Checking Neck Pitch

[PaulMacCnj]

I have a bass (Spector ReBop4, bolt-on neck) that is difficult to get setup correctly. I have adjusted the truss rod, set the bridge saddles for height / intonation, all the usual setup steps. However, the notes above the 9th fret don't sound right. Instead of clear and defined, they have a thinner, pingy sound. I'm wondering if the neck pitch is off and that is what's causing the issue. What is the proper way to check neck pitch and what should it be?

[darkstorm]

Look down the neck from body end. Does it look parrellel to top of body. angled upward a little or angled rearward a little? The latter is the correct type of neck pitch. If yours lacks this, then a thim shim at end of neck pocket will fix that.

[PaulMacCnj]

Thanks for the info. It appears that a shim at the neck heel is needed.

[Turnaround]

The angle of the neck is entirely dependent on the height of the bridge along with the desired string height. There should be enough height at the bridge to ensure a good break angle over the saddles when the string height is set to your liking. If you are not too sure about a good break angle you usually are in the right ballpark if the saddles are sitting up a bit from the bridge plate, not right on it. If you can't get a good string height without the saddles sitting too high or too low, changing the neck angle is a solution.

[PaulMacCnj]

As it turns out, the neck was angled back too much. I added a shim to lessen the angle and the resulting overall setup has never been so good. Along with re-adjusting the truss rod, the action is set quite low and there is no fret buzz. The bass plays so much better now.

Many thanks for the suggestions and info!

[Growly Lytes]

Good to hear that its so easy sometimes to get it right.
Thats when things are good.
Go & jam the hell out of that Gibbo now.