Boner bass....Are most people using 105's?

[Craig Williams]

Just wondering. I got 105's on my Precision plus. Truss adjustment I would say just about at it's end and I still have more relief than I would like. Only about 1mm when fretting the string at the nut and last fret so not the end of the world. The neck on this particular bass is very very thin and narrow, as thin as a Strat neck and to make matters worse its a longer neck. The relief isn't unacceptable, its just not great and it constantly gnaws at me that the truss is out of adjustment. Is it likely to get worse? The neck seems fairly unstable to me. I have been at it for 3 months doing bridge adjustments. Just seem to get the action and feel right and a couple of days later I will notice buzz, or the action seems to have gotten higher....and the guitar is in the same room in a fairly stable temperature.

I mean I could probably put 100s on it and ease the relief some. Are there many people playing 100's? Will I lose much in the way of punch?

 

[CallMeAl]

I've been a Sunbeams user for a long time, and recently pure Blues. Thin Jazz neck, and I use the 100s No problem with setups and I really don't see any loss of "punch" (or tone or bass).

I view string gauge as more about the playing experience, how it responds to your attack, and less about tone. Id probably get a stiffer hex core, something that will feel like what you're used to.

 

[CallMeAl]

OTOH, don't those ship out with 105s? It's a very common size. Are you sure it's not a bad neck? Do you have a return option, can you go in and try out another one?

 

[Craig Williams]

I've been a Sunbeams user for a long time, and recently pure Blues. Thin Jazz neck, and I use the 100s No problem with setups and I really don't see any loss of "punch" (or tone or bass).

I view string gauge as more about the playing experience, how it responds to your attack, and less about tone. Id probably get a stiffer hex core, something that will feel like what you're used to.

Yeah my neck is quite slimmer and thinner than a Jazz even. Think Strat neck. The neck actually has a great feel but just wish it had a bit more beef

 

[michael_t]

I view string gauge as more about the playing experience, how it responds to your attack, and less about tone. Id probably get a stiffer hex core, something that will feel like what you're used to.

+1

I'm all the way down to .095/.096 for my E's these days. And I don't feel like I've lost anything in terms of tonal quality; plenty of meat and plenty of punch.

I use GHS Pressurewound 40-96 on my P bass, and thanks to their natural hex-core stiffness, they never feel too loose or floppy while being easy on the neck of the bass with less than 150 lbs. of tension.

 

[CallMeAl]

OTOH, don't those ship out with 105s? It's a very common size. Are you sure it's not a bad neck? Do you have a return option, can you go in and try out another one?

My bad, missed the boner part, thought you were talking about the new player plus. I see in your other thread it's an 89.

I haven't tried these myself, but I know people have had success with adding washers as spacers behind the truss nut to get more play in the truss rod. Pretty cheap and easy. More extreme is heat treating the neck to change the bow.

but let's hope the strings do the trick, good luck!