Going from Taperwound to Roundwound

[DieselKTM]

Just bought a Fender Urge II. The setup (Or not) was awful.
Looks like the previous owner just replaced the taperwounds with round wounds without setting it up. Obviously the E string was way to high.

Since I have always played on round wounds I tried to set it up with a new set of round wounds.

Problem is that I cant get the E string low enough before the saddle bottoms on the bridgeplate. The rest of the strings set up fine.

Does anyone know if there is a different saddle available? Will this bass accept standard round wounds? I can only assume that Jazz Bass Deluxe owners have done this before.

Help...

 

[JLS]

This sounds like a legitimate situation for shimming the neck. A shim the thickness of a folded business card, between the heel of the neck and the neck pocket, will tilt the neck back, and give you room for saddle adjustment. Note that you will have to readjust all the saddles, not just the E string saddle.

(Contrary to some opinions, shimming the neck does not mean you have a lousy bass, won't kill the sustain & tone, nor will the instrument spontaneously combust.)

 

[DieselKTM]

HHHMMM...Makes sense. I'm gonna give that a shot.
Thanks for the tip. I really appreciate it!

 

[Zooberwerx]

...or you can stick with tapered strings unless you have a specific dislike. Your intonation will need to be re-adjusted but a shim probably won't be required.

I just did a quick tally and half my basses have tapers. Personally, I avoid the DR LongNecks as the taper reaches clear to the bridge pickup...seriously. Some manufacturers (e.g. Roscoe) advise against using tapered strings on certain models.

Riis

 

[DieselKTM]

After visiting the many local music shops it was clear the taper wounds were popular nor readily available so I decided to set it up with roundwounds. It took two attemps at shimming the neck and ultimately only took one business card thickness to get it right.
My first attempt at shimming the neck and setting up a bass from scratch was a success!

Thanks to all for the confidence boost. I saved myself a lot of money and my own set up is outstanding. Who'da thunk I could do this myself?
The bass is awesome by the way. After playing Music Man basses for many years, I have found a bass that gives me a combination of playability, tone quality and flexibility. My other basses might be sitting for a while.

 

[john grey]

I'm glad everything worked out and your work was successful.
Often the condition of the truss-rod and neck relief is not explored to the fullest when a situation like yours occurs. Additionally, some folks don't like the idea of working with neck tension to achieve lowered action. That's understandable IF the neck is tight to begin with; yet this should be explored first (IMO) because on many occasions a neck can actually be quite loose!

There is nothing essentially wrong with shimming. However when using something other than metal shims (the real ones with size stamped on them) the use of an organic shim can slowly "settle" as time, humidity, etc flattens them.
The technique for exploring the neck relief and truss-rod tension differs for different designs. But from a very general standpoint, if the neck if off the guitar, a proper wrench should be inserted in the truss-rod and a quarter turn applied both direction. If this is done slowly no harm can occur. IF you find that there is a smooth turning to the rod; mark where you have begun. Then check in quarter turn increment clockwise and see if the neck is substantially loose. I have seen necks that were at the very loosest from the factory! Those would have needed perhaps a full 3/4 turn to get then to 70/1000th relief strung or a shim. Only adjust "for real" with the neck ON the guitar and in many case with some string tension.
Never use a "power" screwdriver when working on a neck bolt. At minimum many finishes have started cracking at the neck insertion from an overly tight neck plate. At worst a wood screw can strip out and the neck will be weakened, etc.
I only bring this issue up because I didn't read that you explored the neck tension issue when working with string height. But all's well that ends well!