How high should my strings be?

[ParanoidAndroid]

So I decided to learn bass. My sister has a Fender Jazz Aerodyne, so i decided to work with that for a while. When I played it, it seemed like the action was really high. I put a ruler on the fretboard to measure how high they were, and they're about 5/8 of an inch off the fretboard. Is that normal?

[El-Bob]

no, that's not normal...that's incredibly high. you sir, need a setup

[Koki]

if 5/8 is 15.87mm then it's super high
I recommend you to go to a professional to do a full setup

[ParanoidAndroid]

Yeah i figured it was. Like i said, it's not my bass. Hopefully i can convince her to do it. How high should they normally be?

[Parabolic Box]

I used to play with really high action (to see if Jamerson was really onto something, and because I couldn't fret worth crap), but now... at the highest, it's maybe... 1/8"?

But 5/8" is wayyy too high. How bowed is the neck?

[Ray C Parrish]

Try to find a good guitar tech that is recommended by other bass players. Most techs will set the action way to high, like a guitar. The height really depends on your style of playing. On my 6 strings that I use real soft feel I keep it kinda low. But my 4 string Warwick that I do alot of thumbing, slapping ang plucking I keep much higher.

[Hawaii Islander]

Originally Posted by ParanoidAndroid

So I decided to learn bass. My sister has a Fender Jazz Aerodyne, so i decided to work with that for a while. When I played it, it seemed like the action was really high. I put a ruler on the fretboard to measure how high they were, and they're about 5/8 of an inch off the fretboard. Is that normal?

What fret were you measuring?

Did you measure from the fretboard to the top/bottom of which string?

What's the height between the top of the first fret and bottom of the E string? Same measurement at the 12th fret?

I'm having a difficult time figuring out what you based your measurements on. If you measured from fretboard to top of the E string at the 12th fret, that would be much different than from the top of the fret to the bottom of the E string. My jazz bass has about 5/16th inch space between the fretboard and bottom of the string and about 3/16th inch space between the top of the fret and the bottom of the E string. The E strong is about 3/16th inch in diameter. That would make the total distance from fretboard to the top of the E string at the 12th fret about 8/16th (4/8th) of an inch.

What I am trying to demonstrate is that depending on how you made your measurements, you may not be as far off the normal string height as you think. You may be able to lower the action or tweak the truss rod slightly to get the action you want/need.

[mr-mungo]

What I would suggest is to go and try various basses to see the height you like. Its fairly easy to lower the action.

[Solarmist]

Originally Posted by El-Bob

no, that's not normal...that's incredibly high. you sir, need a setup

+1 Exactly - If you measured from the top of your last fret to the bottom of any string, and got 5/8" your ready for archery! You need a setup - like real bad.
http://www.tunemybass.com/bass_setup/

[TeeMartin]

Anything near 5/8" is ridiculous.