hipshot on eb4l

[clankenstein]

well i bought a hipshot supertone,the 3 point type, for my eb4l.i ilke it,more even sound between the strings,sounds like my bass only  better-all good EXCEPT with the saddles all screwed right down and the bridge right down on the body the action is still too high.darn.any suggestions?im thinking it might be off to the luthier to get the bridge recessed into the body about 5 mm and the post holes the same amount.yes i know i could try the 3 point again but i have 3 and i have never been satisfied with them.p.s. the eb4l is not in ,shall we say,collectable condition.

[nofi]

i don't think i could sink the bridge no matter the condition on a vintage bass. just my 2 cents worth. i like things totally stock if possible.

[clankenstein]

i agree that planing the back of a 1972 bass is a horrifying thought,but this bass is probably never going to be stock again due to body modifications on the upper horn and the edge of the body by the controls  not to mention the routing for a rear pickup.as i see it options are-reset the neck(i dont like this idea at all)grind down the bridge(i dont like this idea either)or recess the bridge.this is my main playing bass and i need to be able to use it.are there any other options?

[uwe]

Take out a file and file the saddles lower. Ot take the removeable saddle rolls out and let the strings just run over the little blocks that hold the saddle roll. I've done that on my rotten Epi Explorer. Works perfectly and you can still intonate and lower and raise as before. You just lose the sideways movement which is irrelevant.

That way you only get invasive with the bridge itself, not the bass. I'll take pix of my Explorer to clarify.

[clankenstein]

thank you.i dont need sideways adjustment anyway.im going to try taking the saddle rolls out in the morning .ta for some top info.

[godofthunder]

 I have had great luck with filing saddles.

[clankenstein]

i took the rollers out this morning,most sucesssful,the action was pretty good as soon as i did that and required minimal tweaks with the allen bolts.i cant hear any buzzes at the moment but to make sure its all fine im going to put some new strings on there - the dr hi beams i have at the moment sound more like flatwounds since an unfortunate encounter with an over excited bottle of guinness.

[uwe]

Tried and trusted, glad it worked!

[Grog]

Tried and trusted, glad it worked!

Is that Fungus I see?

[uwe]

One rotten Exsporer that is ...

[Grog]

We've been meaning to talk to you about your "Sporatic Behavior"! 

[clankenstein]

i put a set of blue steels on at practice tonight -its sounds great!most happy with the tone and i think im going to use the blue steels now instead of hi beams.more punch somehow and more dynamics.some of this will be the bridge as well i guess.

[uwe]

Should you want to go even lower and avoid filing one day: Try taperwound strings like the Dunlop Robert Trujillo Signature set. E, A and D are all taperwound to G string thickness on those without being flabby or anything. They have a balanced sound not really emphasizing anything, not agressive at all as you might be led to expect with signature strings for a Metallica bassist. 

[Hornisse]

I've always wanted to try the Dunlop strings.  So they are good Uwe?

[uwe]

In this day and age, "bad strings" have become a relatively rare occurence. The Dunlop RTTs (as they are called) are just overall balanced sounding roundwounds, covering all the right frequencies. If that is run of the mill to you or just right is a matter of taste.

I've been playing bass for 35 years now and I still don't have a favorite brand nor one I would absolutely not play. The RTTs are fine if you want your bass to sound like it sounds, eg not try to compensate something it lacks. I assume that RT pays active basses (he now has a signature Warwick), so you neither want or need extreme sounding strings, certainly not ones with pronounced mids as they would get in the way with the Metallica riffage. I expected them to sound more extreme than they do, they are well-tempered, not snarling monsters.