bridges on a 5 string; Anybody notice this?

[Wookieonbass]

I just bought a 2012 Fender American Standard p 5 string and decided to put some Chromes flats long scale strings on it. The low B was fortunately long enough to go through the body without the silk getting into the nut otherwise had I had to top load it the windings would have been on the saddle. The bridge seems to be set a bit too forward.

I can work around it as I can just order strings long enough to go through body but this seems like a pretty common problem with most of the 5 string basses I've owned and not just Fender. I have usually had problems with the B string where in setting the intonation I seem to run out of real estate and have either trimmed or removed springs or come close to or had the winding touching or riding on the bridge saddle.

It seems to me like a lot of manufactuers set the bridges for 4 string instruments and forget that the B string saddle sits back farther than the rest.

Is this just me and I'm doing something wrong with my setups or has anybody else noticed this?

[hdracer]

I top load all basses.
You should be using a tapered B on that P5

[Wookieonbass]

Originally Posted by hdracer

I top load all basses.
You should be using a tapered B on that P5

I've started using tapered strings on some of my fivers. I only know of tapered roundwound strings. Any tapered flatwounds out there?

[walterw]

if you take care to "seat" the strings (especially the stiff, fat ones) by pushing down on each side of the saddle and nut to eliminate the curving up of the string, you'll usually find that they intonate better, needing less compensation.

[Thornton Davis]

Originally Posted by Wookieonbass

I've started using tapered strings on some of my fivers. Any tapered flatwounds out there?

Fender's 90505M are flatwounds with a tapered B. I have a set on my 2012 American Standard Precision 5. They're the perfect match for this bass.

TD

[96tbird]

IMO this is an issue with string manufacturers, not the bass. It's difficult to wind strings with all the different brands of basses available with different heads etc. a longer bridge plate (badass) or string through will move the small part of a B or E closer to the nut; e tuner is closer to the nut in my Fender than my Gibson G-3, etc. I guess the only solution would be the string makers testing products on every bass made in the world; not possible. We have go experiment and find what works to our application. It's better now with TB we can get opinions and help by asking before we open our wallets. In summary, your bridge position is fine where it is. A bass takes more tweaking than a six string guitar. Bigger = more variables.

[Wookieonbass]

Originally Posted by Thornton Davis

Fender's 90505M are flatwounds with a tapered B. I have a set on my 2012 American Standard Precision 5. They're the perfect match for this bass.

TD

Thanks for the tip Thornton! I will have to check them out.

96T I don't believe it's just a string manufactuer problem exclusively unless they are putting too long a winding down at the ball end. I'm not talking about the string length as that is fine. I'm taking about intonating the bass as the saddle seems to not have that much room for adjustment. In most of the cases, for me anyway, the B string saddle can sit back as far as 3/8" from the G string saddle. Maybe there's some trick to setup I haven't caught on to but I've seen this with my Warwick and my Guild pilot also. I do like fairly low action and maybe that's a contributing factor but I'm not sure. Maybe the string gage is not balanced or that these are 34" scale. By the way I do push down on the string at the saddle to seat it as Walterw suggested (still a good tip). Taper wounds are less of a problem mainly because there is less winding at the ball end. It just seems like a bit of a design flaw in some of the 5 string basses I've encountered in my opinion. I could be wrong.

This is in no way a bashing of Fender basses if anybody is getting that impression. I've owned a number of 4 and 5 string Fenders over the years and find them to be great basses and this p5 is no exception.

[hdracer]

I use Sadowsky Black Label flats on my P5

[bassteban]

I had this issue w/my 96 Jazz 5; shimming the heel-ward end of the neck pocket increased the neck angle just enough to intonate the B.