For a given finitely generated shift invariant (FSI) subspace rc">rce">W⊂L2(Rk) we obtain a simple criterion for the existence of shift generated (SG) Bessel sequences rc">rce">E(F) induced by finite sequences of vectors rc">rce">F∈Wn that have a prescribed fine structure i.e., such that the norms of the vectors in rc">rce">F and the spectra of rc">rce">SE(F) are prescribed in each fiber of rc">rce">Spec(W)⊂Tk. We complement this result by developing an analogue of the so-called sequences of eigensteps from finite frame theory in the context of SG Bessel sequences, that allows for a detailed description of all sequences with prescribed fine structure. Then, given rc">rce">α1≥…≥αn>0 we characterize the finite sequences rc">rce">F∈Wn such that rc">rce">‖fi‖2=αi, for rc">rce">1≤i≤n, and such that the fine spectral structure of the shift generated Bessel sequences rc">rce">E(F) has minimal spread (i.e. we show the existence of optimal SG Bessel sequences with prescribed norms); in this context the spread of the spectra is measured in terms of the convex potential rc">rce" class="mathImg" data-mathURL="/science?_ob=MathURL&_method=retrieve&_eid=1-s2.0-S0022123616301951&_mathId=si10.gif&_user=111111111&_pii=S0022123616301951&_rdoc=1&_issn=00221236&md5=0b91b5b6d130e6f632890f785810f854">rce" title="View the MathML source" src="/sd/grey_pxl.gif" data-inlimgeid="1-s2.0-S0022123616301951-si10.gif"> induced by rc">rce">W and an arbitrary convex function rc">rce">φ:R+→R+.