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Double Bass More space on the fingerboard at the G side than the E side

douglas81

douglas81

Sep 24, 2006
105
3
Scotland
www.douglaswhates.com
#1
My bass recently suffered a bit of a knock and the bridge was knocked out of position. I have put it back into what I consider the correct place (i.e. in line horizontally with the f hole notches and centered vertically between them), but I now notice that the strings are not symmetrical with the fingerboard. By that, I mean that there is more space on the G side than on the E side. I'm not talking about underneath the strings, but to either side of it.

It feels fine to play, so it may have always been like that, but it looks a bit odd. Perhaps this is just the way the fingerboard has been shaped?

Anyway, hopefully someone will chime in and easy my paranoid mind...!

Douglas.
 
#2
douglas81 said:
My bass recently suffered a bit of a knock and the bridge was knocked out of position. I have put it back into what I consider the correct place (i.e. in line horizontally with the f hole notches and centered vertically between them), but I now notice that the strings are not symmetrical with the fingerboard. By that, I mean that there is more space on the G side than on the E side. I'm not talking about underneath the strings, but to either side of it.

It feels fine to play, so it may have always been like that, but it looks a bit odd. Perhaps this is just the way the fingerboard has been shaped?

Anyway, hopefully someone will chime in and easy my paranoid mind...!

Douglas.
Click to expand...

I hope you mean, in line vertically (up/down) between the notches and centered horizontally (left/right). :) Sounds like the bridge is in the right place but pictures would help a great deal.
 
#4
I had a bass which seemed to sound happier when the bass foot of the bridge was pulled slightly to the bass side. The luthier I showed it to said that the alignment was slightly skewed when I did that, but he heard the improvement in sound and conceded that I wasn't hurting anything by scooting the bridge over a bit. YMMV.
 
#6
Chris Fitzgerald said:
I had a bass which seemed to sound happier when the bass foot of the bridge was pulled slightly to the bass side. The luthier I showed it to said that the alignment was slightly skewed when I did that, but he heard the improvement in sound and conceded that I wasn't hurting anything by scooting the bridge over a bit. YMMV.
Click to expand...
But in this instance, the bridge is centered. It appears that the fingerboard is slightly squiffy. Seems to play and sound well though...
 
#8
if you raise the bass-side adjuster only, the strings will tend to centre themselves over the fingerboard. Although adjusters are installed parallel to the top and normally adjusted both sides equally, this doesn't have to be the case, and provided it is done carefully you can bring the string height up or down unevenly if you want to, but this will have the side-effect of moving the strings laterally. Sometimes I will adjust the bass side up a bit if I really want to dig in hard with less growl, and just live with the slightly off-centre strings. My other bass prefers it this way. I can't think of any reason not to do this, although it does put more tension on the belly. That's probably why the bass sounds better.
 
#9
There have been a number of posts here that are consistent with what I have gleaned from luthiers. That is, both adjusters should be raised and lowered evenly but a single adjuster can be raised or lowered independently of the other if it is only by a small amount-- perhaps a quarter- to a half-turn. My understanding is that changing one adjuster independently of the other increases the stress on the adjusters' threads and results in uneven pressure on the top that can lead to one side of the top "caving in."
 
#10
douglas81 said:
But in this instance, the bridge is centered. It appears that the fingerboard is slightly squiffy. Seems to play and sound well though...
Click to expand...
You very well may have a bass with the neck or fingerboard installed slightly off center. One possible solution is to have your luthier fit a new bridge with the feet of the bridge centered properly, but with the string notches cut slight enough off center to compensate for the neck/fingerboard being off center - OR just live with it if the bass plays fine as is.
 

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