Lowering my action on the double bass!

[Bassmark15]

Hey Everyone,

My name is Mark and I am really stoked to be apart of this community! I have been playing bass guitar for a while and have just started to make the switch to upright. Feeling great about it, but the bass I just bought has some pretty high action and was wondering what I could do to the bridge to make it a bit easier to play starting out. Its mainly the D and G strings I want to lower a little bit. Any ideas? I have an adjustable bridge but its on its lowest setting. Could I sand down the spot where the string fits into? What do you guys think?

-Mark

[Eric Hochberg]

Hi Mark. Welcome! FYI, your bass should be easy to play, period, not just while starting out! I suggest taking it to a DB luthier. Chris Symer is on this forum and he will be able to suggest someone good in Seattle.

As a new player, it's best to let a pro take a look and assess what is necessary to make your bass play and sound as well as it can.

[Chris Symer]

Hey Mark, send me a PM anytime you want to get a few names and numbers for luthiers around here. I'd be happy to give you some info to get you pointed in a reasonable direction.

[MJM44Kay]

It all depends on the condition of the finger board. If the adjustable bridge is all the way down, the only way to go lower is to cut it down. That's relatively easy...the question is how low can you go without buzzing and that depends on the condition on the finger board. I keep my bass at 1/4, 3/8, 3/8, 7/16.

[Andrew McGregor]

If the adjusters have bottomed out, there is something else wrong. You should go get a luthier to check out what that is... simply cutting more out of the bridge may be hiding another issue, and in any case may not work since the holes tapped in to the bridge won't be long enough.

Possibly it's as simple as the bridge is in the wrong place, but it is also possible the neck might be bending, or not set right, or the top may be sinking. You need to know.

[samriley]

Originally Posted by Andrew McGregor

If the adjusters have bottomed out, there is something else wrong. You should go get a luthier to check out what that is.

I've got an adjustable bridge on my 1890's flat back, and at the moment the strings are set to about 12mm at the end of fingerboard. the bridge is at its lowest point. I had Ben Puglisi in melbourne set this up. sometimes (but rarely) I try different strings on this bass and wind the action up.
On my gigging (lady head) bass I have a solid bridge set at about the same string height, around 12mm. Its great for guts if going for a big acoustic sound. I've recently encountered a problem where my adjustable bridge snapped at the foot, where the hole is drilled. So I've replaced it with a solid bridge without adjusters and can confirm that the bass sounds so much better/woodier/louder with a solid bridge. good luck!

[Eric Hochberg]

Originally Posted by samriley

I've got an adjustable bridge on my 1890's flat back, and at the moment the strings are set to about 12mm at the end of fingerboard. the bridge is at its lowest point.

To the OP, 12mm is high (at least to me). You should be looking for 5-8mm, G-E. This will give you an easy playing bass. I agree that something besides your bridge height may be going on with your bass.

[Andrew McGregor]

Originally Posted by samriley

I've got an adjustable bridge on my 1890's flat back, and at the moment the strings are set to about 12mm at the end of fingerboard. the bridge is at its lowest point. I had Ben Puglisi in melbourne set this up. sometimes (but rarely) I try different strings on this bass and wind the action up.
On my gigging (lady head) bass I have a solid bridge set at about the same string height, around 12mm. Its great for guts if going for a big acoustic sound. I've recently encountered a problem where my adjustable bridge snapped at the foot, where the hole is drilled. So I've replaced it with a solid bridge without adjusters and can confirm that the bass sounds so much better/woodier/louder with a solid bridge. good luck!

So, that sounds pretty strange to me. Not saying you're wrong, you obviously like it that way, but this is not a 'normal' setup at all.

Ordinarily (for steel or synthetic strings, anyway) there should be about a half mm left when the G string is at 4.5mm, or something roughly like that. Higher for gut strings, but 12 mm seems like a lot even for gut.

[MJM44Kay]

Back to the original question...Mark, I assume the bass you bought doesn't have any major structural problems, just a poor setup. As your first URB, I assume it's a relatively low cost used instrument. Given that, there is relatively low risk with cutting the top off the bridge and filing new grooves. You can pay a luthier if that fits your pocketbook. Shoot for 1/4" on the G or 6mm with a little more on the D, A, and E, with the adjusters, you can raise them later if needed.

The problem will be if there are wear grooves in the fingerboard. Then the low action will cause very annoying buzz...this means resurfacing the fingerboard.

Another caution is, depending on the setup, when you loosen all your strings, your sound post may fall down. Not a big deal, but a real pain to replace if you've never done it.

[rgarcia26]

Originally Posted by MJM44Kay

Back to the original question...Mark, I assume the bass you bought doesn't have any major structural problems, just a poor setup. As your first URB, I assume it's a relatively low cost used instrument. Given that, there is relatively low risk with cutting the top off the bridge and filing new grooves. You can pay a luthier if that fits your pocketbook. Shoot for 1/4" on the G or 6mm with a little more on the D, A, and E, with the adjusters, you can raise them later if needed.

The problem will be if there are wear grooves in the fingerboard. Then the low action will cause very annoying buzz...this means resurfacing the fingerboard.

Another caution is, depending on the setup, when you loosen all your strings, your sound post may fall down. Not a big deal, but a real pain to replace if you've never done it.

Here is how I prevent the SP to fall:



There is lots of ways to achieve this I just doing as an precaution by SP isnt falling, but I don’t want to have to deal with it right now

[mmoehring]

I think we should add, since he is a new urb player: after cutting the bridge, if you do it yourself, make sure when raising and lowering the bridge with the adjusters to raise and lower both sides simultaneously.

Example: if you raise you treble side(g) 1 full turn, then you would need to raise the bass side(e) one full turn.

Just a detailed side note. Welcome to the double bass!

[drurb]

Originally Posted by MJM44Kay

Back to the original question...Mark, I assume the bass you bought doesn't have any major structural problems, just a poor setup. As your first URB, I assume it's a relatively low cost used instrument. Given that, there is relatively low risk with cutting the top off the bridge and filing new grooves. You can pay a luthier if that fits your pocketbook. Shoot for 1/4" on the G or 6mm with a little more on the D, A, and E, with the adjusters, you can raise them later if needed.

The problem will be if there are wear grooves in the fingerboard. Then the low action will cause very annoying buzz...this means resurfacing the fingerboard.

Another caution is, depending on the setup, when you loosen all your strings, your sound post may fall down. Not a big deal, but a real pain to replace if you've never done it.

Even if the assumptions were true (no structural problems, low-cost instrument), I strongly disagree with the advice that this newbie should attempt the work himself. The answer contains many of the cautions. Not only is it a pain if the sound post falls, but he will have virtually no chance of re-setting it himself. He'd also have virtually no chance of maintaining a desirable radius on the bridge. He should get the bass to a luthier. It will be well worth it.

[Chris Symer]

Just FYI, Mark and I traded a few PM's and he is headed for one of the luthiers here that I (and maybe others as well) recommended to him. It will get him headed in the right direction.