Old Smoothie Bridge Saddle Size v. Stingray Classic

[DeaconJohn]

Hello All,

So, are the string saddle barrels smaller on the Old Smoothie than those on the Stingray Classic? And if so, will they fit on the Stingray Classic? I haven't been able to get the string height on the Classic Stingray on the E string low enough for my taste.

Thoughts?

TY!

 

[Daniel]

Hello All,

So, are the string saddle barrels smaller on the Old Smoothie than those on the Stingray Classic? And if so, will they fit on the Stingray Classic? I haven't been able to get the string height on the Classic Stingray on the E string low enough for my taste.

Thoughts?

TY!

Yes, they are a slightly smaller diameter on the Old Smoothie. However, if you cannot get your saddle heights low enough, you may consider a neck adjustment before buying new parts. It could be that your neck relief needs to be reset, or that your bass needs a shim in the neck pocket.

 

[DeaconJohn]

Thank you Daniel. The neck has very, very slight relief and I don't like a neck shim, as it throws the pitch of the neck off. Consequently with a shim, the middle of neck has more bow and the action in the middle of the neck is higher, and you really can't adjust that out, a trade off I suppose.

Good to know about the smaller diameter though.

 

[tbonesullivan]

The entire purpose of a shim is to adjust the neck angle. It will not interfere with the ability to get a proper setup and relief. EBMM even has pre-made color coded shims they use. They are a standard setup tool used with bolt-on necks, and have been in use for 50+ years.

 

[Rod Trussbroken]

The entire purpose of a shim is to adjust the neck angle. It will not interfere with the ability to get a proper setup and relief. EBMM even has pre-made color coded shims they use. They are a standard setup tool used with bolt-on necks, and have been in use for 50+ years.

I agree with tbonesullivan.

I've shimmed a few of my Sting Rays. All it does is lets you lower your string saddles further. It wont interfere with your ability to adjust the neck relief. The relief on all my Basses is about the thickness of a piece of paper.

 

[danny-79]

The relief on all my Basses is about the thickness of a piece of paper.

Agreed. Out of my seven bolt on necks, three of them I’ve shimmed. The thickness of the shim is nothing hardly (thick paper) but the difference it makes is incredible, just lets you reset everything (bridge heights, neck relief etc) so when it’s properly set up you so have plenty of room in any adjust direction.

The bass will have a lot more resonance with the saddles not being on max adjustment (wound all the way down) than any potential loss you might think you would loose by a shim. (Granted if you need a phone book sized shim that could cause problems )
And look on the bright side, at least it’s not a through neck, neck resets are messy and expensive