The video was very helpful, I ordered a new Sting Ray & I know things get bumped around during shipping, but with the help of this video I was able to get rid of the fret buzz with a slight truss rod adjustment. Thank you so much for sharing...👍
I emailed SBMM in regards to recommended setup specs for my Ray24CA and this is what they sent me: _______ Tuning- Your instrument should always be at pitch before adjusting, to ensure accuracy. Truss rod adjustment- String height at the 8th fret should measure .5mm or lower based on personal preference. This can be measured by fretting the 1st and 15th fret simultaneously, a capo might help. You can adjust this higher or lower by loosening or tightening the truss rod. Saddle adjustment- String height measured from the bottom of each string to the top of each last fret should measure 2.5mm. Pickups should measure as follows: E 3.0mm / G 2.5mm _______ Hopefully that is useful to any of my fellow Ray24CA owners. It felt pretty great out of the box but I decided to go ahead and do a bit of setup myself, which results in some mild neck relief and lowering the action a bit. I'd like to say it feels better but maybe it's just a placebo effect. At any rate, it didn't feel worse (thankfully :D).
Thanks, that's good to know. I bought my Ray24CA last month. Out of the box it was ok. I decided to put flatwounds on it. I took it to the luthier and he said the tension will be higher and intonation will change. Once he gets done with it, I can make the maintenance adjustments.
The bass should have come with a tool for the truss rod thumb wheel along with an allen wrench for the bridge. My ray24ca came with a 4in metal rod that fits in the truss rod thumbwheels holes that allows u to insert in the holes and turn the wheel.
Action and neck relief specs are just a starting point. You can adjust to your personal taste and playing style. I have my action very low for easier playing. I get some fret buzz when playing harder but I'm ok with that and sometimes that sounds good and gives it a nice "bark".
Some sources seem to suggest that the capo should be placed *upon* (i.e., making contact with the top of) the second fret instead of being placed between the first and second fret as shown here.
Nice video! I've bought a new Stingray Special and, following the factory specs on truss rod, I can't get enough relief from 2nd and 12th fret (the wheel is already loose). Do you think it could be a faulty trussrod/neck or is it something that is "normal" in new instruments? It's a 11" radius neck, not sure if that counts. Thank you! :)
if you are holding down where you would play the 12th fret then you are actually measuring from the 2nd fret to the 11th fret. to include the 12th fret in your measurement you would need to hold down on the other side of the 12th fret
I wish I had seen this video a couple of years ago. I had this exact same bass and never could keep the neck from going out of calibration. The luthiers at Guitar Center couldn't either, so I traded it in for one with a maple neck.
If you break that down to the least common denominator, it breaks down to 3/16 inch. Which is a tad less than 1/4 inch as 4/16th is a 1/4 inch. Got to go back to math class for fractions:) You can buy a 6 inch ruler which has several scales of measure. Some people find measuring in 64ths is easier, some people use 32nds.
I think he's done that so all the measurements he's used have a common denominator as he's converted the pickup height recommendations given by ernie ball from 32nds. the smallest measurement given for string height is 1/64 so it makes some sense to use 64ths throughout.
You should do every measurement (relief, string height, string to magnet height, intonation) in a playing position, not with the bass laying down because gravity and pickup magnets pull down on the strings. Always measure in playing position, not like this. That should be rule number one when doing setups.
mouthmw I heard that, too, and so when I first started I adjusted everything in playing position and have continued to by force of habit. It's a farce, however. You can totally do it with the instrument on its back. The amount of gravity is negligible, it's minute and makes zero difference. Magnetic pull doesn't change depending on position. The only way you can screw it up, on some instruments with thinner, springier necks, is by supporting the neck at the wrong point. I do a check and setup on all of my stringed instruments (15 at present) about every three months. Most generally they need little or no adjustment. I also do all the tech-type-work for my friends who lack the tools, ability, or time to work on their own stuff. I probably set up 20 instruments a month. Last year I heard that the playing position thing was bogus, and tested it by doing everything lying down for a good several months, checking measurements in playing position afterwards. In each and every single case, they were all spot-on, zero impact whatsoever. I was a little ashamed of myself for having blindly believed it for years when logic should dictate that it was of no consequence, but there it was. Since I came up doing everything in playing position, I still do because that's comfortable for me, but it's not necessary.
It's not a farce, it depends on how close you set your pickup to the strings and how strong the pickup is. Neodymium will definitely pull on the strings in close proximity. Also, it's definitely not minute if you're OCD shooting for 1 mm action at the 12th fret. Are you kidding? No change is minute to me. It always needs to be checked in playing position.
mouthmw I always set EVERYTHING up SUPER low and fast (unless requested otherwise), because that's how I like it, even if it means fret/fingerboard work that could go without being done. Yeah, neo pickups pull hard. Magnets don't pull less hard when you turn them sideways, and neo pickups shouldn't exert much more force than ceramic, which shouldn't exert much more than AlNiCo, if the pickup height is correct. Magnetic pull is a constant force, it's always pulling and it never changes (yeah, I know it gets weaker over time, but not measurably over an appropriate setup interval), so none of that matters anyway. If you set up instruments with huge strings tuned WAY down low, I suppose it could make an appreciable difference, but I can neither confirm nor deny that. Seems a little far fetched, but I'll concede that it's a reasonable possibility. Like I said, I make setup measurements/adjustments in playing position, because that's how I learned to do it. I just did it the other way, a bunch, and it affected nothing whatsoever. I'm just saying, to the world at large, do setups however it works best for you. If you find something works better another way, DO IT THAT WAY. Pretty simple.
I set the action for my guitars and basses at 0.012 inches which is a hair under 1/64 inch. Anything much more than that and the neck will have a visible "wow" to it.
Older stingrays do have the truss rod adjustment at the head stock end.
The video was very helpful, I ordered a new Sting Ray & I know things get bumped around during shipping, but with the help of this video I was able to get rid of the fret buzz with a slight truss rod adjustment. Thank you so much for sharing...👍
You do humanity a service with these
I emailed SBMM in regards to recommended setup specs for my Ray24CA and this is what they sent me:
_______
Tuning- Your instrument should always be at pitch before adjusting, to ensure accuracy.
Truss rod adjustment- String height at the 8th fret should measure .5mm or lower based on personal preference. This can be measured by fretting the 1st and 15th fret simultaneously, a capo might help. You can adjust this higher or lower by loosening or tightening the truss rod.
Saddle adjustment- String height measured from the bottom of each string to the top of each last fret should measure 2.5mm.
Pickups should measure as follows: E 3.0mm / G 2.5mm
_______
Hopefully that is useful to any of my fellow Ray24CA owners. It felt pretty great out of the box but I decided to go ahead and do a bit of setup myself, which results in some mild neck relief and lowering the action a bit. I'd like to say it feels better but maybe it's just a placebo effect. At any rate, it didn't feel worse (thankfully :D).
Thanks, that's good to know. I bought my Ray24CA last month. Out of the box it was ok. I decided to put flatwounds on it. I took it to the luthier and he said the tension will be higher and intonation will change. Once he gets done with it, I can make the maintenance adjustments.
instablaster
I recently had this video sent to me by one of their reps as well. In case anyone is still interested. ruclips.net/video/jnyTjmZuNIk/видео.html
The bass should have come with a tool for the truss rod thumb wheel along with an allen wrench for the bridge. My ray24ca came with a 4in metal rod that fits in the truss rod thumbwheels holes that allows u to insert in the holes and turn the wheel.
I have a SUB model stingray. Are the specs the same?
is this the RAY24? If so, how is the thin neck holding up?
Action and neck relief specs are just a starting point. You can adjust to your personal taste and playing style. I have my action very low for easier playing. I get some fret buzz when playing harder but I'm ok with that and sometimes that sounds good and gives it a nice "bark".
you forgot to say about pickup height if the chords have to be pressed down or not at last fret...
Some sources seem to suggest that the capo should be placed *upon* (i.e., making contact with the top of) the second fret instead of being placed between the first and second fret as shown here.
You should put the capo directly on the fret.
Nice video! I've bought a new Stingray Special and, following the factory specs on truss rod, I can't get enough relief from 2nd and 12th fret (the wheel is already loose). Do you think it could be a faulty trussrod/neck or is it something that is "normal" in new instruments? It's a 11" radius neck, not sure if that counts. Thank you! :)
Is it possible you have a shim inside the neck pocket that could be removed?
Let's see Paul Allen's Stingray.
Why are you saying 12/64 for the height of the pickup ? 12/64 is the same as 3/16
Try being European and having no idea what any of those mean. Are people really counting all these tiny lines of 64th of an inch?
if you are holding down where you would play the 12th fret then you are actually measuring from the 2nd fret to the 11th fret. to include the 12th fret in your measurement you would need to hold down on the other side of the 12th fret
What about D and A strings height?
you measure the E and G string then you set the D and A so that it matches the radius of the fret board. that's what the radius gauge tools are for
I wish I had seen this video a couple of years ago. I had this exact same bass and never could keep the neck from going out of calibration. The luthiers at Guitar Center couldn't either, so I traded it in for one with a maple neck.
Great job with the info. Thanks.
on the HH you can't lower the pickups more than 5/32
1/64th of an inch is .015 in decimal (use that feeler gauge).
no, it's 0.40 mm...
thanks for video, but whats the weight?
different world different measures what 12/64 clearance mean? unit wise
If you break that down to the least common denominator, it breaks down to 3/16 inch. Which is a tad less than 1/4 inch as 4/16th is a 1/4 inch. Got to go back to math class for fractions:)
You can buy a 6 inch ruler which has several scales of measure. Some people find measuring in 64ths is easier, some people use 32nds.
any metric measurements?
Great!
Can't you convert into reasonable language? ie. 16 64ths is a quarter of an inch!
for real. what metric system is being used?
Guitar setup measurement tools are generally marked in 64ths, so that's the unit you use for guitar setups. Well, 64ths and thousandths.
andrea22213 Why not use feet or yards? Don't be stupid.
@@mattfoley6082 I always work in furlongs.
I think he's done that so all the measurements he's used have a common denominator as he's converted the pickup height recommendations given by ernie ball from 32nds. the smallest measurement given for string height is 1/64 so it makes some sense to use 64ths throughout.
You should do every measurement (relief, string height, string to magnet height, intonation) in a playing position, not with the bass laying down because gravity and pickup magnets pull down on the strings. Always measure in playing position, not like this. That should be rule number one when doing setups.
mouthmw I heard that, too, and so when I first started I adjusted everything in playing position and have continued to by force of habit. It's a farce, however. You can totally do it with the instrument on its back. The amount of gravity is negligible, it's minute and makes zero difference. Magnetic pull doesn't change depending on position. The only way you can screw it up, on some instruments with thinner, springier necks, is by supporting the neck at the wrong point.
I do a check and setup on all of my stringed instruments (15 at present) about every three months. Most generally they need little or no adjustment. I also do all the tech-type-work for my friends who lack the tools, ability, or time to work on their own stuff. I probably set up 20 instruments a month. Last year I heard that the playing position thing was bogus, and tested it by doing everything lying down for a good several months, checking measurements in playing position afterwards. In each and every single case, they were all spot-on, zero impact whatsoever.
I was a little ashamed of myself for having blindly believed it for years when logic should dictate that it was of no consequence, but there it was. Since I came up doing everything in playing position, I still do because that's comfortable for me, but it's not necessary.
It's not a farce, it depends on how close you set your pickup to the strings and how strong the pickup is. Neodymium will definitely pull on the strings in close proximity. Also, it's definitely not minute if you're OCD shooting for 1 mm action at the 12th fret. Are you kidding? No change is minute to me. It always needs to be checked in playing position.
mouthmw I always set EVERYTHING up SUPER low and fast (unless requested otherwise), because that's how I like it, even if it means fret/fingerboard work that could go without being done.
Yeah, neo pickups pull hard. Magnets don't pull less hard when you turn them sideways, and neo pickups shouldn't exert much more force than ceramic, which shouldn't exert much more than AlNiCo, if the pickup height is correct. Magnetic pull is a constant force, it's always pulling and it never changes (yeah, I know it gets weaker over time, but not measurably over an appropriate setup interval), so none of that matters anyway.
If you set up instruments with huge strings tuned WAY down low, I suppose it could make an appreciable difference, but I can neither confirm nor deny that. Seems a little far fetched, but I'll concede that it's a reasonable possibility.
Like I said, I make setup measurements/adjustments in playing position, because that's how I learned to do it. I just did it the other way, a bunch, and it affected nothing whatsoever. I'm just saying, to the world at large, do setups however it works best for you. If you find something works better another way, DO IT THAT WAY. Pretty simple.
Fair enough. I'll measure my basses while they're laying down, might not be any difference as you say.
@@mouthmw and how does position of the bass change the orientation of the magnet? it does not.
I set the action for my guitars and basses at 0.012 inches which is a hair under 1/64 inch. Anything much more than that and the neck will have a visible "wow" to it.
You must be a electrician
@@jaredfournier3824 Oops! I meant relief ... not action.