Bridge

[codeine]

Ok now here is the situation; my cort curbow is setup perfectly (My teacher set it-truss rod and all else)
but my action is high (his words as well as mine) and my saddles are as low as they can go. he suggested that i get a few millimetres (1-3)(sorry about teh metric) machined off the bottome of teh bridge.

I would like some more opinions on this so go for yourl ives.

[AllodoX]

is it bolt-on ?

yes ? good so remove your strings, and unscrew the neck. next, put some thin iron rings on the place where the rear screw-holes are, and re-attach the neck.. the rear of the neck will have been raised by one mm, causing the neck to tilt forward a little. should fix your problem.

[Chopper]

I would not shim the neck. I would change the bridge, or have it machined. Th neck needs to have as much contact with the body as possible. There are lots of good aftermarket bridges to use also.
Just my opinion!

[codeine]

The bolt on suggestion is quite intruiging, as more of a bass to learn on for a cheap fix it wouldnt be so bad. With the new bridge dont most aftermarket bridges bolt onto the top of the body which would be a problem with the curbow bridge being sunk into the body?

Thanks for the replies

[pkr2]

Originally posted by Chopper
I would not shim the neck. I would change the bridge, or have it machined. Th neck needs to have as much contact with the body as possible. There are lots of good aftermarket bridges to use also.
Just my opinion!

I agree that having full wood to wood contact in the neck pocket is desirable.

Achieving the proper neck angle is more desirable, though.

If the instrument has the original bridge and the saddle adjustments run out of range, that's a sure sign that the neck angle is faulty.

Milling the bridge thinner may get the action down but it doesn't address the real problem.

If the neck angle is just a fraction of a degree off it can and probably will put enough strain on the neck joint to eventually cause the neck to develop a "ski ramp" bend at the neck joint.

The string tension should always be as nearly parralel (sp?) with the top surface of the body as possible.

If full contact is really that important, the Fender Micro Tilt adjustment method wouldn't work as well as it does.

I have shimmed a lot of necks and have never heard one iota of difference in sustain or tone with shims or without.

Pkr2

[bgavin]

I removed the Gotoh 201 from my MIM P for this same reason.

One solution would be using smaller diameter saddles. The ones from the stock MIM bridge are smaller than the Gotoh sadlles, but they use a larger diameter adjusting screw. I would have to bore out the Gotoh bridge casting to accept the larger screw.

Another solution is having a precision rout cut into the body to accept the bridge and lower it into the body by a MM or two. You would need a precision jig setup and an experienced wood worker to avoid butchering your bass.

Another solution is have a machinist turn down the grooves in your saddles and reduce the diameter. This will weaken the saddles.

[codeine]

in my inexperience i had never really even thought about the angle of teh neck. Thanks heaps for teh input, i will bounce the idea off my teacher see what he thinks about these other options.

[Hambone]

There are some other issues with this particular bass that might have a bearing on the discussion. I owned one of these Corts and am familiar enough with it's construction to see some problems that might arise.

First, the bridge on the Cort Curbow is not mounted with it's base parallel to the fretboard. It is mounted with the rear of the bridge angled down. Sort of unusual but it seems to work nicely with the design. The Cort Curbow is a very small body with a "carved" top surface. Having the bridge angled down might be necessary to accomodate the large bridge on such a small body. Additionally, because of the "carved" contours, the bridge actually sits in it's own little pocket - similiar to having one inletted into the body. You will be hard pressed to find one that will match the footprint dimensions of the original Cort bridge and that would make for a poor fit with the existing contours.
Another problem is that these basses aren't wood, they're made of Luthite. Replacing the bridge in any fashion could cause problems when drilling or tapping for the new screws. I haven't worked much on Luthite but I can imagine the worst.

Having said all that, how's this for a solution:
Assuming you've got the right neck angle in place, you could remove the saddles and machine off the bottoms the make for more adjustment. These saddles are HUGE - very thick and bulky. There would be plenty of material to work with to get the adjustment right. You could do this fairly easily with a belt sander held rigid with the belt up. By holding the saddle with pliers and pressing them against the belt, you could remove material in pretty quick fashion. Be careful to make them all the same though or you might have to take them off again to get them right.

Hope this helps...