Nut height

[Ryan Mohr]

I seached a lot but I wasn't able to find any exact measurements. What should the nut height be on a standard 4-string J or P bass? I'm talking about the distance from the bottom of the fretboard wood to the underside of the string at the nut.

[dmusic148]

That's not the right way to measure- what counts is how high the strings are off the first fret, which varies depending on fret wire size, condition etc.
A good method is to fret a string at the 3rd fret, then measure the gap between the string and 1st fret. I go with about .008"- .010" at the E and A strings, and around .003" - .005" at the D and G.

Edit: I just measured a P bass that I set up and really like. I ended up with:
E- .010"
A- .008"
D- .005"
G- .003"

[Ryan Mohr]

Thanks!