I shimmed my Mustang clone to get action lower and now it is very easy to slap with it. It makes a sound even if I press down the string using my thumb which is something my other basses don't do. Could it be that the shimming helped or is it just a 30" scale thing? Slapping on my long scales which do have low action too feels a lot harder.
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Shimming helped slapping?
- Thread starter Moredator
- Start date
I’m guessing a shim at the body end of the neck pocket? That would raise the strings slightly more off of the body which helps me on the occasions I attempt to slap.
Yes, I used a half degree shim from Stewmac. It let me get action down a lot (something like 0.5-1.0mm if I remember correctly) and it feels much more responsive to slapping now.
Less distance to travel, I guess? I couldn't give you the hard numbers, but some of my best slappers have really low action. The fretboard itself plays a role in how your slap dynamics/responsiveness plays out.
Plausible as it alters the orientation / angle of the neck (…with a focus on the heel) in relationship to the body.
Forgot to add: the mere act of adding a shim will lower the string height without ever touching the bridge saddles…may be good, may be bad but merits consideration once the shim is in-place.
Adding a shim will give you more room to adjust the saddles to a lower action. If you don't adjust the saddles after adding a shim, you'll definitely get lower action right out of the gate. In my experience it's usually too low, but that's on a long scale bass. On a short scale the difference wouldn't be as severe. Just enjoy it! Sounds like you got it right where it needs to be for you.
