I have a bass that was defretted that cannot achieve a low action because the bridge saddles won't go low enough. I know that shimming the neck tends to be a solution to this, but would sanding down the bottoms of the saddles of the bridge, or even sanding the entire bridge base down, also be a viable option? The bass is an early 90s Ibanez SR895 with a Fender-esque bridge and saddles for what it's worth.
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If the relief is in the ballpark (around 0.012" at the 7th fret with the E pressed down at the first fret and where the neck joins the body) then a shim would typically be the next step. You could grind the bridge and saddles down but for a bolt on neck a shim is so much simpler and easier.
Shim the bass, it takes five minutes.
If you refuse to do that, you could route the bass body wood the thickness of the bridge baseplate to drop the bridge down.
You could cut the grooves on your saddles deeper.
You could find bridge saddles that are a smaller diameter.
You could replace the bridge with one that has small saddles.
Or, you could shim the bass in five minutes.
If you refuse to do that, you could route the bass body wood the thickness of the bridge baseplate to drop the bridge down.
You could cut the grooves on your saddles deeper.
You could find bridge saddles that are a smaller diameter.
You could replace the bridge with one that has small saddles.
Or, you could shim the bass in five minutes.
Sounds like a shim is still my best option. I'm definitely not against it; I was just wondering if altering the bridge was at all an applicable alternative. Thanks for the advice.
I would not grind, sand, or file the bridge pieces at all. You'll remove the plating on the bridge parts, causing very early corrosion on the bare spots.
Yeah, do the shim. My biggest concern re: mod'ing the the bridge saddles is you may disrupt the necessary break angle.
Riis
Riis
Thanks everyone, I didn't think much about possibly causing corrosion to occur. I'll be planning to shim the neck most certainly.
There's possible and then there's practical.
Modding your bridge is possible, shimming your neck is practical.
