How much is too much?

[Sindri907]

So I just got my bass two weeks ago, and Im trying to set it up. Ive been moving slowly because Ive read that it takes a while for some changes to take effect (i.e. Ive had to retune it a bunch of times).

Anyways, I was wondering what some good guidelines are for neck relief and action height. My neck was arrow straight, and I was getting a lot of bad string buzz, so I took 1/8 turn out of it, let it sit over night. The neck had a bit of an up bow, ever so slight, and it did clean up some of that nasty buzz. I still get a lot of buzz, and Im sure some of its due to my sloppy n00b technique. But, my action seems ludicriously high (1/4 of an inch or so) and Im still getting it if I fret the E string around the 3-5 frets, and I get it on the A string all over, no matter how hard or soft I fret it, and completely open.

Also, I can't seem to get the darn intonation on the thing. All my strings are sharp at the 12th fret, but when I pull the saddles back, THEY GET MORE SHARP!!! What gives?

[Rick Auricchio]

The action is way too high. When you fret a string, you're stretching it, so it will always be sharp once you get several frets away from the nut.

Have you tried lowering the bridge saddles?

[Kyler_Welsch]

I'm certainly no pro, but a new nut possibly? It would make sense to me that if the nut slots are too deep, it would put the strings too close to the frets nearest the nut and if you have really high action, that the upper registers wouldn't be a problem because you have the strings set further away with the bridge. Again, just throwing it out there, not a pro...

[XylemBassGuitar]

Rick's definitely right that the high action will throw off your intonation in the manner you're describing.

Before getting into the nitty-gritty, let me ask what kind of bass is it, how much is it worth and how long have you been playing (since you mentioned your "n00b" technique)?

A bass with action that high and at least a little relief (upbow) in the neck shouldn't buzz nearly that much (if at all). If the strings are consistently buzzing in the open position then it's possible that the nut is too low...but beyond the open position, the nut doesn't have much effect on string buzz.

Do you have a set of feeler gauges? If so, let us know what the relief is at the 8th or 9th fret (measure with the feelers when fretting the low E at both the first and last frets). It's possible that adding a little more relief will clear up the buzzing at the low E's 3-5 frets, and maybe some of the buzz on the A.

[Sindri907]

Thank you for all the replies. As an update, I tweaked with it a little bit more and it's a lot better. I checked my tune, and it was slightly flat, esp. on the E and A strings. Putting them in tune cleared it up a lot. I was sick last week when I posted this, and I tend to get cranky and short of patience when I'm not feeling well. I took my time and went back and methodically adjusted each of the saddles. I raised them up, then lowered each one to where I would just barely get some buzz and then raise it a fraction of a turn. The A still buzzes a bit when I'm aggressively playing, but it's nothing I can't live with for now.

To answer your question Xylem, it's an SX left handed J-Bass copy. I got one of those starter packs with the amp and all that for about $180. I got it because I'm a lefty and most basses come at a premium for a left handed version and I didn't want to sink a bunch of money in it if I decide I'm not interested. So far I'm loving it.

I don't have any tools here at my place, but next time I get up to my folks I'll remember to grab my feelers and my micrometer.