Intonation blues

cornishmusic · Post by **cornishmusic** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 12:10 pm

My top string is slightly sharp at the top end - and I've run out of adjustment on the saddles, it has to be said that there's not a hell of a lot of adjustment available compared to some bases. I know that intonation is always a compromise, and that no bass is ever totally true intonation wise, but it bugs me! - Any thoughts?

rickfan60 · Post by **rickfan60** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 1:01 pm

Is it a 70's 4001 by some chance? That was a common problem back then. Depending on how severe it is you can do one of a few things. First, make sure the saddle is in the right way. You will notice that the ridge on the top of the saddle is not centered. The E and A string saddles should installed so that they are shifted to the rear of the bass. It is probably like that already but I had to mention it just be complete. I have fixed this problem a few times by remounting the tailpiece farther back in the route. On basses from some years the route is a bit larger than it has to be. You can sometimes play the slop to your advantage. Not all years are like this but it is worth a look. If you can do this, fill the existing screw holes and drill new ones. Be careful not to jam up the mute by pressing it into the wood. Some RIC bridges have springs on the adjusting screws. I think RIC started doing that more recently but over the years guitar techs installed them to help the saddles move during adjustments. The problem is that springs limit the range of the saddle. If you have one, remove it. Sometimes the saddle and screw jam up before the limit is reached. Take the bridge assembly out and see if the saddle post has in fact bottomed out against the bridge body. If not, you can move the screw around while pressing the saddle to the rear of the bridge. If it has bottomed out, you can take a bit of the metal away from the rear face of the saddle post with a Dremel or similar tool. This will allow it to move farther back.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 2:05 pm

on my old 68 I had to reverse the D and G saddles and adjust them all the way back to get proper intonation ... sometimes on the s5 basses I have to get a little creative and modify the B saddle so it will trave an extra 1/16" to intonate accurately ...

cornishmusic · Post by **cornishmusic** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 8:53 pm

Thanks again Ted and Jeff for your advice - I'm going to try to remove the spring on the saddle - I reckon that should give me enough clearance.

What the hell would I do without this Forum?

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chefothefuture · Post by **chefothefuture** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 9:09 pm

I had one where I had to remove the saddle and mill off some of the tang so that it would go back far enough.

palmann · Post by **palmann** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 12:18 am

Hi,

I've the same problem with my 75'er 4000. Would be a new original Ric bridge solve the problem or would the Hip shot bridge be a more appropriate solution?

Don't know if I like the looks of the Hip Shot bridge yet. :-}

I don't want to mess up things by doing some milling or remounting the complete tailpiece.

Gruesse, Pablo

BTW, is "tang" a slang expression for "thing"?

charlyg · Post by **charlyg** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 3:36 am

I got those string bending, tuner winding, bridge adjusting intonation blues!

Do I have anything here guys? It COULD be a hit?

johnallg · Post by **johnallg** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 4:49 am

By tang John meant some of the bridge material. Part of the sloping material so the bridge was not as wide and the ridge could go back farther for proper intonation.

rickfan60 · Post by **rickfan60** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 5:17 am

The lower section of the saddle. The part with the screw hole. A little metal removed from the rear face of the post will allow more travel by the saddle.

palmann · Post by **palmann** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 6:15 am

Ok, I got it. Thanks, I'll check.

Gruesse, Pablo

aceonbass · Post by **aceonbass** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 8:11 am

Another thing you can do is file the opening square at the rear of the bridge where the saddle slides back. This will allow the square saddle "tang" to move back a little further. If you don't want to change the appearence of the bridge, you can file or Dremmel the rear of the "tang" so that the face of it matches the round opening on the bridge. Quite a bit of material can be removed to the point that the rear of the saddle actually overhangs the rear of the bridge. Another thing I do is file straight down about 3/32" into the saddle on the crest. This allows me a bit more adjustment because the deeper you notch the saddle for the string, the closer to the nut the contact point of the string moves, making the intonation go sharp. This mod keeps that from happening.One last thing, make sure your neck is adjusted dead flat. This helps to move the intonation points forward, allowing you more rearward adjustment.

charlyg · Post by **charlyg** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 8:13 am

Not even a chuckle, have you people no sense of humor, or is it me?

aceonbass · Post by **aceonbass** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 8:14 am

It's you Charly...LOL

chefothefuture · Post by **chefothefuture** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 8:55 am

Tang is a word other than a drink....

In woodwork it would be called a tenon.
It is the part of the saddle that inserts into the slot of the bridge.

ben_brown · Post by **ben_brown** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 9:43 am

It's also what the astronauts drank!

...and yes Charly, I did get a chuckle from your proposed blues single. It would be an intonational hit!