Musicman Stringray Setup

[LowerBavarian]

Musicman Stingray Setup

Hi *,

I know this has been asked a few times..... but... please forgive me
Last Year (2013) in September i bought my first Stingray from my german dealer (Thomann)
I was so happy when it arrived....


But when i played it the first time i noticed a few things....

1. The string height was for me extremley high (4.5 mm)
2. The not existing Intonation (E was more F than E on the 12th fret)

I tried to adjust the bass as i always did in the past 25 years i Play bass

First i ajusted the Action like described in the FAQ (not more than a Business Card), then i lowered the saddles to get to the values (2.4 mm on the 12th fret) desribed in the faq. There I noticed that the left screw of the A saddle Event had no contact to the Bridge! Completely in the air) Also the saddles where not parallel to the top! Is this correct?
Then i tried to adjust the Intonation an now the bass is in tune but the Setup of the saddles seems strange for me (The E saddle) Is this correct?

The main Problem is that i cant get the bass to a Setup where it feels nice to Play or I'm used to be from my other basses....
If i adjust everything like it is printed in the faq i got string buzzes. But not like it is decribed by the MM FAQ. not between 1-5 fret, not between 5-12 fret or higher... it occours on different spots. So i had to raise the saddles which gives a (for me) to big Action to Play (about 3 mm)

So my questions are
1 Did anyone ever heared from such a bad factory Setuped Stringray?
2. What can i Do to adjust the bass, that is makes fun to Play which it should be according to other bassists....

Don't get me wrong! I love this bass, it's a beatuy and the Sound is=> WOW! but it's not playable as I'm used to. I tried many Stingrays over the years and all where better adjusted.....

Thanx and greetings from lower Bavaria

Tobi

 

[tbonesullivan]

most likely the only adjustment it needed was a truss rod adjustment. The neck probably shifted in transit. did you take it back to the dealer first to let them know?

Also, are both of the screws for the A saddle floating, or just one? The saddles are right next to each other, so they prevent each other from being at an angle, so it's easily possible to have one of the adjustment screws floating.

I would say take it to a tech.

 

[pete bass]

Hi LowerBavarian, It's unlikely the bass left the US factory in that condition ! Having been an online Thomann client for many years i have realised that sometimes they sell products as "B" stock which means that the object for sale has been returned as "unsuitable" by a previous owner and is then resold as "B" at a slightly lower price OR resold at full retail !!! the bass could have been tampered /altered by a previous owner which is a pitfall of buying online, To return this to the dealer means having to pay the full postage ! or drive to the warehouse in Burgerbrach which is in Bavaria or pay a tech to do the job in which case if you did you would not get your money back from Thomann​

 

[LowerBavarian]

Hi *,

thx tbonesullivan and pete_bass for your replies!!!
First off all I got it Setup up right now! This is the reason why it took a Little bit of time that i replied to your Posts....
As far as I know my bass was made in Januar 2013 and was delivered to German Thomann in the first quarter 2013. Since then the bass where there on stock. It's not a B stock. Nobdoy then me played the Instrument since he left the factory....
I found out that it's really important to make small adjustments on the rod and then let the bass "relax" for a day to let the Tension of the neck to adjust. Then measure and adjust it again. As I Play now 105' strings it seems that 2.4mm on the 12th fret are not possible to get. I'm now at 2.6mm and I'm fine with it. My neck is now pretty straight and the bass has only a Little of string buzzes. The Intonation is also good on the 12th frets. So I'm pretty happy right now!

One last question is still there: I heared a neck shouldn't be straight, so it should have a Little bow. If I did this on the ray the Action is not good. Do you think the straight neck which i setted up is a Problem?

Thx in advance

Tobi

 

[KevinM]

You get neck straightness and adjustment information from this link;
How do I set up my Music Man bass?

First check relief in the neck by holding the lowest string down on the 2nd fret with your fretting (left) hand. Then, hold the same string down on the 12th fret with your plucking thumb and tap on the string in the middle to see how straight the neck is. There should be no more than the thickness of a business card between the string and the frets. If there is no relief in the neck, a little pressure in the middle of the neck (after adjusting the trussrod wheel) should help.

hth