Set Screws Digging Into My Hand When Palm Muting

[electracoyote]

I'm using a pick and doing a lot of palm muting these days (Elton John tribute project, channeling Dee Murray). Standard Fender bridge with set screws on the saddle pieces. A couple set screws are just high enough to dig into my palm and they're causing an abrasion.

This was never a concern before as I typically equally alternate palm muting with finger style and slap; previously I never focused on this technique so much as to lose the first layer of skin.

I have a guitar pick duct taped over the circular abrasion on my palm (outer edge midway between finger 4 and wrist). It works well, I can still get the desired palm mute tones I want, but it's a PITA.

I have a couple of other ideas, but first I thought I'd seek the voice of experience and reason from my TB brothers and sisters. Anyone else encountered this and have a reasonable solution?

P.S.--I thought about snipping the offending set screws shorter so they don't protrude the top of the saddle, but I have had mixed results doing this in the past. The set screws currently have a nice ball end meeting the bridge plate, and that lets them function smoothly when adjusting. Maybe I'm missing something there?

 

[hdracer]

Shorten the screws or get shorter ones.

 

[electracoyote]

Shorten the screws or get shorter ones.

That was my first thought, the most likely suspect. Obtaining pre-measured set screws that perfectly match your saddle height and are not too short or too long is an exercise in futility in my experience. Also, the last time I snipped the screws, the end was gnarly and it made adjustments kind of rough, it goofed up the threads and made inserting them back into the saddle difficult. Maybe I should try again? What's the trick?

 

[hdracer]

put a allen wrench in it and use a grinding wheel or sander.

 

[electracoyote]

put a allen wrench in it and use a grinding wheel or sander

Good suggestion. I thought it might involve something like that, because the threads really do have to be preserved and a nice rounded aspect where the screw meets the plate maintained.

 

[hdracer]

Another thing you can do is get some silver silicone sealer and put a dab of it on each screw and smooth it out. If you wet your finger it will smooth out nicely.
From a couple feet away you will not even see it.

 

[LUCE]

put a allen wrench in it and use a grinding wheel or sander.

Good start. After this, finish the ground end with emery cloth. When you install into the saddle, do it from the bottom side to avoid messing up the saddle threads.

 

[fearceol]

I'm using a pick and doing a lot of palm muting these days

You could try forgetting about palm muting altogether and put some foam under the strings near the bridge.

 

[electracoyote]

You could try forgetting about palm muting altogether and put some foam under the strings near the bridge.

That's a good suggestion, I have used a foam mute on occasion for other applications.

However, in this case I need the flexibility to go from brightly picked to muted, and all points in between, instantly on the fly. Only palm muting lets me do that.

 

[Lownote38]

If you shim the neck, you could set the saddles higher as well. My local tech has done that with every bolt on Fender style bass I've owned. With the saddles set higher, the screws won't stick out of the top and hurt your hand. It can also be "undone" unlike grinding down the screws.

 

[Lobster11]

What about just replacing the bridge with a different kind that works better for you purposes? I suspect that it never occurred to the designer of the traditional Fender bridge that anybody would ever be (a) using a pick (b) near the bridge, much less (c) palm muting. Maybe you just have the wrong bridge for your purposes, and a swap is in order.

 

[Fergie Fulton]

I had a similar problem many years ago so i took all the screws out of my bridge and just shiimmed each one up to the desired height using picks.
Get a few picks of various thicknesses, trim to suit and shim up the bridge.
Recently i have just done the same to another bass, but used a 1p coin (a UK penny), so check your currency..... your problem could be fixed for pennies?

 

[Flatwoundround]

I have the same problem.

Some ideas:

Straighten the neck out and then lower the action. This will drive the screws lower and possibly won't be protruding as much.

I simply filed down the edges to make smooth but I like the idea of putting in the allen wrench first and then smoothing around in order to preserve the threads on the screw.

good idea about considering a new bridge. You will callous to some of this stuff too but only if it is not real sharp.

 

[Clef_de_fa]

I never had that problem but ... why not palm mute a little bit in front of the saddle instead of right on top of them, completely avoiding the screw.