Help with my setup? Finding an expert to resolve an issue?

[MOE in Mpls]

I bought a MM Stingray Special 5 HH off of Reverb. It's a "new" bass but was a floor model. I bought the bass off of Reverb from a music store in Omaha. Transaction was done on March 4th, I registered the bass with EB on april 4th.

I played it for a couple of weeks and then realized the action was quite a bit higher than I was used to. Went to the EB website and followed the instructions to tighten the truss rod. It barely improved the issue and having shown the bass to a very experienced guitartist friend, he agreed the neck needs adjustment.

I sent the seller a message through the reverb site asking to refer me to a "Certified" EB technician in the twin cities area.

My questions:
- I assume getting this resolved should be under warrantee?
- Does the fact that it was a floor model change what I should expect?
- Anyone with experience with this sort of issue have suggestions for me?

I LOVE the bass. I made quite a bit of progress on learning the 5 string (been playing 4 string for 40 years). I have shows begining in late May and running all summer. I really want to get this fixed ASAP as I need to spend more time adjusting to the 5 string.

To be clear, I am NOT complaining about the music store in omaha, reverb or EB basses. I just want to get the issue resolved as quickly as possible... so decided to come here and ask for advice!

Thanks
MOE

 

[loocnmad]

Adjusting the truss rod is only going to affect the relief. If you're concerned about the action you'll need to adjust the saddle height. I have a Stingray Special 4H and what I did was to give each screw on the saddles a quarter turn until I found the right action for me. I also had to lower the pickup ever so slightly but that was just my personal preference. It's going to be different for everyone and sometimes it comes down to a balance between string height and your tolerance for a little bit of fret buzz.

Good luck with the setup and congrats on the new acquisition. There's an unofficial rule around here, it doesn't exist without pics. Let's see that bad boy.

 

[DrKev]

Adjusting the truss rod is only going to affect the relief. If you're concerned about the action you'll need to adjust the saddle height.

No, I need to correct this. Neck relief affects string height. Truss rod adjustment is often the correct way to deal with unwanted changes in string height. That's official advice from Music Man, and with good reason.

Let's imagine we have a guitar or bass that we have carefully dialed in to our liking. The saddles are under considerable string tension which means the height adjustment screws are not gonna shift without us doing it. The string height is not gonna change without us wanting it to. But a weeks or months later we notice the string action is not where we set it. What happened? The saddle height cannot change on it's own and we did not change it. It was something else.

With changes in seasons come changes in humidity (especially in the US). As a result the neck wood changes shape a little. That means neck relief can change. As the neck relief changes the string action changes too. The appropriate method to restore the bass to the setup we dialed in before is to return the neck relief to where it was initially. That will bring the string height back to where it we set it initially. in other words...

If we didn't make any changes to saddles, the correct way to return the string height to where we set it before is to adjust the truss rod.

I sent the seller a message through the reverb site asking to refer me to a "Certified" EB technician in the twin cities area.

My questions:
- I assume getting this resolved should be under warrantee?
- Does the fact that it was a floor model change what I should expect?
- Anyone with experience with this sort of issue have suggestions for me?

Hi MOE! Welcome to the forum family!

There is no "certified EB technician".
I suspect this should be under warranty *if* there is a fault in manufacturing or materials. i.e. if the neck is significantly twisted or cannot achieve 'normal' neck relief through truss rod adjustments. But at this point in time I don't know that is the case. You need to contact the seller or Music Man customer service for advice and instructions.

In the absence of an actual warranty issue, you can fix this yourself if you feel like learning. It may just need more truss rod adjustment. Feel free to send me a private message if you need assistance. If not, reach out to pro bassists in your area and ask them who they trust to work on their instruments.

K

 

[nebadon]

Setup in general is not warranty unless something on Bass is causing it to not hold a proper setup

If you were to send it to EBMM they would setup to Factory Specs which I believe to be Action Height 7/64 B string, 6/64 E and 5/64 G

You can take it to Knowledgeable Tech if you want Action lower

Yes tightening truss rod to lower relief should bring Action down slightly

You didn't mention if you had tools and measurement products to do your own setups: if not take it to tech in your area

Weather environment changes and shipping can cause poor Action setup also sometimes it takes up to 30 days for neck to settle properly in new environment

It is best to find someone local: you can send it to EB or Store you bought it from for free setup but when it gets back to you going through travel and different weather may still end up off
Any of those options they will be able to tell if Bass is defective or just needed proper setup attention

No, I need to correct this. Neck relief affects string height. Truss rod adjustment is often the correct way to deal with unwanted changes in string height. That's official advice from Music Man, and with good reason.

Let's imagine we have a guitar or bass that we have carefully dialed in to our liking. The saddles are under considerable string tension which means the height adjustment screws are not gonna shift without us doing it. The string height is not gonna change without us wanting it to. But a weeks or months later we notice the string action is not where we set it. What happened? The saddle height cannot change on it's own and we did not change it. It was something else.

With changes in seasons come changes in humidity (especially in the US). As a result the neck wood changes shape a little. That means neck relief can change. As the neck relief changes the string action changes too. The appropriate method to restore the bass to the setup we dialed in before is to return the neck relief to where it was initially. That will bring the string height back to where it we set it initially. in other words...

If we didn't make any changes to saddles, the correct way to return the string height to where we set it before is to adjust the truss rod.


Hi MOE! Welcome to the forum family!

There is no "certified EB technician".
I suspect this should be under warranty *if* there is a fault in manufacturing or materials. i.e. if the neck is significantly twisted or cannot achieve 'normal' neck relief through truss rod adjustments. But at this point in time I don't know that is the case. You need to contact the seller or Music Man customer service for advice and instructions.

In the absence of an actual warranty issue, you can fix this yourself if you feel like learning. It may just need more truss rod adjustment. Feel free to send me a private message if you need assistance. If not, reach out to pro bassists in your area and ask them who they trust to work on their instruments.

K

I was going to PS my post to explain why EB recommended to adjust relief for action height but you did excellent in your explanation: EB should include your post in FAQ setup section many players get confused only knowing how to proceed doing initial setup not how to maintain that setup