Offset strings for crooked neck question

[DaveinMex]

The neck is crooked on my bass, so when I center the bridge with the f-holes the strings are noticeably farther to the g-string side of the neck than to the e-string side. A poor gluing job from a hurried luthier in the past I imagine. It plays and sounds nice but looks awful. If I center the bridge to the neck it looks good but then the tone gets significantly reduced. My idea is to properly center the bridge at its feet but shape the top and the string grooves so that they are in line with the neck. Do the strings and top wood shape also have to be perfectly centered with the f-holes for good tone or can I get away with just perfectly centering the bridge feet? I appreciate your input. I have a new bridge and am anxious to get to work on it!

DaveinMex

[forester]

do yourself and your bass some justice..get the neck squared..it is pivotable to playability,longevity,etc. have it set up at the same time...like you said poor work at some point,you need to correct..straight up!!

[toman]

Getting that fixed would probably be $$$; is there any reason not to cut a bridge to compensate, at least for the time being? Seems reasonable to me...

[Bob Branstetter]

Originally Posted by DaveinMex

The neck is crooked on my bass, so when I center the bridge with the f-holes the strings are noticeably farther to the g-string side of the neck than to the e-string side. A poor gluing job from a hurried luthier in the past I imagine. It plays and sounds nice but looks awful. If I center the bridge to the neck it looks good but then the tone gets significantly reduced. My idea is to properly center the bridge at its feet but shape the top and the string grooves so that they are in line with the neck. Do the strings and top wood shape also have to be perfectly centered with the f-holes for good tone or can I get away with just perfectly centering the bridge feet? I appreciate your input. I have a new bridge and am anxious to get to work on it!

DaveinMex

Unfortunately, you share a bass problem that occurs on (far too) many basses. The solution you suggest will not work for every bass, but it will work for most necks that are a "little" off. A bridge is relatively cheap compared to a neck reset, so it's certainly worth a try.


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[DaveinMex]

I appreciate your replies! I think I'll try the bridge fix tomorrow. If that doesn't work then I'll see if it's worth the realignment's cost.

Thanks!

DaveinMex

[robobass]

Originally Posted by Bob Branstetter

A bridge is relatively cheap compared to a neck reset,

Really? I have experienced quite the opposite. I think I paid over $400 for my last bridge, and $150 for my last reset. Of course, it makes a difference what needs to be done to get the neck straight. I just needed a regluing. Just curious, What are some typical prices for Bridges?

Robobass

[juuzek]

I was just quoted $300-400 for an 'A' quality bridge with adjusters, labor included.

Just picked up the bass from the shop and I too have a 'slightly' turned neck. His solution was to position the bridge correctly and let the strings be slightly off center on the fingerboard.

[Bob Branstetter]

Originally Posted by robobass

Really? I have experienced quite the opposite. I think I paid over $400 for my last bridge, and $150 for my last reset. Of course, it makes a difference what needs to be done to get the neck straight. I just needed a regluing. Just curious, What are some typical prices for Bridges?

Robobass

There is a huge difference between regluing a loose neck and a resetting one that is solidly glued in place. I can reglue a loose neck in an hour, but I've spent a day or more removing some necks that are tightly glued in. Also, I believe that DaveinMex was talking about installing the bridge himself. Bridge blanks are very cheap compare to a neck reset.

[MT Spaces]

Originally Posted by Bob Branstetter

.... Bridge blanks are very cheap compare to a neck reset.

When I bought my '64 Kay S-1 from a pawn shop for $700, it had a badly repaired and poorly set neck. The neck was off both in the side-to-side and front-to-back planes . My luthier told me the repair was very solid (even if it was ugly as sin) and it would cost more than it was worth to reset and repair the neck properly. She customized a bridge that cheated the strings over to one side and landed them correctly on the fingerboard (while keeping the bridge centered between the f-holes) and brought the string heights down by cutting wafers out of the legs and re-gluing the bridge legs back together. I thought it was pretty creative .... the action seems real nice. The old ratty Kay is easy to play and sounds just fine .