Setting up by feel

[Youngspanion]

Hey guys I'm setting up my bass by feel. I don't have any 'measuring' tools to check for hight or gaps.

The thing I still do not understand is the balance between the neck relief and the saddle hight. I do not understand if I want more relief and less hight on the saddle or if I should straighten the neck out some and raise the saddle's.

The ultimate goal is to get the lowest string hight and the least amount (none) of buzz from the strings rattling against the frets.

I've searched. I'm still lost. Is there help out there for me?

[Floyd Eye]

You can sight relief, although a capo on the first fret, pressing down on the last fret and using a piece of paper under the 12th fret is more reliable, if less reliable than actually measuring the relief. The paper should just slide under. You can also eyeball it ( in playing position). Lower all saddles the same amount of turns to retain fretboard radius. Go 1/4 turn at a time until you get buzz, then go back up 1/4 turn.

[gidbass]

I have always just set up based on feel. The only tool i use for measuring is a nickel. If my E and G can hold a nickel on the 12th fret while not fretting a note, then I am in my sweet spot.

I use the technique Floyd Eve mentioned about fretting the 1st and last fret with the paper check as well.

Good Luck!

[funkyebk]

I always set up by feel and eyeballing things until the last year. I invested a whopping $10 in a set of feeler gauges and half decent straight edge... I thought I was the shiz.

That is until a few months ago when I began working with a shop that had a full set of tools and gauges and I saw how "off" I was.

You can do it with improvised tools and using your eyes and feel, but every once in a while having it done or using proper tools is great, not just for your bass, but for your own knowledge... it kind of gave me a renewed love of my basses.

[Sundogue]

Neck relief is somewhat independent from saddle height (action).

There has to be some neck relief to prevent strings from buzzing when fretted. However, how high the action you want is about saddle height. No matter how high or low you want the action on your bass, the neck relief should be the same regardless.

[96tbird]

Set your relief first; you need a kickoff point and this is it. Ok to use a business card (feeler gauge is better) at the 8-9 frets, fretting the first and last. The card barely lifts the string when slid under; just a tiny bit of resistance, about .008". Then set action for no buzzing. If then your action is higher than you like and you only have a few frets buzzing, you have some high frets that need attention.
The less relief you want, the more perfect your frets will need to be. Same with action. Too much relief can cause other fret issues, so you have to get it within spec first. Minor trussrod tweaks after can help with some buzzing, but its best to fix the offending frets.

The relief is to allow room for the string to move when playing on the lower frets; 3 to 12 (thereabouts). As you say, it's a balance, so you need the starting point of relief. Then the lowest action you can get will point out bad frets. Once you get perfect frets, you can use less relief and get the lowest action.

Edit; (feeler gauges are cheap, get some at any hardware. Search YouTube for Carl Pedigo of Lakland. Good video to compliment Drozd's free setup book.

[FunkMetalBass]

I always set up by feel, mainly because my basses are in different tunings. However, once I find the perfect settings for each bass, I take measurements so that I can take the guess work out of doing the setup 6 months later.

[DiabolusInMusic]

Spend the money/time get the tools I went by feel/eye for years and wish I would have got off my lazy butt and made radius gauges for the fretboard years ago, really helps. The feeler gauge isn't really a suggestion, it's a demand, your only screwing yourself by not dropping the 5-10 bucks.

Also just use jerzydrozd's guide, tools or not, it's VERY informative. Only place I found to get good double truss rod info, and I looked high and low for a while.

[darius8]

I don't use feeler gauges either, I just use the same hex key(allen wrench) that I use to adjust the saddles: 1.5 mm. If it barely slips thru the 19th fret and no audible fretbuzz, I'm good to go.

[darkstorm]

I do setups by feel and sight. Near dead straight neck and lower string saddles for just musical string rattle with no notes fretting out.

[mech]

Overall action height is also set by the height of the slots in the topnut. It's the most overlooked thing when setting string height. Topnuts are always cut high on assembly line instruments to ensure no rattle on open strings.

mech

[Rodger Bryan]

Originally Posted by FunkMetalBass

I always set up by feel, mainly because my basses are in different tunings. However, once I find the perfect settings for each bass, I take measurements so that I can take the guess work out of doing the setup 6 months later.

+1

After I found the setup that worked, I measured it so that I can replicate it. If I feel that the relief has deviated much from .008-.009", out come the feeler gauges and toolkit. (particularly in late December and May.)

In a pinch, you can use a guitar E-string that has your preferred gauge.

[walterw]

Originally Posted by Rodger Bryan

In a pinch, you can use a guitar E-string that has your preferred gauge.

not even "in a pinch"! bits of guitar string make for great feeler gauges in thin sizes, maybe better than regular ones.

if that bit of .010" hi E string catches when you slide it under the string at the 8th fret with the first fret capoed and the last fret held down, you can easily adjust the rod until that bit of string just slips through. it's easier to see than trying to tell if that regular .010" automotive feeler gauge is actually pushing the bass string up when it slides under.

i've made relief gauges for folks by taking a piece of dowel rod, drilling a little hole in the end, and stuffing a short piece of the right thickness guitar string in there. (i bend the free end over at a right angle so it won't stab anybody.)

[fourstringdrums]

I always set up by feel. I adjust relief first, and I find that if I fret at the 1st and 17th and press at the 9th, the string should just barely move when pressed. To me that has always worked to help me get the relief in the ballpark. Then when it comes to the action I just play until my plucking strength produces no buzz if unplugged, as long as I'm playing as hard as I might if I was plugged in.

[Zooberwerx]

A capo is $20 and feeler gauges are $4 (at Pep Boys). For the most part, I tweak based on "feel" and visual confirmation but use the gauges to determine where I am when finished.

BTW, a feeler gauge is just that. When pinched lightly between the fingertips, you can quickly discern which thickness(es) pass freely and which meet resistance between the string and fret.

Riis