Low Action on a Fender Jazz - Measurements?

[curt basner]

Hey all,

I have been setting up all of my Stratocasters to match a certain specific action that is considered low based on the Stewart-MacDonald String Action Gauge. When the Strats are at that action, they are indeed perfect for me (about .055 on the Low E at the 12th fret, about .045" on the High E at the 12th fret).

The gauge paperwork includes a notation about 'factory' settings at the 17th fret for a Fender Jazz Bass, but the notation doesn't make much sense to me; it reads as follows:

All Strings
Factory Spec, 1st fret .022" - .020"
Factory Spec, 17th fret + or - .016"

First question; is this information incomplete or a typographical error? Second question, if you can't interpret the above notation, what would YOU consider low action measured at the 12th and 17th frets on a '64 reissue Fender Jazz Bass?

Thanks for any help!

[daffy]

Is the 17th fret where it joins the body or thereabouts?

From memory, Fender setups are usually done by setting the relief first, then the action and both are done with a capo on the first fret.

So:
- put a capo on the first fret (or hold down the A string), then hold down the A string at the last fret and measure relief half way between the two (so 20 fret board measure at 10th fret, 22 fret board measure at 11th fret, etc). The relief above the fret should be about a business card thickness.

Then:
- with the capo still on the first fret, measure the action at the 17th fret and it should be nominally 0.016" - higher for the E and lower for the G.

You should not have to adjust the first fret action, which is done by hacking/shimming the nut in various ways and is therefore a pro's job.

[curt basner]

Daffy, thanks!

I guess I'm still too much of a guitar guy. I hadn't considered the concept of measuring the action height with the strings fretted at the first fret. That would make sense, given the heights specified. I'll be looking into that. Thanks a bunch!

[BassDudeSA]

I've been playing bass 30 years and I've never measured the action height on any of my basses, ever. Why do I care what the general consensus is? In my opinion one should experiment and set the string height for what is comfortable to you. If you play hard you'll get alot of fret buzz if the action is low, plus the closer the strings are to the pickups the more likely you are to get distortion. However you don't wan't the action too high or it can make playing fluidly harder. I can't stand low action because although it makes it easier to play, everything else is a negative. Fret buzz, possible distortion, and occasional buzzing against the frets even on open strings. Some basses are better than others for low action, but in any event, don't pay attention to any stats and just go with what feels (and sounds) right to you.

[momo]

I don't think you can just pass off measuring relief and action. You might not measure them to the exact spec, but my basses feel great when I set them up to my prefered specs. This is best done with feeler guages, and the difference of a few mms, nearly undetectable to the eye, can be huge in the feel.

[Tactician]

I agree with momo and BassDude. On the one hand I find it useful to visually take a look at the action, as well as how it feels. But in practice you may find that you just can't get a bass down to the sort of low action you might like - the whole thing starts buzzing. In parallel to that, it's so so easy to get used to crappy action and hold up your playing.

But the basic sequence posted earlier is about right. All depends on whether you want to take to filing and polishing frets tough. No polishing - set up the neck relief - you need a steel 24" ruler and either use feeler guages or common sense - adjust the relief - then adjust the bridge height and intonation. The whole thing about putting on a capo is more to do with consistancy as nut heights vary - but if its making that much difference perhaps (certainly?) the nut string slots need adjustment. If you want to get into filing and poilishing you'll need some nut slot files, a fret stone, some fret rounding/profiling files, some abrasive sheets, lemon oil, linseed oil, masking tape, etc. And if you screw up you'll be into fretwire and the LearnYouselfRefrettin' DVD and a whole lot of new and very expensive tools for the workshop. What do you mean your on a budget and don't have a big workshop? (ha ha)

Now I've been happy to do all of the adjustments and fret leveling and nut filing and bridge adjustments and neck relief and pocket adjustment and string guage selection and bridge replacement and string tree adjustment and replacement - but there comes a time when the bass or guitar is too expensive to DIY - and I have to leave some time to actually play guys. So - consider having a pro do this work whilst you PRACTICE!!

[BassDudeSA]

Originally Posted by momo

but my basses feel great when I set them up to my prefered specs.

Exactly. Your own specs is what matters, not what some guide says or whatever is known as an optimum range. IMO the standard or optimum string heights on everything I have seen is waaaay too low.

[curt basner]

Thanks for all the advice, guys. Here's the thing: it isn't a question of wanting to set up my basses to an arbitrary standard that is meaningless as an absolute value. All I really wanted was an idea about what people considered reasonable action on a bass. I'm primarily a guitar guy with a very light touch, and I prefer my guitar action as absolutely low as it can go. That's just my preference, and it helps because my hands are EXTREMELY small.

That said, and me being a not very knowledgeable bass guy, I wanted a reasonable starting point for setting action. Yes, I agree that setting up an instrument to YOUR specs, so that it works for YOU, regardless of the numbers, is the way to go. However, not having the vast experience of most of you, I wanted to see where my bass stands next to a decent initial 'factory' setup. That's all. I did note last evening that my Jazz has a VERY large bow, and will certainly benefit from a truss rod adjustment, which will bring the action considerably lower and will probably require an action adjustment at the bridge. But it's nice to have an idea about where you SHOULD be able to adjust action. I actually did find some numbers in my Dan Erlewine guitar repair book, but it is kind of interesting that bass folks appear a lot less anal about setup than guitar guys; they don't do a lot of measuring, just do it by feel.

[floopy]

Fender's own setup info is here:

http://www.fender.com/support/setup/basssetup.php