Filing bridge saddles?

[86kubicki]

I have a bass that has high action, but the neck is flat and the bridge is bottomed out. I'm looking at deepening the slots on the bridge saddles to lower the action and was wondering if there's a recommended tool and/or method for the job. Thanks!

[johnallg]

I'm interested in the answer also. Steve, is the action at the first fret where you want it? If the nut slots are high, the overall action will be hard to dial in lower if that is what you prefer.

[jingle_jangle]

Neck is flat, action high. This means that there is a tweak at the neck/body intersection. An odd one.

Filing the saddles will lower your action 1/16" tops; probably less. Be sure to check the action at fret 1--it's critical and .015" can make a difference between good thump and buzz on one of more strings.

[antipodean]

Could this be a dreaded S-neck issue? The 4003S/8 I looked at last year had a flat neck between the 1st and 12th frets, but a bow between frets 12 and 19.... Could this be the problem Steve? If so, maybe the truss-rods need to be removed and "reshaped".

Altrenatively, if the bass is a pre '75 4001, then this could be the "neck joint" issue that Eden has mentioned a couple of times. I believe he had a remedy involving the insertion of a small maple block in the neck p'up rout.

[86kubicki]

My test for the shape of the neck has always been to fret at the first and last frets and check how much string clearance there is at the 5th fret. When I do this the neck appears to be almost perfectly flat. There may be a small bit of adjustment left, but I think I'm still going to file the bridge saddles. The nut is definitely a bit high, and I will be working on that as well. The action is not ridiculously high, but certainly high for my tastes - hopefully a bit or adjustment at the nut and bridge will improve the playability.

[86kubicki]

After my last post, I checked the bass again, and its really just the G string setup that needs to be worked on. I received the bass last week and the action seems to have settled in a bit, (perhaps reacting to temperature/humidity changes). The bridge is still bottomed out but I think I can get it quite playable by filing the nut and bridge on the G string a bit. I'd still be interested in knowing if there's a suggested file I should be using on the bridge saddle.

[ken_j]

You can also file the bottom of the bridge to gain a little more.

[jingle_jangle]

Use a fine triangular or "tri-corner" machine file.

[johnallg]

Steve, I suggest filing the nut how you want it before any "drastic" filing on the bridge/saddles. Get that set then work on the other end of things. Also to see if the neck/body interface has a bow (what Paul alluded to), use a longer straight edge to lay along the body and neck and see how the edge lays with the neck - does it show a bow or is the way the measuring stick lays against the neck (binding or bubinga) constant down the length of the neck? Is that clear?