NBD!! (Fender Ultra)...and a question.

[jadenjazz]

Hello TB!

My new Fender American Jazz Ultra V just arrived today! Absolutely beautiful! Plays, sounds, and feels better than I even hoped!

I bought this bass with the intention of stringing it E-C. But after I did the first setup today, I found I would like action of the high C string to be lower and there is no more adjustment left in the saddle. My question is this: would shimming the neck be the next logical step to try or will I need to file the nut (or both)? Thanks!!

 

[P. Aaron]

Nice looking bass. Hope it works out.

'You can always undo a shim. Taking tools to the parts kinda muddles the whole 'originality' thing.

 

[stuntbass77]

I wouldn't shim it unless you had to. I would get a used bridge saddle and file it down till you get the action low enough. I can only testify to my experience but shim's have always effected the tone not to mention why take off the neck if you don't have to. Every time I take a neck off I always think about stripping the wood in the neck. It's not a huge worry if you only do it once and a while but it is something to consider.

 

[BassIan]

One other thing to check - how is the neck relief? If the relief is on the high side it will have the secondary effect of raising your action, particularly higher up the neck. Consider reducing relief, which could buy you room to have low overall action with slightly higher saddles.

This is exactly the course I had to take when I originally got my American Ultra Jazz. After reducing to ~0.010" of relief, I ended up with an incredibly low setup (4/64" on the 12th fret of the Low E) with room to spare on the saddles. No buzz.

 

[JRA]

You can always undo a shim

cool ax, @jadenjazz! let us know how you like that E-C setup! congratulations on your new instrument!

 

[jadenjazz]

Thanks guys...good advice! And I had not thought about getting a extra saddle to experiment with. Glad I posted

 

[stuntbass77]

That is one gorgeous bass !!!

 

[Lammchop93]

where is the C string hitting the frets? if you play the 12 fret, does it buzz out? The only time you would need a new nut, is it if buzzes when playing an open note. other than that, it would need a neck shim, or another bridge with higher adjustability.

 

[jadenjazz]

where is the C string hitting the frets? if you play the 12 fret, does it buzz out? The only time you would need a new nut, is it if buzzes when playing an open note. other than that, it would need a neck shim, or another bridge with higher adjustability.

It's actually too high. I have plenty of adjustment left if I want to raise the string. I just can't go lower with it.

 

[jadenjazz]

One other thing to check - how is the neck relief? If the relief is on the high side it will have the secondary effect of raising your action, particularly higher up the neck. Consider reducing relief, which could buy you room to have low overall action with slightly higher saddles.

This is exactly the course I had to take when I originally got my American Ultra Jazz. After reducing to ~0.010" of relief, I ended up with an incredibly low setup (4/64" on the 12th fret of the Low E) with room to spare on the saddles. No buzz.

I had set the relief to 0.011. I think I'll try it at 0.010.

Thanks!

 

[furym]

I recently got the 4 string version and thought the action was too high on my E string also with no adjustment left to lower it. A literal 1/8 turn in the truss rod to flatten the neck a hair made everything to within spec. Check/adjust the relief before shimming or filing. Easy first thing to try.

 

[BassIan]

I had set the relief to 0.011. I think I'll try it at 0.010.

Thanks!

Worth a try but you're darn close. I should have specified I measured that relief at Fret 12.

It might be that a shim is your best course of action if there's not much relief in the neck and you still can't get it low enough.

 

[fishdude101101]

That is a beautiful bass.

Also why can't fender make basses that don't need a shim with anything other than medium action? Either change the neck pocket depth or use a thinner bridge or one set lower into the body.

 

[Sam Dingle]

Congrats that's a great bass

 

[40Hz]

Congrats on your new bass and decision to opt for high-C tuning. I "temporarily" set my fiver up that way just to satisfy my curiosity and ended up never going back.

 

[Ryan L.]

That is a beautiful bass.

Also why can't fender make basses that don't need a shim with anything other than medium action? Either change the neck pocket depth or use a thinner bridge or one set lower into the body.

Both of my Am Elite J 5's have very low action, no shims needed. Both have Hipshot A bridges on them now, but they were just as low with the stock bridges too. My Player J 4 also has low action with no shim and a Hipshot A bridge, which is a little thicker than the stock bridge if I remember correctly.

 

[Killing Floor]

Nice looking bass. Congrats.

 

[fishdude101101]

Both of my Am Elite J 5's have very low action, no shims needed. Both have Hipshot A bridges on them now, but they were just as low with the stock bridges too. My Player J 4 also has low action with no shim and a Hipshot A bridge, which is a little thicker than the stock bridge if I remember correctly.

Both of my fender American jazz basses needed shims to get to 4/64ths on the e string.

 

[Knavery]

Are these Ultras really worth 2k when a lot of them need shims? I have the Elite and I lucked out there. But I also ordered P-bass Ultra as well and worry about the high action.

 

[Joybass]

It is a bit of a thing with these Fender high mass bridges. I had to take a file to the bridge saddle of the G string to get it low enough. You could buy one of these bridges for the saddles (they are rather cheap). Be careful with which one you buy, there are two versions with different string widths.