Truss Rod Adjustment Procedure: Attaining Lower Action

[Bram Schoonderbeek]

Adjusting only the bridge has only effect on the area from about 12th/15th fret to 24 whole of the higher registers. The trussrod does his
work from 1st to 12th fret.. So I play with that until it only buzzes when I play really hard and only in the bass-side (1st to 8th fret) of the instrument not the solo side, I dont believe in any ideal measurements at the 8th or 9th fret like a credit card (Ive seen this been put on forums very often) or any kind of stated margin, strings and personal preference make what works best for anyone personally I guess, so play with it until its exectly fits your taste. Anyway anyone trying to do this themselves make really tiny adjustments and when truning a truss to one side give it a little nodge in the other direction Ive learnt when not doing this just like Ken said the effect desired is then mostly is too much...I didn't know tention of the strings could be left on, I always loosen the the stings up, but nice to know ofcourse... Great Ken wants to share this information about this complicated matter.

Just my few cents...

Ah something I have questions about, and this is something I noticed, just wanted to check if that thing I encountered makes any sence to anyone of you guys... When your low B string sounds less in volume then the other strings giving the neck a little more "bow" resolves this diffenrence by a margin.
Also makes you sound a bit warmer.. anyone encountered the same phenomenon?..

Best regards and have a nice christmas ofcource!

[Tim Bishop]

Originally Posted by Bram Schoonderbeek

Ah something I have questions about, and this is something I noticed, just wanted to check if that thing I encountered makes any sence to anyone of you guys... When your low B string sounds less in volume then the other strings giving the neck a little more "bow" resolves this diffenrence by a margin.
Also makes you sound a bit warmer.. anyone encountered the same phenomenon?..

Best regards and have a nice christmas ofcource!

My as-brief-as-possible response:

If by "more bow" you mean more relief in the neck to correct your issue, I would disagree that this be an option to correct focus on any string at any time on any bass.

I would suggest:

First: Make sure you have a professional set-up done on your bass for your playing style. I agree with Ken that there are allot of folks out there that call themselves "qualified professionals" and will gladly take your money and may leave you no better off than before. So, if you can't do this yourself, find someone qualified who is. Ask around for recommendations from reliable sources, otherwise, send it back to Ken.

Second: Maybe you have a bad B-string. Yes, this is a possibility.

Third: On most of Ken's P/U's you have the ability to adjust each strings' individual pole pieces. This can help you dial-in focus for each individual string, up and down the neck. More times than not, provided I'm set-up with a fresh quality set of strings, this corrects any focus issue I've ever encountered.

Merry Christmas!

[Bram Schoonderbeek]

Originally Posted by Tim Bishop

My as-brief-as-possible response:

If by "more bow" you mean more relief in the neck to correct your issue, I would disagree that this be an option to correct focus on any string at any time on any bass.

I would suggest:

First: Make sure you have a professional set-up done on your bass for your playing style. I agree with Ken that there are allot of folks out there that call themselves "qualified professionals" and will gladly take your money and may leave you no better off than before. So, if you can't do this yourself, find someone qualified who is. Ask around for recommendations from reliable sources, otherwise, send it back to Ken.

Second: Maybe you have a bad B-string. Yes, this is a possibility.

Third: On most of Ken's P/U's you have the ability to adjust each strings' individual pole pieces. This can help you dial-in focus for each individual string, up and down the neck. More times than not, provided I'm set-up with a fresh quality set of strings, this corrects any focus issue I've ever encountered.

Merry Christmas!

Well my Smith doesnt have this problem, as I had the opportunity to select that one out of a range of Smith basses, it was my other 5 string bass that I bought new, and strangly enough now that B is at the same volume as the other strings, first this was not the case... The softer less present B ive encountered on many other new beautique basses... including new Smith basses I tried sorry to say, its not lacking definition, like you would have with a bad string, just its softer in volume.

But then again maybe it has more to do with playing on an instrument a sertain time and everything smoothes out a bit, one thing is for sertain that 5 string bass of mine thats now half a year old does sound better and better as time goes by the B now is really good and fat too, also it looked like the setup helped a bit, but just wanted to know if anyone else had encountered the same thats all.


Thanks for your reply Tim,

[John McGuire]

Ken, Bram, and Tim:

Thank you much for the advice. Especially since it was Christmas and you made the time!

Well, I gave it a go with the truss rod adjustments per Kens advice. The bass is now perfect to my liking! Approximately 1/16" relief when holding the B and E's down on the 1st and 15th frets respectfully. The bridge adjustments took me some time since I'm not 100% experienced with the KS bass tweaks yet, however after several hours taking my bass apart and tinkering it's now perfect and I have a good initial understanding of the various temperments. I really feel every bass player should learn to set-up their own basses. When I first starting playing I would take my bass in for a "professional set-up" and pay the $40 and many times take home a bass that played worst than before. I started working on all my own guitars and basses about 10 years ago and I can now set up to exactly what's in my head and fingers.

I have some technical questions for you guys:

1). I'm using the stainless steel Smith taper core strings (that's what I put on during this set-up), I'm kind of worried about premature fret wear?

Just curious, what alloy are the frets made out of? Are they hardened/heat treated? I'm assuming the strings are a 304 stainless? As a metallurgical engineer I'm always curious! I'm playing with the idea of looking into a better alloy development & heat treat for fret wire.

2). Also, another metal related question. Why is the bridge made from brass? Ken, when you were developing the bass design, did you experiment with other metal choices. I did some experimenting on an old rickenbacker bass with bridges made from zinc, aluminum, and brass, and each changed the tone significatly.

3). I'm going to experiment with the inside DIP switchs. Does anyone have any experience with the various combinations. Does it really change the tone that much?

J.P.

[Bram Schoonderbeek]

Originally Posted by John McGuire

Ken, Bram, and Tim:

Thank you much for the advice. Especially since it was Christmas and you made the time!

Nice to hear you got things changed for the better there man!
Cheers on that ofcourse
Happy playing!

Best regards

Bram