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neck/body alignment on fender basses

P

plorenzo

Oct 9, 2008
37
0
#1
I've done a search but I didn't find a specific topic on this.... so....

I just bought an american standard jazz bass, and the strings are not centered on the dot markers on the fingerboard.

I think the 4 strings are 1 mm too much on the bass side... so nothing terrific...

I noticed the basses on the fender website look like mine, and I rarely see a fender bass with the strings centered...

my bass kinda looks like this.... watch for dots and strings alignment... Invalid Link Removed

so I wonder

a)why????????????

b)will this issue cause intonation problems?

if it's just a cosmetic issue I will be happy anyway, the bass sounds and plays great.

thanks for your advice :hyper:
 
#2
a) I don't know.
b) No. The only thing that affects the intonation is the location of the bridge saddles along the axis of the string. 1 mm of sideways offset would not cause any significant change to the geometry of the nut-fret-bridge relationships.

I have never noticed this. Now I suppose I have to go home and look at my am std p - not that I will do anything about it. If you really want everything symmetrical, you could move the A and E strings a little more outboard by using the other grooves on the saddles. But then your string spacing would be a little wider.
 
#4
I once saw a late 70's P-Bass where the neck pocket was so crooked the g string looked like it was nearly off the edge of the fretboard at the body. It looked like crap but sounded and played great. Your string alignment won't cause you any playability issues.
 
#5
Another thing that can cause this is if the neck is a touch out of alignment in the neck pocket. There is often a little bit of play in the neck pocket that allows the neck to pivot a tiny bit towards on side or the other, and you can often loosen the neck screws and pull one way or another on the headstock to adjust the alignment. Just be careful not to pull too hard or you can crack the finish around the neck joint!

One thing to consider, though, is that the E and A strings are thicker, so that's naturally going to put the A string closer to the dots than the D. By the same token, if you want to have the same distance from the E to the edge of the fretboard as you have on the G string, the E string has to be closer to the center of the neck because it's thicker. For that matter, you probably want *more* space on the edge of the fretboard on the E string side, because the E has a wider range of vibration than the G.

Mike
 
#8
mikezimmerman said:
Another thing that can cause this is if the neck is a touch out of alignment in the neck pocket. There is often a little bit of play in the neck pocket that allows the neck to pivot a tiny bit towards on side or the other, and you can often loosen the neck screws and pull one way or another on the headstock to adjust the alignment. Just be careful not to pull too hard or you can crack the finish around the neck joint!
Click to expand...

Already tried, but while the neck pocket has a bit of play, the pickguard is so tight against the neck that it won't let the neck move.

Anyway, if you look at the picture on the fender website, my bass looks exactly like that... and the other pictures just show the same alignment issue... so I keep wondering... WHY??
 
#10
fretlessman71 said:
Keep in mind that the thicker E and A make them line up closer to the center of the neck, thus making the string's location a poor judge of center. Is this what you're seeing?
Click to expand...

+1

Yeah you've got to look at the center of the string as the larger mass strings won't look the same relative to the dots as the thinner ones if you're going by where their edges line up.
 
#13
Though dots aren't the perfect measure point (and they're frequently off-center themselves!), true centerline alignment of all parts is in my book a definitive indicator of quality build and setup.

You'd be amazed at how many very expensive set/through-neck instruments [cough! Gibson cough!] are fatally misaligned and can never be fully corrected. :scowl:

I've seen high-priced instruments where the neck, markers, each pickup and bridge were all on different centers.:eek:

I don't care how much snooty ad hype these builders generate for themselves or how pricey they are, that's slob build, pure and simple.

A Fender typically gives you substantial room for adjustment with the pocket fit and saddle grooves, but I've seen a few in my day that couldn't get their overall geometry centered either.

Is this a critical playing issue? Not usually, but it's the sign of a negligently built instrument.
 
#14
If your bass looks like the one on the Fender website all is fine. Fender goes for equal spacing from the edge of the fretboard to the outside of the E and A string. From there they go for equal spacing between the strings, not center to center. Because of the wider strings in the lower registers it makes everything move over a bit off center. In other words, the dots aren't supposed to be exactly between the A and D string.

If you have ever cut your own nut on a bass this becomes obvious in a hurry. If you make the center to center string spacing exactly the same all the way across the neck it looks really funny.
 
#15
jwymore said:
If you have ever cut your own nut on a bass this becomes obvious in a hurry. If you make the center to center string spacing exactly the same it looks really funny.
Click to expand...
Yep, all points correct.

The object is still to find your one centerline and stick to it as your reference point in your build, no matter how you lay out the instrument.
 
#17
jwymore said:
If your bass looks like the one on the Fender website all is fine. Fender goes for equal spacing from the edge of the fretboard to the outside of the E and A string. From there they go for equal spacing between the strings, not center to center. Because of the wider strings in the lower registers it makes everything move over a bit off center. In other words, the dots aren't supposed to be exactly between the A and D string.

If you have ever cut your own nut on a bass this becomes obvious in a hurry. If you make the center to center string spacing exactly the same all the way across the neck it looks really funny.
Click to expand...

so my bass is fine?

anyway, the basses on the fender website pics have the strings centered on the pickups poles... strings on mine are not centered on the poles.

this feels strange because I have never seen a jazz bass with the strings centered on the pickups... :ninja:
 
#19
plorenzo said:
so my bass is fine?

anyway, the basses on the fender website pics have the strings centered on the pickups poles... strings on mine are not centered on the poles.

this feels strange because I have never seen a jazz bass with the strings centered on the pickups... :ninja:
Click to expand...

Functionally it's not necessary for the strings to be aligned precisely between the polepieces. But I suppose it looks better in marketing photos if they are.
 

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