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#1
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Bridge Adjustment on New Bass
I just acquired a wonderful travel bass which will make life a lot easier for certain types of gigs. The only issue is, the bass came with a terrible bridge and the string heights are all out of whack. I don't have the cash quite yet to get a new bridge made so I will need to do a temporary job to fix the string heights.
My question is: Should the contour of the end of the fingerboard match the curvature of the top of the bridge? I just filed down the bridge grooves so that the string heights are: I - 5mm II- 7mm III- 9mm IV- 11mm This feels wonderful under my left hand but my bow is still hitting multiple strings at once while bowing. Ie. The D string hits the G and A, and the A string hits the D with the bow. How can I correct this? Thanks! |
#2
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correct?
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Your heights are 2mm graduated. Mine are 1-1.5mm from G to E. The Fingerboard curve and dressing makes a world of difference. A bridge is easy to correct, shim or even change. A fingerboard way more work and expense. Perhaps in the future you will look for these things when buying a bass. The bridge may be the least of your problem here. |
#3
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Thank you kindly for the information. |
#4
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Several Luthiers?
If I had a Dollar (US or CAN.. lol) for every Bass that a 'Luthier' sold, set-up or approved with a fingerboard-to-bridge ratio/set-up that was not up to my expectations, I would be opening another bank account to put the money in. The other account is getting kind fo full at the moment..
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#5
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#6
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but..
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Set-up is so personal that a Luthier no mater how good and no matter how much information I give him about what I like and want it still needs to be tweaked in the end. Luckily enough I can do some of this myself and explain the rest of it on the spot to get it corrected. I was not born with this. I learned it along the way. Do not turn a deaf ear on your needs and abilities to communicate them because the other guy is 'the Luthier'. Learn all you can about what you want and need and know what it looks like, feels like and measures like. Behind my back and in private you are welcome to discuss all of what I just said with Arnold and Jeff. They know me pretty well in this way. |
#7
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To give your bow clearance so that you can easily bow one string at a time the bridge needs to be quite highly arched. But if your fingerboard is too flat, then shaping the top of the bridge nice and high in the middle to help your bowing won't help, because your A and D strings will be way off the fingerboard and hard to play. So yes. What Pino (and Ken) said. Start with a FB shaping. |
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