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Kubicki club?

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#921
BEAUTIFUL BASS MAN!

Are those fret markers under the finish, or on top?

First you must determine what the problem is.
Is the neck not straight enough? Or, are the saddles too high.
It is too different things. There is a measurement between the string and the neck while fretted = Neck adjustment.
Or, if the strings are just too high = saddle adjustment.

First check the neck - You fret the string at the first fret (F on the E string) and the 12th fret. Check the distance at the 7th fret. Do this for all strings. This will show you how bowed or straight the neck is. It should be a bout 0.010 Inches. Please check for correct measurement for the Kubicki.

Someone here will have the magic numbers.

After you get that right, if action is still high, adjust the saddles down till you get the feel and sound you want.

I like it when there is just a teeny tiny bit of fret buzz, and I can get the "String Growl" when I lay into it. Otherwise it should play clean.

Takes a little playing with and depending on your weather changes, you may have to adjust the neck twice a year.

Hope this helps, and surely some of the guru's will chime in. I can't be sure on the 0.010 - JUST A GUESS.

Paul
 
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#923
P.P.S. I'm sure this bass played PERFECT when It left Phil's. He is a perfectionist and I'm really surprised about the smudge on the markers too ???

I looked closer at the pictures and I see what your talking about. That bass probably feels terrible. The action probably has changed with shipping, temp, humidity, etc... You mentioned it's getting worse, also an indication it has changed. You may have to adjust it several times while it settles into it's now surroundings.

When you get this bass dialed in, you WILL be feeling the WOW that the rest of us have known for years. "Sleep with it"... "I did".... "It's a mind blower." (Weird Science)

Phil will always answer emails personally. Check with him on any issues.
 
#924
Thanks Pkaaso. Will follow your instructions (and from other as and when they come) when the kiddies are asleep. Don't get me wrong, the bass is incredible but the feel that I got from the other Factors isn't there so I guess you might be right about it adjusting to the environment and the shipping etc. Will update soon :)
 
#925
OK so here is my analysis so far. Upon viewing the neck from the bottom of the bass it is evident that it's curving upwards from the 5th fret till the head. This is lending to bad fret buzz after the 5th fret all the way up the neck.

Upon inspection of the saddles, they do seem to be quite high although I still have to measure them as per the manual.

I will have to buy the measuring equipment if I'm to do this correctly without causing damage to the bass and expert advice would be greatly appreciated. I will try to call Phil on Monday.
 
#926
I need to adjust my neck twice a year during major seasonal weather changes. Once a year I pick it up and the strings are laying on the fretboard and once a year the action is much higher than I would like. The great thing about the Factor is the adjustment is easy to get to.

Wally
 
#927
Sirmoog,

An afterthought... If the bass was set up correctly from the factory, only the neck could have changed. The saddles should still be correct. Once you re-adjust the neck, it should return to being a great player.

If you change string thickness, you will have to re-set the intonation.
 
#928
I measured them as per the figures in the manual and the bottom of the strings from the last fret at the neck are as follows (these are not exact but close to)

E - 5.2mm (supposed to be 3.96mm)
A - 5.9mm (supposed to be 3.57mm)
D - 6.1mm (supposed to be 3.57mm)
G - 5.7mm (supposed to be 3.17mm)

As you can see these numbers are very high and it's very uncomfortable to play. To rectify this issue I followed the manual and tried to turn the truss rod clockwise as the neck is concave but the screw wouldn't budge so I didn't want to apply too much pressure on it fearing it might get damaged. I have written this to Phil so I guess I have to be patient. But I'm sure I could get some expert advice here too.
 
#929
Ok dude if you trust me I will try to help, I have worked in a guitar workshop in my 20's for abour 4 years not for the money, but to learn everything there is to know about setting my own instruments, so that I would never have to pay for a luthier to f*** it up and charge me for it!
Anyone who has tried my basses from Dave Swift to Joe Public have all complimented me on the setup, low action and total absence of fret buzz. It's a skill that once you learn it, you'll never need to take your bass or guitar to a luthier ever again:

So here we go:

First and foremost (I do agree what a strange set up) and whatever you do, do not touch the trussrod YET! You probably will not need to adjust that til last if you follow my steps below:

We need to lower both the saddles and the pickups first, they are way too high, I have no idea whoever set that bass up what they were thinking. It seems to me they just assembled and shipped it forgetting to set it up, so that the saddles and the pickups are barely fitted on but not countersunk. I am looking at my own Kubicki now and I am going to give you some measurements in mm (millimitres) so that you can get a starting point on the distances from the top of the pickups to the body and same from the saddles to the plate base of the bridge, ok?

Bear with me:

Bridge Pickup - Bass side (E String) distance from the top edge of the pickup to the body: 9mm

Bridge Pickup - Treble side (G String) distance from the top edge of the pickup to the body: 7mm

Neck Pickup - Bass side (E String) distance from the top edge of the pickup to the body: 5mm

Neck Pickup - Treble side (G String) distance from the top edge of the pickup to the body: 4.5mm

------------------------------------------

Bridge Saddles:

The following distance is measured from the top of the string sittting in the saddle to the top surface of the bridge immediately close to the saddles.

E String: 9mm
A String: 10mm
D String: 10mm
G: String: 7mm

Ok now try and lower the saddles first to those indicative distances as they provide you with a more realistic platform to start with.

When you have done these 2 settings (lowering pickups and lowering saddles) get a guitar capo and fit it to the 1st fret of your bass otherwise you'll need 3 hands for the next step which we humans do not have:

once you have the capo gently pressing over the 1st fret, place your right hand index finger on the 12th fret of your E string and then with the left hand fret the 7th fret and check the distance between the string and the fret, if the string is touching the fret without being fretted, the neck is too straight or bowed and need to be given more relief (concave) if the distance is wider than a Fender Medium pick which is usually 1.5mm then you need to straighten the neck until that Fender pick slides nicely between the bottom of the string and the top of the fret.

Some people like more relief i.e. higher action, other like less and do't mind a little fret buzz which 9 times out of 10 in a loud gig situation is never heard through the amp. Remember people often nag about fret buzz which is heard only when they play in their bedroom unplugged.

Some punk bassists and rockers cherish a bit of buzz, each to their own.

So try that and see how you get on.

But please do send a very stern email to Phil Kubicki and tell him: "Look here pal, you made a dog dinner of my bass set up! How are you justifying that? Yes 2 sets of new strings will make it up to me.

Good luck and let me know how you got on.
 
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#930
Hahaha Hey Wazoo Thank you so much for the in-depth message. Really appreciate it. I did call up Phil and he was very helpful and kind enough to run me through the setup procedure. He did say that he keeps the action somewhere in between of being high and low (because some people like a high action and some low) and because Dubai is usually a very hot and dry place and that the air conditioning takes away the moisture from the air, the neck could have been effected due to it.

He ran me through the procedure of getting it fixed and maintaining the guitar overall. I will keep those measurements handy Wazoo as I would definitely need them.

After the fix, I have to say that the Factor bass is one of the BEST basses I've ever played. It feels solid, the sound is awesome and most importantly very comfortable for it's weight and is really well engineered overall. Highly, highly recommended!
 
#931
Grand Wazoo said:
But please do send a very stern email to Phil Kubicki and tell him: "Look here pal, you made a dog dinner of my bass set up! How are you justifying that? Yes 2 sets of new strings will make it up to me.
Click to expand...

I have to express my opinion here. I've have had several occasions to speak and deal with Phil before and after I bought my bass.

He is a stand up guy, honest and more than willing to help pre AND post sales.

If there is problem with a product, he WILL make it right - Period!

I'm just guessing but, the fix was a truss rod adjustment???

Just my $0.02
 
#932
Dude, the bass was built in the US, sent to Canada, and then rerouted to Dubai. Wood is wood, even if it's laminated like the neck of a Kubicki is. It's going to move with climate changes, and that's about as intense of a climate change as you can get.

It's not "screwing up his bass's setup", it's just a reality of working with instruments. A competent tech (or amateur) could likely fix everything up in less than an hour.
 
#933
I agree with Pkaaso and Intrepid. I had a lengthy conversation with Phil and he took me through the extensive science of wood and setups and a step-by-step on how to fix the bass. Very helpful and patient man and after he explained everything in great detail on the bass itself, I must admit that I have even greater appreciation for the Factor bass. He said that his truss rods are slightly heavier and stronger than say what Fender uses so I shouldn't be too scared. So after mustering some courage, I went ahead and turned it...lo and behold the result was instantaneous. It went from not that playable to insanely playable in a matter of seconds. Then I just sat and played on 5 songs back to back and I just couldn't put it down.

He did mention using baby oil on the neck if it starts to dry up a little due to the lack of moisture in the air. Dubai is very hot but also very humid and inside you don't feel so much as everywhere is air-conditioning... all we have to bare is the heat from the walk from the office/flat to the car... even the bus stops have air-conditioning now... and A/C suck up all the moisture from the air.

I'll let it settle down for a few more days in it's current state and see where we go from here. But yeah thanks to everyone for the help. Really appreciate it.
 
#936
Pkaaso said:
I have to express my opinion here. I've have had several occasions to speak and deal with Phil before and after I bought my bass.

He is a stand up guy, honest and more than willing to help pre AND post sales.

If there is problem with a product, he WILL make it right - Period!

I'm just guessing but, the fix was a truss rod adjustment???

Just my $0.02
Click to expand...

And I am referring to the pickups heigth, which judging by the pics were extremely high and same for the saddles, did you see how much those saddles were sticking up?? For god sake why?
 
#937
Grand Wazoo said:
And I am referring to the pickups heigth, which judging by the pics were extremely high and same for the saddles, did you see how much those saddles were sticking up?? For god sake why?
Click to expand...

Yea, I see your point. I looked at my set up and the saddles in the posted pictures do look high compared to mine. Not sure why they are that high. If this is a case of "bad set up" I'd have to say, it's rare.
 
#939
Just bought this this post Fender tobacco burst from another TB'er who contacted me after hearing me whine about just missing one.
I should have it late next week.
It replaces a pre Fender I sold in 94 and have unflaggingly regretted since about 5 minutes after I did it.
IMG_0985.jpg
 
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