Musicman Stingray Set up

[funkstag]

Hey TalkBass users! I was around these forums not too long ago asking about a Stingray. I made up my mind and finally got the beast So I did the same as what I did when I got my first bass... which was get it 'professionally set up'.

Ever since it was returned and given to me I have noticed that there is a large amount of fret buzz on the lower strings. I also noticed that the way in which the bridge is set up in different to anything I've ever seen on a bass. This is the main reason I've come back here looking for help.

I find it interesting that the bass saddles are going from highest on the E string and getting lower to the G string (picture to help explain). I've seen all the bass guitars @ my local guitar shop and they are all set up in the opposite way, highest at the G string and lowest at the E string. My BIG question is 'does this effect the bass in ANY way?'

Also I saw that the bass saddles on the E and G string are also curving inwards (picture to help explain). I thought this might be because the neck of the bass is also curved the most for those strings but it doesn't hurt to ask: 'Does this also effect the bass in any way?

Thanks in advance

[testing1two]

Your first question may be a non-issue. The location of the saddles is set according to each string's intonation. The simplified explanation is that the open string is tuned and then compared to the fretted octave at the 12th fret. The saddle is moved forward or backward until both notes are in tune. So you can check if the saddle placement is correct by plugging in your tuner and comparing each strings open tuning to the 12th fret.

The curvature is another issue. Each saddle has 2 screws and those screws should always be the same height. You can still match each string's height to the radius of the fingerboard, but the saddles themselves should be level. In other words, the saddles should look like steps and not like a curve. It's not a serious problem but easy enough to fix.

[Chopper]

How do I set up my Music Man bass?

[funkstag]

I should mention that my intonation on my E string is really whack after about the 12th fret or so. I will put a sound recording of it up is possible. It sounds as though there is a built in delay effect or something :| thanks for your help ill straighten those saddles up asap

[Rockmusician]

I had similar issues with the 2 Stingrays I owned. It was difficult to get the correct intonation and also had dead spots at the 7th and 9th frets. I would try adjusting your string height and saddles.

[lethargytartare]

I have found that my sterling's neck needs to be readjusted more regularly than my other basses. And I had a MIM jazzer that would sound great at the shop, and need adjustment again a day after I got home with it. So for the buzzing, with my sterling I always recheck my relief. And it could be the case that the relief was set wrong, or was set too low for your style of playing -- if the tech is a pick player, and you're a fingerstyle player who digs in, that could be the disconnect. Also the E string looks like its saddle is lower than the others -- so I'd expect it to buzz more than the others anyway.

The stagger of the saddles looks very wrong. But all that matters is actual intonation. If it's right, it's right. But if you have doubts about the tech, you could speculate that maybe he was (a) inexperienced, (b) working from memory alone, (c) transposed the standard stagger, and (d) was only working by ear. It looks so wrong, though, that a decent tuner should be enough for you to check and see if it's even plausibly intonated correctly.

The height screws are wrong too -- as was already noted, the height screws should be set equally, and the saddle should be horizontally-parallel to the body. Set as they are, I could see playing the E and G strings causing the saddles to rock a bit, which should cause some rattling, bad intonation, tone, etc. And the way they're set looks like (a) an inexperienced tech who (b) has heard that the saddles should match the radius of the fretboard, but thought they should then be in a perfect arch.

So, in the end you are getting a lot of buzzing and poor intonation. That's enough to take it back and ask them to look it over again. You can also ask about (a) why the saddles are cockeyed, (b) why they're staggered the opposite of all the other stingrays you've seen.

Oh, and if you can post measurements, other stingray owners here could probably give you measurements to compare yours to for reference.

Good luck!

ltt

Originally Posted by funkstag

Hey TalkBass users! I was around these forums not too long ago asking about a Stingray. I made up my mind and finally got the beast So I did the same as what I did when I got my first bass... which was get it 'professionally set up'.

Ever since it was returned and given to me I have noticed that there is a large amount of fret buzz on the lower strings. I also noticed that the way in which the bridge is set up in different to anything I've ever seen on a bass. This is the main reason I've come back here looking for help.

I find it interesting that the bass saddles are going from highest on the E string and getting lower to the G string (picture to help explain). I've seen all the bass guitars @ my local guitar shop and they are all set up in the opposite way, highest at the G string and lowest at the E string. My BIG question is 'does this effect the bass in ANY way?'

Also I saw that the bass saddles on the E and G string are also curving inwards (picture to help explain). I thought this might be because the neck of the bass is also curved the most for those strings but it doesn't hurt to ask: 'Does this also effect the bass in any way?

Thanks in advance

[Skyblue977]

That does look bogus. I would politely ask for it to be sorted.