fret buzz and action on a bass

[Benberg]

does it matter how high your strings are from your fret board if your intonation is set up right, and does it matter how they look? like is its a curve, from e and g being lower, and A/D being higher, or a slanted slope downhill? like, E high, A/mid high, D/mid low, G/low

im new to setting my bass up, and would like some info

[electracoyote]

The way you describe action is pretty typical of any set up regardless of action. Relatively speaking, the E will always be a little higher than the A, and so on.

However, high action and intonation are not compatible after a certain point. The further down the string has to go to make contact with the fret, the more you are actually stretching it out of tune.

Nut slot depth will also impact intonation. I nut that is slotted too shallow will again result in the string stretching out of tune when fretted.

THere are some great set up threads and stickies on this site and the internet in general. You should do a lot of reading up on this subject.