How low or how high your action is?

[Nasnederis]

I wanted to do a poll about the strings action. The options are: too high, high, medium, low, too low. Also please comment what kind of music you play and why you feel comfortable with that action.

[Chinguschild]

i play rock. I like low action cause. It just feels natural. I like it

[tom once dead]

My action could be a bit lower, but I play in Drop C so there isn't as much tension and if they were lower they would hit the frets too much.

[uethanian]

i dont think anyone will say 'too high' or 'too low.' cause...yea.

"hey man, your actions too high"
"yea, i know, i keep it that way so other people won't play my bass."

[Nasnederis]

Originally Posted by uethanian

i dont think anyone will say 'too high' or 'too low.' cause...yea.

"hey man, your actions too high"
"yea, i know, i keep it that way so other people won't play my bass."

I think James Jamerson was asked that way and had to answer daily just that.

[ehque]

I keep mine too low. Its just right for light plucking, but will buzz when i dig in on stage.

I like it this way though.

[peter jack]

I used to keep it low. But now Im playing with medium-high action. My sound, now, have more punch and "thumpness". I got am improvement in tone, too. My basses, usually, have 045 strings, elixir. But I have one with 040, and its strings are really higher then the others. I can fell the wood now, playing this way. Maybe I'll put 040 in all of them, because of this. Ah: Im plucking, the most part of time, over the end of the fretboard, and its very cool, the sound is great and balanced!!

[Sub5ound]

Mine has always been low, but lately I try to keep it pretty medium. I play a jazz and a P, and I think the tone is just sweeter when you have to dig a little deeper on those basses. I keep it as low as possible on my 5 string though.

[xshawnxearthx]

i've always been a medium guy. i could go lower, but i have a heavy hand and like to dig in to get a little clank when i need it. if i went lower it was just buzz when i play live/

my bass that tuned to D is a little higher. it's ok. the tone is good, but i prefer the medium.

[thetawaves]

low action on the warwick...makes speedy runs a whole lot easier.
high action on the gould...you get a nice slap sound from the thing as a result.

Horses for courses

[CapnSev]

I said "too low" because it's pretty friggin' low. It works great for the way I play, but other people that pick it up have issues.

[thewickedcool]

I play with it at medium height. I'd like it a little lower for when I'm just jamming at home and practicing by myself, but my main gig is a punk band and I use a pick 90% of the time when I'm playing with them. So I set it just high enough so that the frets barely buzz when I really dig in with the pick. It ends up at a pretty comfortable height this way.

[Valerus]

Medium, but I don't like it too high.

[GianGian]

Quite low...and I dig it, it always buzzes. I play mainly rock and metal.

[awakefie]

What? No Carrots?

[Ampeg SVT]

Mine is soo low, it is soo easy to play.

[Sub5ound]

I played some guys ripper the other day and it's strings felt like they were 14 feet off the fingerboard. I asked him if he liked it that way and he said yes. To each his own I guess, but damn! Another guy I know has all his basses set up high too. I just can't function on the bass if the action is too high. But there are benefits to it, I guess?

[selfblessed]

I guess mine are set up medium. Medium to me.

[KsToaDangr]

I've got mine set up in between low and too low.

[Dave Muscato]

I set mine extremely low. Most bassists who try out my basses find them pretty much unplayable. I came to bass from classical guitar and have a very light touch/"proper" technique.

I play sessions, all genres of music, but acoustic/folky stuff, jam-band, CCW, funk (modern slap & Motown), hip-hop, and hard rock are my favorites.