It is extremely accurate. You do need good light overhead and a accurate eye.
I would not be without one. It is my go to tool.
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3 64ths? Are you kiddin?
- Thread starter Ray Matthews
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I would not be without one. It is my go to tool.
I keep one of these in my setup kit. I rarely use it anymore, only because I'm very use to the setup on my sole bass and do it mostly by feel. They do come in handy though.
I have six basses and one guitar. My girlfriend has five guitars, two banjos and two mandolins. I live in Minnesota and with the major weather changes it is in constant use.
I like a very low action on my basses so I am constantly tweaking the truss rods in the fall and spring.
Thank you. Don't usually have a problem. But perfection is only a goal.
Another good rule is to read the entire thread before posting.
Yeah, my bad on that one, I kinda just jumped right into that comment when I saw the mistake. It seems you've been told several times before I did!
This is getting to be one long thread. I'm new to Talkbass but I know string height can be quite a hot topic. So anyway, just to add to the mix, does anyone know what setup James Jamerson used. I've heard many times that he had a really high action, but does anyone know any figures? And what action do some of the big guns use? Geddy Lee or Sting for example!
I find that 4/64 or 5/64 at the 12th fret results in a bass that's fairly easy to play, and is also high enough to forgive minor fret inconsistencies. Going lower than that tends to reveal any fret that may be a couple thousandths (mils? 
) higher or lower than the others, and I'd rather just play it at 5/64 than go to the trouble of leveling frets (if it's not bad to start with).
) higher or lower than the others, and I'd rather just play it at 5/64 than go to the trouble of leveling frets (if it's not bad to start with).
(meaning a millimeter)
Ah, yes! The UK and the USA: two great countries separated by a common language, and in this case, measurement systems.mil = 1/1000 of an inch. That's some seriously low action!
As a young man, I used to obsess over the numbers. Now, I make sure I have a good setup. After all these years, I hold the string at the first fret and last fret, and estimate the relief by tapping the string in the middle, and then tweak the truss rod accordingly. I then cut the nut to just before buzzing by feel and sight, and then set the action to just high enough that it does not buzz, depending on how much I "dig in." Then I set the intonation by ear using various frettings, open strings and harmonics to split the differences that using just the 12th fret octave harmonic can't temper.
By the way: if you don't have a feeler gauge to set relief, and have not done it enough to know what it looks like when a bright light is used to see the gap between the string and the fret, use plain guitar strings. If a 10 thou e string fits, it's usually too much relief; if an 8 thou octave g string (from a 12-string) barely does not fit, then it's probably right there.
Finally, irrespective of "spec" string height, there will usually be one low or high fret, and the end action at the bridge saddle height screws will almost invariably need to be a tad higher.
Epilogue: as above, most guitar "rulers" have not only metric and imperial fractions, but decimal inch increments as well. Every player's gig bag should have one. Measure something all three ways so we all know that 1/64 inch, or .4 millimeter, or .15 inches, is about the same (not getting into ridiculous decimal extensions).
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Turnaround
Commercial User
Can't answer for Jamerson, Geddy Lee or Sting. But I do work for some internationally known bassists and their setups are all over the map. Typically those with a double bass background tend to like their action quite high. Most of the dyed-in-the-wool electric players prefer low action. And one "fusion" bassist I work with likes his action super low - so low in fact that no one else can even play his bass, including me. I frankly don't know how he does it, but when he plays you never hear a whisper of fret buzz. Ridiculous.
Nice! I only have one bass that gets as low as that. I used to have another one. I wish I'd kept it!
I read of people with actions of 2.5mm at the 12th fret, and for me that feels like borderline unplayable even if it works for others. I swapped strings on a bass recently and the action felt awful and on measuring it it was around 2.2 to 2.4mm (I didn't measure it super accurately). A tweak of the truss rod and it was back to 1.8mm and happy land.
My first bass had action measured by the cm. It certainly built up my finger strength.
?? Its a completely different and much better system for measurements. It has nothing to do with whether or not a person wants decimals or fractions.
?? Its a completely different and much better system for measurements. It has nothing to do with whether or not a person wants decimals or fractions.
It has everything to do with decimals or fractions...the whole system is based on increments of ten, using fractions in the metric system is counterintuitive. I don't think you will find a technical or architectural drawing scaled in metric where the draftsman uses fractions.
Is anybody pressing diwn on the first fret when doing these measurements? Because if not then every bass I have ever picked up in my life has got these problems? I've got something wrong somewhere.
I know people say it's ok to have really low action if you play gently. But I can't see Geezer Butler playing gently when in the throes of a 'Paranoid' encore!
I know people say it's ok to have really low action if you play gently. But I can't see Geezer Butler playing gently when in the throes of a 'Paranoid' encore!
This is, or should be, referring to string height at the twelfth fret, measured from the top of the fret to the bottom of the string. The string is not frettted when making this measurement.
Measuring relief is done with a precision straight edge and feeler gauges. In the absence of a straight edge, the string is depressed at the first and last fret (or the seventeenth by some recommendations or another arbitrary fret choosen by others.) to act as a straight edge. This measurement is taken at the seventh (straight edge) or eighth (string method) fret. The benchmark is usually .012". That can vary plus or minus a few thousandths.
Turnaround
Commercial User
FWIW, I depress the string at the first fret and at the body joint and measure the relief at the 6th or 7th fret, depending on the bass. The reason for doing this rather than depressing the string at the last fret is to take any "ski jump" out of the equation. Since there is no way to relieve a ski jump with truss rod adjustments there's a definite disadvantage in incorporating it into the relief adjustments. And the truss rod has no effect on the part of the neck that is bolted (or otherwise fastened) to the body.
IMO.
Good opinion. Good protocol.
There are multiple straight edges, some store bought, some shop made, hanging at the bench. They all hit around F-14 through F-16 and go no further. So the methodology is the same. I only use the string method in the field. Since I rarely have gauges it is only to get an idea of what's going on before an instrument goes in the shop.
