great basses poor set ups

[bongo man]

In 20 years of playing these great basses--first the stingray 5 and of late the Bongo--I have not experienced what 'Funky' is talking about. I am lucky to tour the U.S. and get over to Europe a least a couple times a year and i am always looking in every store that i can get to. I am curious to see what is shown and how it's displayed etc..
I ALWAYS find the MM's set up to be excellent.
Jack, as usual, is right on the money. Wood changes to its environment.-etc..
A perfect relief is just a slight adjustment away. These basses are easy to keep in perfect adjustment.
Listen to Jack--..."information we need to do our own work is easily available, and believe me, if I can do it, anyone can."
thanks Jack---- you , wise in the ways of the world;-))

Learn to tweak
cheers
cliff

 

[Big Poppa]

Cliffies Back!!!!!!

 

[Oblong Desoto]

Here's a related story.

I stopped by the local GC to check out a Sterling HS last weekend. When I took it off the wall, the first thing I noticed were the frets visibly sticking out from both sides of the fretboard (maple). There was also a major amount of relief in the neck, and it was more than a whole step low out of tune.

The friendly sales guy stopped by and lamented about the store's furnace blasting nonstop trying to keep up with the cold Midwest winter, and how it was absolutely wreaking havoc on the instruments.

I don't know if that Sterling was manufactured during a particularly humid period in San Luis Obispo, but it was among the most affected basses I looked at. The only "normal" bass I saw was a trade-in which hadn't been cooked as long.

Moral of the story... buy a bass that is as "factory fresh" as possible, before the life is literally sucked out of it by the store's HVAC system. I'm still astounded that a shop with a quarter of a million dollars worth of wood hanging on the walls wouldn't be more careful about their air quality.

-OD

p.s. Nice forums! I've enjoyed lurking here for awhile.

 

[guitarball]

If you are in the Toronto area, I would be happy to meet at my shop and discuss neck adjustment, saddle height and length, p/u height and string gauge.
You'll have no problems after that.
Also ...our climate calls for tightening things up, once the wood shrinks a bit : neck bolts, machine head screws. bridge plate etc....all make for a tighter, better resonating instrument.

Factory techs are "GREAT" and when that bass or guitar gets in a box and in a truck and gets shipped to a different postal code, many things can happen along the way. Some stores don't do go over the instrument before you get it. I offer my services free of charge...
Regards
Brent Moss
The Guitar Shop

 

[guitarball]

Frets dont shrink, the neck width does however,leaving "protruding fret ends" a quick file job in a real tech's hand, solves this forever...not EB's fault..
regards
Brent Moss
The Guitar Shop

 

[bassmancb]

When my 30th ray arrived in Dec. of last year I let it set for a couple of hours(the longest two hours I've ever waited) Took it out of the box and it played perfect. Still playing it on the original setup.

 

[nashman]

If you are in the Toronto area, I would be happy to meet at my shop and discuss neck adjustment, saddle height and length, p/u height and string gauge.
You'll have no problems after that.

I offer my services free of charge...
Regards
Brent Moss
The Guitar Shop

Hey Brent. I live in the GTA. I checked-out your Web site. I'm going to have to drop into one of your shops one day. Re: Your quote above ... that is a nice offer!

My Stingray was perfect, right from the factory ... the only set-up was tuning the strings a bit!

 

[guitarball]

cool dude. great bas ya got there

 

[guitarball]

Hey Brent. I live in the GTA. I checked-out your Web site. I'm going to have to drop into one of your shops one day. Re: Your quote above ... that is a nice offer!

My Stingray was perfect, right from the factory ... the only set-up was tuning the strings a bit!

Intonation being out may be the issue with you having trouble tuning..its an easy fix if so..

 

[Big Poppa]

WElcome Guitarball

Lets make sure we read the threads before diagnosing intonation....H said his instrument just need ed a little tuning.

 

[cat_empire]

Typical Aussie boasting about size....

True though. Flew to Melbourne a few years ago and the size of Auz is mind boggling........

I mean well large compared to us in East Anglia....

i just read a book recently called 'down under' by Bill Bryson and he was always talking about the size of Australia, and im pretty sure in one instance he was talking about a park ranger than was in charge of an area of national forest land roughly the size of Belgium, thats one man in charge of A LOT of forest land..

 

[guitarball]

WElcome Guitarball

Lets make sure we read the threads before diagnosing intonation....H said his instrument just need ed a little tuning.

Hi Sterling,> you know what my point was and I agree with you BTW - your guitars are pleasure to play and set up. Thanks for the welcome.

Its cold up here. If ever in Toronto and see snow call me (905-274-5555), I'll take you snowmobiling around the house. Hell, maybe even make a few Martini's ..
thanks again
Brent

 

[guitarball]

WElcome Guitarball

Lets make sure we read the threads before diagnosing intonation....H said his instrument just need ed a little tuning.

Sterling , what was the original pinkish burst color code/name of the older , perhaps first Albert Lee geetars ?
Got one traded in today, its just under 6 lbs. We have to hold it down so it doesn't float up and hit ceiling fans.
ha
thx
Brent

 

[grumpyoldman]

Sterling , what was the original pinkish burst color code/name of the older , perhaps first Albert Lee geetars ?
Got one traded in today, its just under 6 lbs. We have to hold it down so it doesn't float up and hit ceiling fans.
ha
thx
Brent

HOLD THE PHONE!

PM sent....

 

[Big Poppa]

Wow under 6 lbs...I would probably buy that one....That was very creatively called "pink Burst" There are some giuys who are going to kill you for that guitar. THose reall light ones sound unbelievable.

I just had dinner with Pat Quinn...for you torontoites....a very nice man

 

[RitchieDarling]

Just my 2 cents worth........

I've had five in hand, and not once have I had to have any adjustments.

In fact, they were done so well, that I have gotten rid of almost all my others!

I have three more on order, and I don't expect them to have any issues either.

Ritchie

 

[RitchieDarling]

The best answer here is to learn to do your own adjustments and that way you don't get charged for a fret polishing and a Fibulator tuning and a fretboard bikini wax when all you really had to do was turn the truss rod wheel.

It's sentences like this that make us all love you, Jack!

Ritchie

 

[armybass]

You have to put things into perspective folks. I work in a shop that has oh about 900 guitars in it. There is no way we can deal with the humidity changes here in VA and keep them all setup perfectly at all times. I doo however try to keep a very close eye on the EBMM basses and keep them well set up and will even change the strings on ones that get handled a lot. I have seen other EBMM basses in other shops that could use a setup but that falls onthe store, not EBMM. I have seen dozens of EBMM basses come into our shop and they are always....always set up dang near perfect. Wish I could say that for all the new gear we get in.

 

[Big Poppa]

Dang Near.....those are fighting words

Marine Poppa

 

[Oblong Desoto]

You have to put things into perspective folks. I work in a shop that has oh about 900 guitars in it. There is no way we can deal with the humidity changes here in VA and keep them all setup perfectly at all times. <snip>

I'm with you, Scott. Most people wouldn't expect every instrument to remain setup perfectly under those circumstances, and each customer's idea of a perfect setup differs slightly anyway. I was citing an extreme (and hopefully rare) example that really got my attention. Over the years, I've played many basses in other stores around here that deal with the exact same weather conditions, and I've never seen anything like that before.

Maybe the OP will find a shop that keeps a closer eye their EBMM basses like you do.

-OD