How important is that little spring behind the saddle?

[Youngspanion]

I got up from playing my L2k today and I noticed a screw on the couch. It was the screw from the E string saddle. At first I couldn't find the spring but when I looked closer to the couch, I saw it. Well I did a set up on it the other day and I was having trouble setting the intonation on the E string. I must have loosend it up too much and the screw fell out.

But I also noticed something else. The spring was way smaller as far as length compared to the other three. I put it back in and with the saddle staying put, I can see how short it is. The spring moves back and forth and has absolutely no purpose. I'm gonna bring it into the dealer today being he was the last guy to have the bass on the operating table(besides me and I know I didn''t put it there). Maybe he has a replacement. Unless it came from the factory that way.

steve

[rllefebv]

The spring aids in adjusting the intonation, (pushes the saddle forward as you loosen the screw... I always help it a bit)... Other than that, it is negligible as the string tension does a decent job of keeping the saddle in place, (as you can see... even after you're adjusting screww came all the way out, the saddle stayed!)

A bigger concern would seem to be that your saddle is so far forward on the E string... Typically, the E string requires the longest length of all the strings to properly intonate, putting the saddle furthest towards the back of the bass.

If you've never seen it, Gary Willis has an excellent site with intonation information... I've been doing my own setups for dog's years and I still refer to this page all the time...

-robert

[Youngspanion]

Thanks for the link. I realize that the saddle was set way too forward. I took the bass into the dealer and he fixed it up. He showed me the spings on the other basses and they too had smaller springs at the E string.

steve

[stedtale]

yep, very important intonation adjuster. glad you got it fixed.