fret dress on new basses

[JazzyLambert]

A guy I know has his actions very, very low on his basses. I can't get mine as low as his without problems.

He told me that he gets every bass he owns fret dressed even if they are new. (Except his '95 Fodera Monarch which was absolutely perfect when he bought it)

He owns decent quality basses too, like high end Yammys and Steinbergers.

Should I get my new bass fret dressed to have a super low action? The frets are near perfect now as far as I can tell, butmaybe a fret dress will enable me to get the freakishly low action that I love?

[Eric Moesle]

On most production instruments, yes, you can usually get better action by having the frets levelled and redressed.

High end and custom builders usually take extra time and care to do a good levelling before sending the bass out.

My 08 Fender Jazz V is the first production bass I haven't felt a need to level when new, though I bet I could still get a tiny bit better action out of it if I did, but the action is plenty good enough that its just not worth it to me at this moment.

[JLS]

Originally Posted by JazzyLambert

A guy I know has his actions very, very low on his basses. I can't get mine as low as his without problems.

He told me that he gets every bass he owns fret dressed even if they are new. (Except his '95 Fodera Monarch which was absolutely perfect when he bought it)

He owns decent quality basses too, like high end Yammys and Steinbergers.

Should I get my new bass fret dressed to have a super low action? The frets are near perfect now as far as I can tell, butmaybe a fret dress will enable me to get the freakishly low action that I love?

It seems to work for him, maybe it'll work for you, too. Powers of deduction, y'know.

[Zooberwerx]

Originally Posted by Eric Moesle

High end and custom builders usually take extra time and care to do a good levelling before sending the bass out.

True, but I've run across a couple that needed significant FB / fret work within the first two years of life. One, in particular, that shall remain nameless has developed a significant bow / dip in the 9th-14th fret region that requires re-surfacing and re-fretting. Cause? Probably wood shrinkage, possibly poor surfacing during the build process. Total repair cost: ~$375. Once completed, she'll be a keeper.

Riis