Can't set my saddles low enough!

[TDSLaBassiste]

Usually, I dig high action so this wasn't a major issue for me, but I'm tying to set my action lower with some light gauge strings (bass chords and such a la Pinback), but my saddles won't go very low. Could this be remedied with a neck shim? If possible, I'd rather not take that route, but if it works, it works.

[mlove]

sound like a neck shim according to fenders set up guide:

Fender® Support

I had a pair of lebella flats on my jazz i had this problem with but don't have it with other strings for some reason. the lebella's had a 110 E where the other were 105. might have something to do with it but i could never get them to feel right - sounded nice though.

[john grey]

+1
Flats vibrate with less of a depth to the peak of their "oval vibration height" and are more dense, so they generally can sit lower with more rigidity than round wounds.
Different string have different densities and some RW strings will naturally sit lower than others.
To deal with this issue, shimming would be a natural answer, but not all strings sit the same height for the same outward dimensions. A few custom string companies would know a great deal more and might provide a solution without alteration.
If your neck has little to no relief, it might pay to try adding a slight bit more, especially if you don't mind a slightly high action.

[darkstorm]

Neck shim would be simplest and lowest cost. Costlier method would be replace bridge with one with thinner bottom plate and possibly sacrifice sound qaulity. Third and also costly fix would be have a luther sink the existing bridge a bit into the body.

[walterw]

be sure the neck is straight enough and the nut slots are low enough before you go to a shim, which won't fix either of those two problems.

[TDSLaBassiste]

Shimmed it. Problem solved. Don't even ask how thick the shim was...

[Reuben]

Lots of this going around. . .

After putting it off for a year I shimmed the neck of my MIM P-Bass tonight using a single strip of one of my own business cards. Took all of 15 minutes and made my bass 150% more playable, with no noticeable sacrifice in tone. What took me so long?!

[Turnaround]

Originally Posted by darkstorm

Neck shim would be simplest and lowest cost. Costlier method would be replace bridge with one with thinner bottom plate and possibly sacrifice sound qaulity. Third and also costly fix would be have a luther sink the existing bridge a bit into the body.

A good luthier wouldn't sink the bridge into the body - unless there was absolutely no other option. If you want the ultimate solution, on a bolt-on neck, the bottom of the neck pocket could be routed ever so slightly to change the neck-to-body angle. But it's easier and more cost effective to add a shim. Sonically, a well executed shim will not have any measurable effect on tone or sustain.

[TDSLaBassiste]

I've never really used shimms much so I was a bit hesitant, but I got it. Three playing cards thick.... this doesn't seem like a good thing though...