coffee_king Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Hey all I just purchased this Sabre bass the other day, but as you will see from the images it looks like strings dont sit on the fret board quiet correctly. As you will see the E string sits too close to the left/top of the fret board and the G string sits too far away from the right/bottom. Any ideas how to sort this? I'm sorry but I dont know what this is actually called? [attachment=127271:sabre-photo-1.JPG] [attachment=127272:sabre-photo-2.JPG] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 That looks to me like bridge or neck slightly misaligned. You could loosen the neck screws and see if there a little play in the neck socket. Then tighten it up again with slightly better alignment - it only takes a small amount of movement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lettsguitars Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 (edited) As above. Loosen screws and give it a healthy nudge. This could damage the finish around the neck pocket though. Unfortunately, as I can see that the strings are also not lined up with the pickup pole pieces either, this is simply ANOTHER case of a missaligned bridge. A common problem with mass produced instruments. You could have a decent luthier re-position the bridge for you. Or just ignore it. You certainly wouldn't be the only player with this issue. Some I've seen are incredibly worse and still make it into 'look at my wonderful bass' threads and the badly lined strings dont even get mentioned. Next time you are in a guitar shop that stocks fender, gibson, Rickenbacker, musicman etc, just take a minute to look at the necks of all the instruments hanging up. You will no doubt find that more than half of them have identical issues. Not trying to be negative anout these basses at all, it is sadly a simple fact when it comes to factory made guitars. Poor qc is prevalent no matter what anybody says. Edited February 11, 2013 by lettsguitars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffee_king Posted February 11, 2013 Author Share Posted February 11, 2013 Hi Thanks for the advise What do you mean by "Pickup pole pieces" please? By lowering/raising only one side of the string saddles I'm assuming I can "Move" the strings to the side more too? Also I'm subscribed to this (and many other) topic onBassChat but I NEVER receive email notifications of responses. Any ideas why? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lettsguitars Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 The magnets under the strings. They should be central to each string. There is no sideways adjust on that particular bridge. Raising or lowering the saddles is for string height adjustment only. I dont get email notification either which dont bother me. I'm sure there's a notification setting somewhere in your profile settings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 [quote name='shippo' timestamp='1360583747' post='1972572'] Also I'm subscribed to this (and many other) topic onBassChat but I NEVER receive email notifications of responses. Any ideas why? [/quote] Click on your name at the top right of the page. Go to My Settings. Then Notification Options on the left hand side. Set it how you want it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brensabre79 Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 (edited) I think its the bridge. It may even be just the wrong saddles (have they been replaced with Fender ones or something?). BUT I would get it looked at in the flesh by someone who knows what they are doing - i.e. a luthier. It can be rectified easily, but on a bass of this vintage it's best to make sure. I would be extra careful with loosening your neck on a 3 bolt personally. They are a weak design (mine's the same) hence Fender and MM moved back to 4 bolts soon afterwards. They can be prone to a bit of movement too, especially if you have the micro-tilt at full chat. Edited February 12, 2013 by brensabre79 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffee_king Posted February 13, 2013 Author Share Posted February 13, 2013 [quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1360627050' post='1973813'] Click on your name at the top right of the page. Go to My Settings. Then Notification Options on the left hand side. Set it how you want it. [/quote] Ah, nice one. I guess just saying you want to follow this topic isnt enough Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffee_king Posted February 13, 2013 Author Share Posted February 13, 2013 [quote name='lettsguitars' timestamp='1360575060' post='1972374'] As above. Loosen screws and give it a healthy nudge. This could damage the finish around the neck pocket though. Unfortunately, as I can see that the strings are also not lined up with the pickup pole pieces either, this is simply ANOTHER case of a missaligned bridge. A common problem with mass produced instruments. You could have a decent luthier re-position the bridge for you. Or just ignore it. You certainly wouldn't be the only player with this issue. Some I've seen are incredibly worse and still make it into 'look at my wonderful bass' threads and the badly lined strings dont even get mentioned. Next time you are in a guitar shop that stocks fender, gibson, Rickenbacker, musicman etc, just take a minute to look at the necks of all the instruments hanging up. You will no doubt find that more than half of them have identical issues. Not trying to be negative anout these basses at all, it is sadly a simple fact when it comes to factory made guitars. Poor qc is prevalent no matter what anybody says. [/quote] Nice idea, but not really possible as Ive just found out (Its not just screws holding it in place) [attachment=127556:sabre.jpg] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brensabre79 Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 Looking at this I think your best bet will be to shim the neck. The gap between the two middle mutes should line up with the pickguard screw immediately in front of it and looking at the latest picture it seems that is the case Put a thin sliver of wood veneer (or business card) where the top of the neck (the side facing you when you're playing) meets the upper horn of the body and see if it shifts it enough. Ideally this should be sanded down to a very thin wedge shape so it is thicker at one end (the end nearest the headstock)... I'll reiterate that I personally would not just loosen the screws and give it a crack. Take the neck screws almost completely out so it moves with ease, put the shim in the gap and put the screws back in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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