Need tips on how to set up a low acton on my Roscoe.

[otto B]

I have a roscoe SKB5 34" and I would like to have the action really low but I can't before I get the buzz out of the strings. Any adviced?

[LilRay]

Send it to Keith and Gard



Have you read through the Setup sticky yet?

You my need your nut filed?

God Bless, Ray

[Darkstrike]

Dunno what to say, neck almost flat, and drop the saddles down, what string you using?

[dataBASS5]

Originally Posted by LilRay

Send it to Keith and Gard

Here is my observation, don't know how true it is...

But last time I saw Keith he was bustin' on himself saying how he takes the bass from Brian (low setup) and painstakingly raises the action to his "just right" (high airy setup) and then passes the bass to Gard who goes right back to lowering the saddles (low set up).

Keith was all like "I can't win" around the shop. Meanwhile Gard & Brian are all smiles in the background not saying a word. Kinda funny to witness.

Just goes to show that they don't have any fun while diligently whittling away on these instruments.

[Gard]

Originally Posted by dataBASS5

Here is my observation, don't know how true it is...

But last time I saw Keith he was bustin' on himself saying how he takes the bass from Brian (low setup) and painstakingly raises the action to his "just right" (high airy setup) and then passes the bass to Gard who goes right back to lowering the saddles (low set up).

Keith was all like "I can't win" around the shop. Meanwhile Gard & Brian are all smiles in the background not saying a word. Kinda funny to witness.

Just goes to show that they don't have any fun while diligently whittling away on these instruments.

BZZZT!!!

Thanks for playing.



Brian sets 'em up pretty low.

Keith sets 'em up like a guitar.

I set 'em up right.



(Translation: I OCCASIONALLY bump a string or two up a 1/4 turn on the allen screws in the saddles on one or two of the higher strings. Hey, Keith plays bass like a g*******t! )

[dataBASS5]

Originally Posted by Gard

I set 'em up right.

Oh, brother. Get a load of this bologna.

Careful not to break your arm patting yourself on the back!

[Gard]

Originally Posted by dataBASS5

Oh, brother. Get a load of this bologna.

Careful not to break your arm patting yourself on the back!

Hey, I AM the only actual BASSIST in the shop...

[Gard]

...and back to Otto:

Otto, there is a thread stickied that will give you some tips on setting up a bass.

Basically, I like the neck ALMOST flat, with just the slightest relief, then I just drop the strings until they buzz. Once I get buzz, I start slowly raising the string until it plays clearly along its entire length.

That's IT.

[lwrthnwhalepoop]

Otto,

As Gard suggested, see the "Roscoe set-up and intonation" thread.

For what it's worth, I play with a moderately heavy touch and with careful adjustment of the truss rods, all my Roscoes' bridge saddles are flat on the bridge or, at most, raised 1/2 or 3/4 of a turn.

Roscoe bridges (at least the ones on the basses from the last several years) are custom-built to Roscoe's specification so that each string is at (or very close to) the right height with the saddles flat on the base of the bridge in their respective tracks. You shouldn't need to jack the saddles up much, unless you have an unusual playing style to accommodate.

Remember to take the tension off the string before you adjust its bridge saddle height; if you don't, the adjustment screws tend to drill holes or make dents in the base of the bridge. My first Roscoe had a Wilkinson adjustable-spacing bridge that had been mistreated this way, and setting its string spacing with all those dents in the base of the bridge was a pain in the arse. I'm not sure if the current-model Roscoe (Hipshot) bridges are as susceptible to this, but there's no point risking it.

Good luck and keep us posted.

-Dave