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The day I discovered high action

I

InternetAlias

Dec 16, 2010
1,937
1,817
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#1
For years I have been playing bass set up to extreme low action. Since there was a lot of fret buzz and I play rather aggressively, I've damaged frets severely, so I figured out I will have to raise action since I've got a few dead notes. I raised action from 1mm to 5mm, setup pickups to compensate and started playing out.

WOAH!

This is like the biggest discovery in my life. I always thought I'd hate action this extreme, but it turns out I get way more dynamics, way less fret buzz, and an overall MUCH punchier tone.

Anyone else feels like this and uses high action for this reason?
 
#10
I am actually lowering the action atm. Half a turn on all four saddles and both screws, then I play some lines I often play to hear if there'll be some buzz. The thing is, I've got so used to hearing buzz and choked notes that I'd play strings 1cm off the fretboard if that'd eliminate that issue.

christianharger said:
wow. I would be a terrible bassist if that was my philosophy.
Click to expand...

If I am on talkbass, what do you think, which days happen more often - practice days or no practice days? Yeah :D
 
#12
I love high action. It slows me down.

I keep my five and six string basses as close to the frets as possible, without buzz, but my 4 string in outrageous. I'll have to measure it, but it's really dang high.

I actually have to push down on the strings for the rare instance I go above the nith or tenth fret. But that's not what my four string is for, so it doesn't happen often.
 
#17
Low Action Advocate Here...a little fret buzz is ok...still need good slap tone along with finger style. 4 hours a night 5 days a week = fretbuzz is just fine...my fingers don't need to travel any more distance than necessary to hit notes..
 
#20
PDGood said:
1 vote for as low as you can get without buzz. Best of both worlds.
Click to expand...

My method too. Once I've got neck relief set correctly, I drop the action at the bridge until it buzzes. Then I raise up a quarter of a turn at a time until it stops. Then I lower an 8th of a turn, and so on and so forth until I've got it as low as possible without buzz. I may slightly raise certain strings from there to follow fretboard radius.
 

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