Nut on a Mighty mite neck

[rdhbass]

I have a jazz mighty mite neck on my bass, with that high plastic nut. when i string it up the action is way high. how much should i lower the slots. I heard that you lower them enough so that while pressing a string on the third fret, the string is supposed to barely touch the first, is this correct???? somebody help me. thanks.

[JLS]

Are you certain that's the reason the action is high?

I really think you should take your bass to someone who knows what he (or she) is doing; if you're lucky--and ask, nicely--they might show you the ins & outs of instrument setup.

[rdhbass]

MM necks are very different in that the frets are very low from the factory, yeah, the neck is straight, with correct relief, im just asking nut slot height. And i think what i described is correct. pressing at the 3 or 4th fret you need about a credit card clearance over the first fret i guess. Can someone comment and not keep secrets.

[Ric5]

try adjusting the truss rod first, then you can grind away at the nut.

[Turnaround]

Originally Posted by Syberslack

I heard that you lower them enough so that while pressing a string on the third fret, the string is supposed to barely touch the first, is this correct???? somebody help me. thanks.

That is not correct. While pressing at the third fret the string should just clear the first fret by a few thousandths, NOT touch it. But even this setting is correct only if the neck relief has already been dialed in, the frets are true and the strings are properly seated in the nut.

[Turnaround]

Originally Posted by Syberslack

I heard that you lower them enough so that while pressing a string on the third fret, the string is supposed to barely touch the first, is this correct???? somebody help me. thanks.

That is not correct. While pressing at the third fret the string should just clear the first fret by a few thousandths, NOT touch it. But this setting is correct only if the neck relief has already been dialed in, the frets are true and the strings are properly seated in the nut.

[rdhbass]

Originally Posted by Turnaround

That is not correct. While pressing at the third fret the string should just clear the first fret by a few thousandths, NOT touch it. But this setting is correct only if the neck relief has already been dialed in, the frets are true and the strings are properly seated in the nut.

i meant to say "just barely clear" it. Though I measure relief by " the capo the first and credit card thickness of relief under string at 7-8th fret" while your holding the string at the 20th" school of thought. I don't measure with feeler gauges and I should do it. These frets are real low on a mighty mite, i want to slap and its just never right feeling. Oh well.

[Back'N'Black]

I'm no great bass player or anything but I've set up quite a few basses and guitars for people. You have to do things in an order.

First get the neck reasonably straight with the tension rod.
Then set the string bridge height, press strings around mid-upper frets to see where youre at, minimum distance without buzz coming through amp, depending on how close you want to cut it buzz will come off of bass.
Now recheck neck straightness.
Next you are ready to cut the nut down. Again minimum distance without fret buzz on 1st fret (assuming the neck/frets arent fubar)
Lastly set strength length, tune perfectly and then hit at octave. If its flat, shorten string, vice versa.

Neck adjustments may continue to move days later so its importent to not overdo it

[ByF]

If you've gone through the setup and ALL the nut slots are high by the same amount, it is sometimes easier to take the nut out and sand the bottom. That way, you reduce the risk of having one of the slots too deep--they all go down uniformly.

ed

[Back'N'Black]

Originally Posted by ByF

If you've gone through the setup and ALL the nut slots are high by the same amount, it is sometimes easier to take the nut out and sand the bottom. That way, you reduce the risk of having one of the slots too deep--they all go down uniformly.

ed

Except they may not need to go down uniformly. I've used foil out of cigerette packs to bring them back up, works great. The deal is how close a person want to set it up. Just for fun once I set up a guitar at the absolute limit, buzzing like crazy (not through the amp though). This guitar player was flat out the best I've ever been around. He went freakin nuts with the setup, but a setup like that needs constant maintenence.

[JLS]

Originally Posted by ByF

If you've gone through the setup and ALL the nut slots are high by the same amount, it is sometimes easier to take the nut out and sand the bottom. That way, you reduce the risk of having one of the slots too deep--they all go down uniformly.

ed

This is just flat wrong.

[ByF]

Originally Posted by JLS

This is just flat wrong.

Explain please.

Ed

[ByF]

Originally Posted by Back'N'Black

Except they may not need to go down uniformly.

Agreed; that's why I said "ALL the nut slots are high by the same amount." If they are all too high by .010", and I remove .010" from the bottom of the nut, all the nut slots will be lower by .010", right?

If the OP has a brand new neck with a factory made nut, that is likely to be the case. Actually, I had a new fretless neck that was like that; the manufacturer had obviously used a nut for a fretted neck, so all the nut slots were too high by the height of the missing frets. I took that much off the bottom of the nut, and the setup was very close to what I needed.

Since the discussion showed that the MightyMite neck has low frets, I thought this might be a helpful suggestion.

Ed

[Back'N'Black]

It depends how anal you are on setup and its unlikely theyre all exactly the same too high. Since I was a mechanic and am now a finish carpenter I dont mind tinkering with setup.