5 string truss rod adjustment

[kwantize]

I've been checking out the John Carruthers bass setup video series on youtube, and he gives the measurement of .381mm at the seventh fret as sort of a rule of thumb measurement for the truss rod on a four string bass. If this is the case, what would a good rule of thumb measurement be for a five string bass?



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te44eWXd9pc

[JustDavid]

I personally prefer 0.382 mm

Seriously, I use the same procedure for 4s & 5s; fret down on 1st & last frets then measure gap between deepest string (E or B), & adjust truss rod for a business card's gap between string bottom & 8th fret's top.

[megafiddle]

Sounds funny, "rule of thumb", specified down to the nearest micron.

Anyway, that's .015", and I use between .010" and .015" for a 4 string.
A business card is .010" to .012".

If the 5th string is high, as in 'C' above 'G', not high action, a 4 string relief value should work just fine.

If the 5th string is low, as in 'B' below 'E', I would start with a 4 string relief value and only add more relief
if the lowest string absolutely needed it. I wouldn't compomise the other 4 strings unless I had to. For example,
if some extra action height didn't work for the low 5th string, then I would add a little more relief.