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rogertvr
Advanced Member
Username: rogertvr

Post Number: 292
Registered: 1-2003
Posted on Tuesday, January 18, 2005 - 11:03 am:   Edit Post

What happens when you have about 1mm of relief in the neck, the bridge is flat on the baseplate, you have no squeaks or rattles when playing the instrument, but you feel that the strings could be even lower? What then? Any suggestions?
adriaan
Senior Member
Username: adriaan

Post Number: 453
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Tuesday, January 18, 2005 - 11:25 am:   Edit Post

Easy, you make the bridge slots deeper.
rogertvr
Advanced Member
Username: rogertvr

Post Number: 293
Registered: 1-2003
Posted on Tuesday, January 18, 2005 - 12:32 pm:   Edit Post

A little hit and miss isn't it?
adriaan
Senior Member
Username: adriaan

Post Number: 454
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Tuesday, January 18, 2005 - 12:38 pm:   Edit Post

?
rogertvr
Advanced Member
Username: rogertvr

Post Number: 294
Registered: 1-2003
Posted on Tuesday, January 18, 2005 - 12:57 pm:   Edit Post

How does one make the bridge slots deeper?
serialnumber12
Junior
Username: serialnumber12

Post Number: 41
Registered: 12-2004
Posted on Tuesday, January 18, 2005 - 1:08 pm:   Edit Post

A 'very' thin (round) file,one that fits into the slot precisely.
dela217
Senior Member
Username: dela217

Post Number: 491
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Tuesday, January 18, 2005 - 1:54 pm:   Edit Post

I wouldn't mess with the slots. I had the same sort of problem with one of my Alembics. What I did was have the bottom of the brass sustain block machined down. That way the whole thing sits deeper in the body.
knight
Junior
Username: knight

Post Number: 19
Registered: 9-2003
Posted on Tuesday, January 18, 2005 - 1:55 pm:   Edit Post

I was wondering about this too... I want to convert my Europa to fretless but I need to get the strings lower than they are now.

IS THIS A SAFE PROCEDURE, DOCTOR???

I don't want to hurt my beautiful bass...
dgcarbu
Intermediate Member
Username: dgcarbu

Post Number: 160
Registered: 6-2004
Posted on Tuesday, January 18, 2005 - 1:56 pm:   Edit Post

Please ensure you do not take too much off, a replacement bridge is not cheap.
apdavis
Junior
Username: apdavis

Post Number: 28
Registered: 5-2004
Posted on Tuesday, January 18, 2005 - 3:19 pm:   Edit Post

I would agree with dela, You can aways contract for parts, and if your mechanical operations are good, changing your sustain block is the way to go.
mica
Moderator
Username: mica

Post Number: 2218
Registered: 6-2000
Posted on Tuesday, January 18, 2005 - 3:31 pm:   Edit Post

A skilled repair person can certainly file the slots down. I would not recommend saddle filing on your Alembic as a first-time project unless you have metal experience.

Another option is to order a set of replacement saddles. You can remove and save the originals, install the unslotted ones, and have your repair person work on those. That way, it's completely reversable.

Dela's suggestion of sanding down the back of the block seems more appropriate for a do-it-yourself modification.
fredguy
New
Username: fredguy

Post Number: 3
Registered: 12-2004
Posted on Tuesday, January 18, 2005 - 9:05 pm:   Edit Post

Doesn't 1 mm (0.040") of relief seem high? I'd try to get it to 0.375 to 0.5mm (0.015 to 0.020") and see if the bridge was too still too low.

dave
bob
Advanced Member
Username: bob

Post Number: 354
Registered: 11-2002
Posted on Wednesday, January 19, 2005 - 10:07 pm:   Edit Post

Take a close look: is the bottom of the bridge itself really sitting on the block, or is it the small nut on the height adjusting screw?

I'm not sure all are like this, but if I needed to go lower I could simply countersink the holes in the block - maybe not with a real countersink, but a drill large enough to let that nut 'sink in' a bit. Pretty simple, you don't lose much mass, won't hurt anything else.

Though I agree with dave/fredguy that 1 mm relief seems pretty excessive, and would try working on that first.
-Bob
adriaan
Senior Member
Username: adriaan

Post Number: 456
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Thursday, January 20, 2005 - 3:28 am:   Edit Post

Just out of curiosity: where did the "1 mm relief" bit come from?

And does that refer to neck relief, as in how much space there is between the strings and the 12th fret?

Fredguy, if you're talking bass then .040 corresponds to a medium light G string. I think that's about the relief that I have. I'm not sure I'd be comfortable playing having it lower.
rogertvr
Advanced Member
Username: rogertvr

Post Number: 295
Registered: 1-2003
Posted on Thursday, January 20, 2005 - 4:07 am:   Edit Post

Adriaan, yes, the 1mm relief is the space between the bottom of the strings and the 12th fret, when the string is fretted simultaneously at the 1st and 24th fret. I didn't think 1mm was particularly large, quite the opposite in fact - I thought it was quite small.
adriaan
Senior Member
Username: adriaan

Post Number: 457
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Thursday, January 20, 2005 - 6:09 am:   Edit Post

Roger, I was thinking about the string going from nut to bridge, which in your case would leave a gap that is significantly wider than 1 mm. And you're not even having problems fretting the strings?

I'll try and take some measurements when I get home.
adriaan
Senior Member
Username: adriaan

Post Number: 459
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 2:39 am:   Edit Post

Unfortunately I don't have the proper tools to take these measurements. As far as I could tell, the relief with the string pressed onto the 1st and 24th frets is significantly less than 1 mm (as in: I can't see how an end of a G string could fit between fret and string). In this experiment, the string does produce a tone when plucked, but there is some fret rattle - more on the treble side than on the bass side.

Regular string height at the 12th is roughly between 2 and 3 mm, with the G string raised the most. There is no fret rattle.

The bridge is definitely not sitting on the top surface: there's about a 2 mm gap between the top surface and the underside of the bridge on the treble side, and about 4 mm on the bass side.

In all, perhaps you need to tighten the truss rods a bit to reduce the relief, then you should be able to raise the bridge off the surface.

HIH
rogertvr
Advanced Member
Username: rogertvr

Post Number: 296
Registered: 1-2003
Posted on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 5:46 am:   Edit Post

What I've now done, based on the advice all you kind folks have given me, is to tighten the truss rods to remove most of the relief. The bridge is now still flat on the baseplate, but I really don't think that the strings could go any lower and the instrument still be playable. So I've got it to where I wanted it.

Thanks for everyone's help and input to this, much appreciated!

Cheers,

Rog
dgcarbu
Advanced Member
Username: dgcarbu

Post Number: 201
Registered: 6-2004
Posted on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 6:33 am:   Edit Post

Whew! Glad to hear you solved it without filing anything.

Peace,
Darrell
adriaan
Senior Member
Username: adriaan

Post Number: 460
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 7:25 am:   Edit Post

Like a lawsuit?
jacko
Member
Username: jacko

Post Number: 99
Registered: 10-2002
Posted on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 8:18 am:   Edit Post

Roger's English like me. We don't 'do' lawsuits ;-)

graeme
adriaan
Senior Member
Username: adriaan

Post Number: 461
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 8:31 am:   Edit Post

Better get Roger's Thesaurus Rex inlay out then.
rogertvr
Advanced Member
Username: rogertvr

Post Number: 298
Registered: 1-2003
Posted on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 9:10 am:   Edit Post

Graeme's quite correct - instead, we do 'sue the b*stard'!

Rog
adriaan
Senior Member
Username: adriaan

Post Number: 462
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 9:13 am:   Edit Post

Then who burnt the custard? Ah, it's Jamie Oliver! The Golden Essex Boy Wonder Of The Blow Torch!

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