I'm glad you found it useful. I was thrilled when other professional luthiers and techs joined in with their experience. Thanks go to @Bruce Johnson, @walterw and @202dy for their contributions over the years.
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Getting the Facts about Ski Jumps
- Thread starter Turnaround
- Start date
I really appreciate all the good information here. I have an old Fender MIM Jazz bass with a slight ski-jump issue. I do my own setups but paid a local shop to do a setup thinking they may be able to get it set up better than I can. They charged me fifty bucks. When I got it home, I found that I had to readjust it right back to the way it was when I took it to them. I wanted to talk to the actual tech to explain the problem when I dropped it off there, but that was not possible. I regret that I did not communicate better with the shop. I wasted fifty bucks.
Rather than sink more money into a bass that is not worth all that much, I decided that I will try to fix it myself with all the good advice found here.
As an expedient to make the bass a little more useful for now until I get around to trying my own hand at improving the situation, I bought a new, made in China fretless neck from Ebay for $90. I did not expect a lot for that price, but the neck seems to be very well made. I may learn something about setting up a fretless as well as fixing a ski jump in the process.
Thanks to all for sharing knowledge, advice, and wisdom here!
Rather than sink more money into a bass that is not worth all that much, I decided that I will try to fix it myself with all the good advice found here.
As an expedient to make the bass a little more useful for now until I get around to trying my own hand at improving the situation, I bought a new, made in China fretless neck from Ebay for $90. I did not expect a lot for that price, but the neck seems to be very well made. I may learn something about setting up a fretless as well as fixing a ski jump in the process.
Thanks to all for sharing knowledge, advice, and wisdom here!
@djmay , you have a link for Bruce's thread about flattening the fretless string paths?
Post 65 starts the practical. The concepts from the beginning are enlightening .
Post 65 starts the practical. The concepts from the beginning are enlightening .
I appreciate you pointing out where it gets practical, but hey it's Bruce, so I will read the entire thread! Thank You!
Did the Pros ever reach a definitive conclusion on whether or not partial shim in a neck bucket are likely to cause a 12ft kink/ski jump?
Full disclosure: I started reading this thread from the beginning and got to page 8 of 24 before I just became completely overwhelmed.
It's amazing that you peeps are doing this stuff, but as a simple player rather than skilled luthier or engineer, it's felt a bit like attending a four hour lecture from the top scientist at Cern - I can respect the brilliance, but my ability to keep up has been vastly out stripped
Full disclosure: I started reading this thread from the beginning and got to page 8 of 24 before I just became completely overwhelmed.
It's amazing that you peeps are doing this stuff, but as a simple player rather than skilled luthier or engineer, it's felt a bit like attending a four hour lecture from the top scientist at Cern - I can respect the brilliance, but my ability to keep up has been vastly out stripped
Shims, partial or full, play no part in a ski jump. The ski jump isn't even in the area of the shim; it is up the neck in the 12th fret area. The cause is from oversize strings and/or internal stresses the wood has built up prior to its harvest.Did the Pros ever reach a definitive conclusion on whether or not partial shim in a neck bucket are likely to cause a 12ft kink/ski jump?
Full disclosure: I started reading this thread from the beginning and got to page 8 of 24 before I just became completely overwhelmed.
It's amazing that you peeps are doing this stuff, but as a simple player rather than skilled luthier or engineer, it's felt a bit like attending a four hour lecture from the top scientist at Cern - I can respect the brilliance, but my ability to keep up has been vastly out stripped
Last edited:
As sissy kathy said, a shim is not the cause of a ski jump, nor does it contribute to the formation of one. The kink is formed when the stress from the pull of the strings is more than the neck can handle. High tension strings can contribute the the deformation, but the fundamental problem is that there is not enough rigidity in the neck for the tension involved. I very stiff wood will resist kinking, but These days high quality wood that will resist the strain is getting more expensive and harder to find.. That can be countered by adding stiffening material to the neck from about the 9th fret through to the end of the heel.
It's worth noting that if you leave too much relief (bow) in the neck for an extended period, the chance of a ski jump developing becomes more likely.
It's worth noting that if you leave too much relief (bow) in the neck for an extended period, the chance of a ski jump developing becomes more likely.
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