Measuring action & relief

[tbone0813]

What does everyone measure their relief & action with? I've seen some tools at stewmac.com that seem to be very helpful in setting up your basses action & relief. I seem to struggle with getting my action even, and was curious as to how everyone else gauges their setups.

[Digital1955]

Use a "feeler gauge". You can get them at Sears.
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...pecialty+Tools

They are flat pieces of metal with a thickness written on them. You slide them between the fret-top and the string to measure the gap between them.

-Scott.

[Trevorus]

I do it by feel.

[tbone0813]

Do you typically set your action to the same radius as your fretboard?

[Blues Cat]

I do it by feel too, then use the StewMac String Guage to find out what I like. My action starts @ a 2/32 G - 3/32 B.

[fretlessrock]

The StewMac action gauge, the rectangular one, is really useul, as are the radius gauges. Feeler gauges are good when you have tight measurements like at the nut, or shallow relief. I do most of mine by feel, but measurements are great for documenting a good setup. It is a lot easier to get back to a known setup if you have measurements.

You can go nuts with gauges and tools, but unless you are doing repairs you can get away with only a few basic ones.

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

For action, I use a 6" steel ruler. From the top of the 12th fret to the bottom of the string, the measurement should be 3/32" for me. Then I lower the G string and raise the B by 1/64" each.

For relief (which should be set before the action) I press the A string at the first fret, press the strings with my right elbow at the 24th fret and gently tap the A string with my right hand around the 7th fret. It should move down just a tiny bit.