What a difference a micrometer makes!

[nicjimbass]

What a difference a mechanic's rule makes!

After finding out about it here a while back, I printed out the factory setting for basses with the intent of trying them out on my SR5 and Bongo 5. I usually use my trusty micrometer, but for some reason, I took it to my band's practice spot. I dug up an old metal ruler of my dad's, took some rust off w/ steel wool, and proceeded to change the pickup height and string height. After I was done, I looked,and the action was pretty doggone high, and the pickups were quite a bit further away from the strings than I thought they should be. Never the less, I've read people saying that if the pups are too close it disturbs the string's vibration, so I thought I was cool. I played the Bongo at a couple practices, and thought it sounded pretty good.

Thia afternoon, I remember I grabbed my micrometer, so I figured I would make a few adjustments, as the action seemed a bit too high. Come to find out, the ruler I thought was denoted as 32nds may very well have been 16ths of an inch. So, basically, the strings were twice as far from the fretboard as they should have been, and the pups we definitely too far away. I changed everything as suggested, and viola! My Bongo seems to have much more growl and is much more sensitive to dynamics. In fact, I think I've gotten used to really high action... my plucking technique is a bit strong-handed (fingered?). I find that when I play softer I get a better sound, so now with my lower action, I may be able to teach myself to do just that.

Moral of the story- micrometers are good... EBMM's are still better.

Edit- it's not a micrometer, it's a mechanic's rule, as seen below! Thanks adouglas!

 

[adouglas]

I have a simple, real cheap tool I swear by. It's called a Mechanic's Rule. Costs about five bucks at any decent hardware store. It comes in a couple of varieties, the most common of which in the US is graduated in 32nd and 64ths. It looks like this:

The T-shaped clip thing slides along the ruler. The flat end of the ruler is right at zero, so it's really easy to measure things like string height and pickup height.

Now that I know what the deal is with setups, I get the whole instrument set up properly once, including trussrod, bridge and pickups. From then on, since the pickup and bridge heights don't change, it's just trussrod adjustments in response to changes in the weather.

Getting a good basic setup is really important. I bought an AL a year or so ago and never got around to doing it...just tweaked the trussrod, and was never able to get it quite right. On inspection of the bridge, I found that the previous owner had mucked about with the saddle screws, so the saddles weren't level. You might think that something like that would not affect the setup, but it did.

I went back to square one, backing all the screws out so the saddles were resting on the bridge, and used my handy mechanic's rule to set it up per factory specs. VAST improvement.

 

[T-bone]

Great advice (again), Adouglas.

The right tools make all the difference. I might even have one of those lying around somewhere.

tbone

 

[hankSRay]

They're hard to find in thicknesses you can use for setups but I use a set of Feeler gauges to do my setups. slide it between the gap that you have to measure and adjust your string height etc. I had to custom order mine but they sure do come in handy.

 

[Big Poppa]

I use this tool called A Dudley! Fabulous set ups....(he is not really a tool..he is a genius)

 

[adouglas]

I use this tool called A Dudley! Fabulous set ups....(he is not really a tool..he is a genius)

Nothing like having skilled minions at your beck and call.

It's Good To Be The King.....

 

[nicjimbass]

Yeah, the one I have is very similar to yours adouglas, only minus the T bar at the end. That would make things even easier!

Anyone who hasn't done so should definitely set their bass to factory specs. After playing around some more tonight, it seems like I'm playing a completely new instrument!

 

[Steamthief]

I have a simple, real cheap tool I swear by. It's called a Mechanic's Rule. Costs about five bucks at any decent hardware store. It comes in a couple of varieties, the most common of which in the US is graduated in 32nd and 64ths. It looks like this:

The T-shaped clip thing slides along the ruler. The flat end of the ruler is right at zero, so it's really easy to measure things like string height and pickup height.

Now that I know what the deal is with setups, I get the whole instrument set up properly once, including trussrod, bridge and pickups. From then on, since the pickup and bridge heights don't change, it's just trussrod adjustments in response to changes in the weather.

Getting a good basic setup is really important. I bought an AL a year or so ago and never got around to doing it...just tweaked the trussrod, and was never able to get it quite right. On inspection of the bridge, I found that the previous owner had mucked about with the saddle screws, so the saddles weren't level. You might think that something like that would not affect the setup, but it did.

I went back to square one, backing all the screws out so the saddles were resting on the bridge, and used my handy mechanic's rule to set it up per factory specs. VAST improvement.

Hope this isn't a dumb question, but is there a factory spec on where bridge saddles are supposed to be for Stingrays, or is that a six-string thing??

 

[adouglas]

Yeah, the one I have is very similar to yours adouglas, only minus the T bar at the end. That would make things even easier!

Just to be clear for anyone who wants to go buy a tool, the thing in the picture I posted is called a mechanic's rule, not a micrometer.

This is a micrometer:

And this is a dial caliper (which is often wrongly called a micrometer):

 

[MrMusashi]

cant do nothing with the micrometer other than measuring string thickness.. good advice there adouglas

MrM

 

[nicjimbass]

Thanks adouglas, I incorrectly called it a micrometer for some unknown reason.

 

[freedok]

I usually grab the plastic feeler gages for this task. Or simply just eyeball each string relative to the next according to the fingerboard radius. Then if the action feels comfy and there's no buzz, I'm done.

 

[Evolver]

Yup, mechanic's rule and a feeler gauge... good tools/advice. A small difference in set-up does indeed result in large differences in playability and tone.

 

[whacker]

I use a 6" rule for string height (graduated in 64ths), and a standard "thin" guitar pick for a feeler gauge for relief (this being around .017" IIRC), which I measure at the 8th fret with a capo at the 1st and holding the string down at the last fret. Very consistent results.

Haven't been on the forum for quite a while. Could someone link me to where the factory specs are? Thankew!

 

[ScottyBoy]

http://www.ernieball.com/faq_content.php?subjectcode=mm_basses

I use a 6" rule for string height (graduated in 64ths), and a standard "thin" guitar pick for a feeler gauge for relief (this being around .017" IIRC), which I measure at the 8th fret with a capo at the 1st and holding the string down at the last fret. Very consistent results.

Haven't been on the forum for quite a while. Could someone link me to where the factory specs are? Thankew!