New saddle, bad pickup & no relief :: 2008 Kinal Kompact Bass [4.5 lbs]

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New saddle, bad pickup & no relief  :: 2008 Kinal Kompact Bass [4.5 lbs]

Here's a 30" short scale acoustic bass that came through the shop recently for a setup.  The low E was having some low-output issues that I tried to correct with a new properly fit bone saddle (the original was way too loose).  I tried every trick I know but ultimately could not improve that string's output.  Ultimately I found that the B-Band undersaddle pickup was damaged under the E string (pickup was delaminated) and needed to be replaced.

The player strung this bass with super-low tension Thomastik-Infeld Acousticore strings #AB344 (0.041" -0.086").  These soft-feel strings did not have enough tension to pull the neck into a favorable forward bow (relief) and the neck needed to be heat-pressed into relief.

Adjust Bridge Posture :: 2002 Gibson L5-CES [8.0 lbs]

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Adjust Bridge Posture :: 2002 Gibson L5-CES [8.0 lbs]

A beautiful Gibson Custom, Art & Historic Division L-5 archtop with a Florentine cutaway in for a bridge adjustment and setup.  The bridge foot was initially fit so that it was leaning towards the neck.   I refit the foot so that it would stand back up straight and allow the string pressure to be more perpendicular to the top.  Strung with Thomastik flats.

New frets & bone nut :: 1967 Guild Starfire IV [7.6 lbs]

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New frets & bone nut :: 1967 Guild Starfire IV [7.6 lbs]

Here's an all-mahogany 335-style Hoboken Guild in for new frets and unbleached bone nut.  Photos of the fretwork can be seen here and here.  This is also the guitar that I dumped kitty litter into in an attempt to take the curse off of a moldy smell.

The Melita Syncro-Sonic bridge radius needed to be adjusted to match the fingerboard's radius.  While working on the bridge I found that the foot was double-stick taped to the top.  In order to give more range to the action adjustment (and side-to-side), the tape was removed and the underside of the bridge foot was re-fit to the top in order to lower the overall height.

The exposed patches of mahogany on the body were lightly sealed with shellac and the guitar strung with Thomastik flats.  This is a great sounding guitar.  She will be missed ...

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