Fretless/Fretted 3006 set up questions

[Steve Clark]

Fretless Q

Sometimes I think my SKB3006 sounds a little 'thin' on the high C. It strung with BB whereas my fretted has Hi Beams and the C sounds 'thicker' for lack of a better term.

I'd like some suggestions for pick up height, wondering if that will improve the tone. Currently the bass set up is super low. What distance should the pups be from the strings?

Fretted Q

The bridge saddles are bottomed out and I feel the action could be lower still without buzzing. What suggestions would you have for shimming the neck to allow for some play in the bridge saddle height and a lower action still. What to use for shim material?

Thanks.

[sha975]

Originally Posted by Steve Clark

What suggestions would you have for shimming the neck to allow for some play in the bridge height and a lower action still. What to use for shim material?

Thanks.

I can answer your question about the action. I had a local tber (jome77 great guy!) shim the neck on my Roscoe because of the same problem. He simpy use 2 business cards to shim my neck and it gave me lots more adjustments on the saddles. Where he placed the cards, I haven't a clue but maybe he can chime in on this thread. I'm sure he'll probably be visiting soon. I recently got a dingwall prima and it to also had to be shimed for that same reason. Hope this helps!

[JOME77]

Originally Posted by Steve Clark

Fretless Q

Sometimes I think my SKB3006 sounds a little 'thin' on the high C. It strung with BB whereas my fretted has Hi Beams and the C sounds 'thicker' for lack of a better term.

I'd like some suggestions for pick up height, wondering if that will improve the tone. Currently the bass set up is super low. What distance should the pups be from the strings?

I typically set the pickup height approx. 1/8" from the top of the P/U to the bottom of the string (with the C/G & E/B fretted @ the 24th fret).
That may very well be your problem but it may also be due to other things such as neck/Finger board wood, body/top wood and/or preamp settings.....

Originally Posted by Steve Clark

Fretted Q

The bridge saddles are bottomed out and I feel the action could be lower still without buzzing. What suggestions would you have for shimming the neck to allow for some play in the bridge saddle height and a lower action still. What to use for shim material?

Thanks.

As Sha stated, I typically just use 1 or 2 pieces of a std. business card (approx. 1/4" wide and the width of the neck at the deepest point of the neck pocket).
In that area, a little thickness goes a long way so you may just need a single thickness.
I've not seen it on any Roscoe's but I have actually had to shim using a tappered piece of hardwood when shimming significant thicknesses (to assure proper transfer between the neck and body). IMO 2 thicknesses of a business card will not affect that though and is almost always sufficient.

[Steve Clark]

Thanks for the info. I think I will try the shims tonight.

The fretless is wonderful. I'll double check my pup height. Pic attached. Spanish cedar with redwood top.

[Steve Clark]

Shims done. I will let the bass settle overnight and see where it's at but I'd say I've achieved a lower set up. It's getting closer to where I want it to be for sure. Heck maybe I'll switch the necks around around some day. Thanks for the tips

[groov'ster]

FYI...I shimmed my fretted 3006 neck several days ago for a lower action. I used 2 business cards at first, made a big difference almost too much. I removed 1 card, action is just right.

[Gard]

...all good advice here, if there are more questions, just let me know and I'll get back to you ASAP.

[Uziel]

the difference between the std. hipshot (style A) and the Roscoe version is that the "plate" or bottom of the bridge is taller



maybe you can swap the bridge for a std. Hisphot style A so you'll have more room for lowering the action (i think this is better than shimming the neck...)

why is the roscoe bridge so "tall" Gard ?

[Gard]

The bridge plate on our version of the Hipshot bridge is radiused to follow our fingerboard radius. Keith likes to get the saddles as close to if not on the bridge plate, that's why the plate is made as it is.

[Steve Clark]

Gard,

The only follow up question I have is about the sound of the high C and even G. The low end sounds great. The high C played acoustically or plugged in has a sitar like twang or buzz after the the note is played. So what I'm trying to decide is if that's mwah or a buzz related to my set up. The notes high up on the C decay relatively quickly.

I'm looking for advice on general set up to let that high C really sing.

[Gard]

Originally Posted by Steve Clark

Gard,

The only follow up question I have is about the sound of the high C and even G. The low end sounds great. The high C played acoustically or plugged in has a sitar like twang or buzz after the the note is played. So what I'm trying to decide is if that's mwah or a buzz related to my set up. The notes high up on the C decay relatively quickly.

I'm looking for advice on general set up to let that high C really sing.

Steve, well, you're fighting with physics a bit. The C string is very thin, has very little mass, and is very long and stretched to high tension, so it doesn't want to vibrate very long. The only way I've found personally to get more sustain and less of the "twang" is to raise the C and G strings up slightly above where you "think" they should be. (I fight with this myself, I have 6's as well! )

It is magnified on the C string above the 12th fret as well, because now you have the string shortened by more than half it's length, cutting what little mass is available by more than half. Again, raising the action a bit is really the only solution I've found. This will apply to any bass in my experience, as it's not design or execution your working with, but physics itself.

For what it's worth, my C string is quite good all along its length right now, although it isn't super-low on the fingerboard. There's a tradeoff, but it was worth it for me.

[Steve Clark]

Thx. I'll play around a bit with the action on the C.

Cheers

[Snarf]

Try some heavier strings.

[youngs]

Originally Posted by Snarf

Try some heavier strings.

That will work , too I guess. but eventually the high C string has to be like that. I actually kinda like the C strings thin ,and bright sound though.

[justBrian]

Originally Posted by Gard

The bridge plate on our version of the Hipshot bridge is radiused to follow our fingerboard radius. Keith likes to get the saddles as close to if not on the bridge plate, that's why the plate is made as it is.

So, what is the radius for an SKB 3006?

[JOME77]

Originally Posted by justBrian

So, what is the radius for an SKB 3006?

16" radius....

[justBrian]

Thanks Joe!

[Gard]

Originally Posted by JOME77

16" radius....

To answer about 4's, 5's, and 7's...they're also a 16" radius.