the neck on my bass seems to be out of alignment. I thought everything was fine until i strung the instrument up. It seems that the bridge isnt spaced properly, buts its a Gotoh 201, on 201 drilling. The strings are closer in towards the center of the neck on the bass side than on the treble side. The high G seems to be in the right position, its right over the pickup pole piece. If i move the other strings with my fingers so they sit over the top of their respective pole pieces, the strings line up properly on the neck. I hope this all makes sense. I'll try to post pics, but i was having issues with that earlier. Is it possible that i can shift the neck towards the treble side, or space the bridge out further towards the bass side of the instrument?
Misaligned bass neck - help me!
- Thread starter iamtak
- Start date
i think sometimes the strings just plain don't line up with pole pieces properly. i know this holds true for guitars, and i would assume on basses sometimes too. can't tell you 100% for sure, but i know it won't affect tone and volume too bad (thats somewhat debatable, but the pole pieces on my guitar don't line up all that well, but it isn't lacking in volume).
Super Turbo Deluxe Custom
Epic Member
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If the pickups are ignored, is the neck/bridge alignment correct? If so, it may be possible to file the saddles in different locations to satisfy the pole piece alignment. But, IMO, the differences are not as pronounced on a bass as a guitar.
Ignoring the pickup, the strings are still out of alignment. The strings are all shifted towards the treble side. The E string is much further from the edge of the fretboard than the G string is. The A string is closer to the fretboard marker dots (assumed to be central) than the D string is.
I'll try rebolting it, i'll keep my fingers crossed.
I'll try rebolting it, i'll keep my fingers crossed.
Its not uncommon for the neck pocket to need a VERY TINY bit of finessing, so the the angle of the neck in the pocket can be adjusted.
Some of this depends on the string gauge - as the spacing on guitars and even more so, basses is not even, on purpose, in order to account for the varying thickness of the strings.
As a result, you can have what appears to be a bit odd spacing - with certain gauge strings.
FWIW, on my Fender Jass Bass, I had to adjust the neck just a tiny bit, as it was crowding the high G at the end of the fretboard. Since a bass neck is longer, any angular mis-alignment is made to seem more severe. It literally only takes a VERY SMALL amount of finessing to make it right. You can sometimes just loosen the strings, loosen the neck screws and give a little bit of a tug (shove?) and then tighten it all down. Sometimes you need to see which way it needs to move..... Lets say to correct things , you need to move the top of the neck upward. You'd VERY LIGHTLY sand the top front of the pocket wall, and the bottom rear, so the neck could just barely move a little. We're talking "thousandths of an inch" sort of sanding, done with sandpaper wrapped over a rigid tool to keep things square and aligned vertically. This is not a place for finger tip sanding. THIS IS NOT A PLACE FOR FINGERTIP SANDING.
Some of this depends on the string gauge - as the spacing on guitars and even more so, basses is not even, on purpose, in order to account for the varying thickness of the strings.
As a result, you can have what appears to be a bit odd spacing - with certain gauge strings.
FWIW, on my Fender Jass Bass, I had to adjust the neck just a tiny bit, as it was crowding the high G at the end of the fretboard. Since a bass neck is longer, any angular mis-alignment is made to seem more severe. It literally only takes a VERY SMALL amount of finessing to make it right. You can sometimes just loosen the strings, loosen the neck screws and give a little bit of a tug (shove?) and then tighten it all down. Sometimes you need to see which way it needs to move..... Lets say to correct things , you need to move the top of the neck upward. You'd VERY LIGHTLY sand the top front of the pocket wall, and the bottom rear, so the neck could just barely move a little. We're talking "thousandths of an inch" sort of sanding, done with sandpaper wrapped over a rigid tool to keep things square and aligned vertically. This is not a place for finger tip sanding. THIS IS NOT A PLACE FOR FINGERTIP SANDING.
I'd like to thank all those who replied. I went ahead and 're set' the neck, this time applying some force in the direction i wanted to neck to move... string spacing looks darn near perfect.
I'd like to thank you for reigniting the love. This baby has a great, clear articulate sound when played acoustically. Cant wait to hear her all wired up. I'll be sure to post pics when complete... if i can ever figure out how to post pics on this forum
I'd like to thank you for reigniting the love. This baby has a great, clear articulate sound when played acoustically. Cant wait to hear her all wired up. I'll be sure to post pics when complete... if i can ever figure out how to post pics on this forum
Gosh, I always futz the neck from side-to-side in the pocket - I though that was just a normal Fenderish thing. I like more clearance on the high side, as I tend to pull those strings off but not push the bass strings, and most manufacturers try to center things instead. For this reason I don't actually want a tight pocket, except when I get to place the bridge myself (which I usually do).
If you get energetic, or pick it up a lot *violently*, it's worth it to shim the sides of the neck pocket so it'll stay where you put it. The best stuff I found is the little slips of plastic that come on medical patches, birth-control, nicotine etc. They're each about .0015" thick and you can just hold the neck sideways with the screws slightly loose, and stick some 1/4" wide strips of plastic in - however many it takes. When you release the neck it tightens up, you tighten the screws and trim the plastic with nail scissors then an Exacto knife. Or I do. Some people advocate putting a piece of window screen in the pocket to hold things steady.
If you get energetic, or pick it up a lot *violently*, it's worth it to shim the sides of the neck pocket so it'll stay where you put it. The best stuff I found is the little slips of plastic that come on medical patches, birth-control, nicotine etc. They're each about .0015" thick and you can just hold the neck sideways with the screws slightly loose, and stick some 1/4" wide strips of plastic in - however many it takes. When you release the neck it tightens up, you tighten the screws and trim the plastic with nail scissors then an Exacto knife. Or I do. Some people advocate putting a piece of window screen in the pocket to hold things steady.
