticks to the wood so I don't fumble with it.

Never thought of that. Brilliant idea ! Nice one

 

[LowerBavarian]

Hi all! Just a quick status quo...
I bought a maple feneer and made a shim about 0.8mm thick. After I took the neck of i saw that in my Stingray is no shim at factory default. Also my screw holes are completely on different locations as on Berts picture. I recognized that my neck after i took it of the body seems twisted to the right site. Is this normal?
I putted my shim directly on the bridge edge of the neck pocket. Sad but true it's not enough. Even with this shim I get a string action about 2.75mm on 12th fret. But my saddle on e is still laying on the bridge. So next up I will make a new shim maybe as twice as high. I'll come back for more infos when time permits! Have a nice one!

 

[Bert]

I saw that bass giving you some problems since years:
http://forums.ernieball.com/ernie-ball-music-man-basses/57938-musicman-stringray-setup.html
First thing I recommend is to bring the saddles back to standard like that:
View attachment 36728
(The intonation would be the last thing on my list).
Put some new strings on (probably yours have too much tension).
The neck from your photos you posted in 2014 afais looks okay - no twist to the right.
The picture I posted was from a StingRay5 with a bit different neckpocket.
You have done everything right.