eyeballing relief

[Ryanrocksursock]

whats a good way to eyeball neck relief?

[JustDavid]

Measure it. A set of feeler gauges is cheap.

[electracoyote]

I eyeball it. After 30 years I know what constitutes too much or too little. Plus it varies from bass to bass, so I usually end up setting relief to the needs of the bass instead of one universal measurement. Credit card thickness at its highest is a good starting standard for my needs.

[mongo2]

Originally Posted by electracoyote

I eyeball it. After 30 years I know what constitutes too much or too little. Plus it varies from bass to bass, so I usually end up setting relief to the needs of the bass instead of one universal measurement.

Same here except add another 10+ years.

[kalle74]

I eyeball the relief like this:

Press string down at 1st and 15th frets (it now becomes a ruler). Look for the gap at 7th fret. I shoot for a "thin pick thickness" gap.

Easy.

[unclejane]

Originally Posted by Ryanrocksursock

whats a good way to eyeball neck relief?

sighting up the neck is generally the best way. Look from the heel up to the headstock as this keeps the nut out of the way and it's a little easier to see the shape of the fingerboard.
Ski-jumps, humps and twists are easiest to identify this way too.

Also hold the bass sideways (in playing position). If you lay it flat and hold it by the body, it'll be a little flatter than it normally is in playing position.

On a fretless, the reflection of the strings off the board give a pretty precise picture of the relief as the shadow bends in the direction the relief goes (this may be visible on a fretted too).

A credit card thickness anywhere on the neck with the 1st/last fret measurement technique is almost always too much relief for me (i.e. on my carvin the strings are all virtually right at the board the whole length with this measurement, and only slightly higher on my G&L's). But then again I don't use sighting to actually set the relief, it's just a verification step for entertainment value for where I end up or for looking for problems.

LS

[lethargytartare]

(Method adopted from a teacher) I fret at the first fret with my left hand; fret at the 15th with the pinkey of my right hand; reach with my right index finger back to the 7th and tap the string directly over the fret. If the string is already making contact, not enough relief. I want there to be the slightest of gap, so a light tap hits the fret. If I feel like I'm pushing at all, then I feel there's too much relief.

Measuring is great, though -- you can then get clear values, compare those to what other people are using on their instruments, etc. I hated using feeler gauges, and hated springing for the StewMac action gauge...but that StewMac gauge is easily the most beneficial guitar-tool-purchase I've ever made!

ltt

[andk5591]

I have been doing the same thing as lethargy for years. Works great for me. I am to the point that I know what my bases like and allthough I use feelers for nut height, etc, I go for just a slight gap for relief. If I measured it, it would probably be on the order of .010 to .015." or so for my Fender style basses, but the EB3L likes more relief - probably more like .020", but that one runs extra light strings. If you go through the sticky at the beginning, the Stewmac procedure sugests 0 relief, but its all personal preference.