Fingerboard problems (primarily)

[moody]

Hi. Very long rant - I appologise in advance.

I'm an electric bass player and I recently bought a very cheap ($250aus - maybe $180us) plywood bass basically on a whim. It was virtually unplayable (high action), is not as dark as the majority of basses I see and it doesn't have an ebony fingerboard.

The story that I got when I bought it was that the person who owned it (the sellers father) used to pluck away in a corner while her mother played piano, he got the bass tuned by the piano tuner whenever the piano got tuned

The bridge was bent horribly towards the fingerboard, the bridge was also way to close to the fingerboard. The action was incredibly high and the bridge seems to be shorter than what it should be. This makes me think that the neck is set at two low an angle.

I have since moved the bridge back around an inch, and turned it backwards just to see what the action should approximately look like (being careful not to drop the soundpost). This moved the scale length about 2 inches and lowered the bass two strings (while raising the treble two strings) the low two strings are reasonably playable until about the 7th fret position and then start buzzing against the end of the fingerboard. I think that this is mostly the shaping of the fingerboard.

I am thinking one of two things: a new fingerboard or a shim between the neck and the current fingerboard. A shim would have the advantage of adding enough height both at the bridge and at the nut (which is also way to high). I would also like to get info on where I can get either fingerboards or wood in australia?

I know the whole luthier rant, but I do want to see what I can do without one. Whatever I do I will take very slowly and carefully I won't do anything permanent and if it gets beyond my abilities I will take it to a luthier.

I have attatched to overview photos (excuse the poor light) I can get more of specific photos as necessary.

Thanks in advance!!!

[mje]

First of all, the bridge should be located in line with the notches in the f-holes. Moving it away from that position could result in damage.

Second: Check and make sure that the sound post is still in the bass. A missing sound post could result in a collapsed top.

As for the bridge height: A new bridge is cheaper than a new fingerboard. if you're a good woodworker, you could install height adjusters in the bridge.

[moody]

Originally Posted by mje

First of all, the bridge should be located in line with the notches in the f-holes. Moving it away from that position could result in damage.

Second: Check and make sure that the sound post is still in the bass. A missing sound post could result in a collapsed top.

As for the bridge height: A new bridge is cheaper than a new fingerboard. if you're a good woodworker, you could install height adjusters in the bridge.

First. The bridge is 'now' located in line with the notches. I moved it towards that point not away from it.

Second. Soundpost is in the bass, I've been very careful of that (even when I took the bridge off I had tension on the top of the bass).

Third. I know I need a new bridge, I'm trying to figure out if that would be enough - at this point I'm think it will not. I intend to get an adjustable bridge when I get a bridge.

[moody]

For that matter, what's the most approved way of keeping tension on the body to keep the soundpost in. I rough cut a piece of wood to the same height as the bridge and put it under two of the strings while I took the bridge off - was that a bad idea?

[mje]

Originally Posted by moody

For that matter, what's the most approved way of keeping tension on the body to keep the soundpost in. I rough cut a piece of wood to the same height as the bridge and put it under two of the strings while I took the bridge off - was that a bad idea?

Seems like a good idea. My method- which I learned here- is to lay the bass down (supporting the neck) and lay a bag of lead shot on the table, about where the bridge goes.

[moody]

Originally Posted by mje

Seems like a good idea. My method- which I learned here- is to lay the bass down (supporting the neck) and lay a bag of lead shot on the table, about where the bridge goes.

Seems like a plan, but how would I know how much weight was needed?

[mje]

Originally Posted by moody

Seems like a plan, but how would I know how much weight was needed?

A 25lb bag I had on hand worked fine. That's the standard size sold for shotshell reloading.

But that got me thinking about the pressure the bridge exerts in a bass tuned up to concert pitch. I imagine it varies a bit, but some back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest it's in the neighborhood of 50 lbs. Maybe one of our luthiers has measured it.

[fingerstyle]

Where do you live? I would suggest taking it into a luthier, who knows what he is doing and knows what will get the bset out of the instrument.

For Sydney, try the Bass Shop -
http://www.thebassshop.com/
For Adelaide try Bass Works -http://www.bassworks.com.au
For Melbourne try Ben Puglisi -
http://www.benedictgpuglisi.com

[Jake deVilliers]

As far as tension/loading goes, there are four strings at 60-70lbs tension each, which makes the pressure way more than 50 lbs! :-)

Jake