acceptable string height?

[Cygnus X-1]

*apology in advance, Im not good at explaining technical terms.

I've been trying to get the annoying, tinny, fret buzz out of the 12th-17th frets from my American Deluxe P. I've straightened the neck (1/4 turn each day) as much as I could. While still leaving a slight curvature. My string height is at 1/4" from the fret board. Which to me seems a bit high, but my buzz is mostly diminished. I did add a room humidifier in order to bring up the moister level from 27% to 45%. All seem to be working well, but I still feel that my sting height is way too high. Any thoughts on this?

Also, the strings on the P are the stock Super Bass 8250M NPS,
Gauges: .045, .065, .085, .110TW Taperwound E. I bought the bass new around 9 months ago

My 4 jazz and standard P do not have this issue. And there strings are set at around 1/8th of an inch.

 

[jimmy rocket]

Have you tried adjusting the bridge saddles as well? They're actually the most essential part of the string height. That won't get rid of the buzz, but it'll lower the strings. The buzz up in the high frets is caused (as you correctly identified) by too much bow in the neck. You're heading in the right direction by tightening the truss rod (righty tighty right? Just Checking.) But you can do more than 1/4 turn a day. I know I will be promptly corrected about this, but I've adjusted up to a whole turn at once with no ill effects.

Also, are you adjusting the T-rod with loosened strings? If not, you may want to try loosening the strings when you tighten the truss.

 

[Cygnus X-1]

Have you tried adjusting the bridge saddles as well? They're actually the most essential part of the string height. That won't get rid of the buzz, but it'll lower the strings. The buzz up in the high frets is caused (as you correctly identified) by too much bow in the neck. You're heading in the right direction by tightening the truss rod (righty tighty right? Just Checking.) But you can do more than 1/4 turn a day. I know I will be promptly corrected about this, but I've adjusted up to a whole turn at once with no ill effects.

Also, are you adjusting the T-rod with loosened strings? If not, you may want to try loosening the strings when you tighten the truss.

Hey jimmy, thanks for the quick response.
The nut for the truss rod is at the top(?) of the neck (see photo). So I turned it left (counter clock wise) and the neck began to straighten. It was very noticeable, the neck was really curved. The nut does stick out a bit and worries me a little (did I do something wrong?). I did play with the saddles as well as loosened the strings every time I turned the truss rod. It seems to be a very finicky bass.

 

[jimmy rocket]

Hey jimmy, thanks for the quick response.
The nut for the truss rod is at the top(?) of the neck (see photo). So I turned it left (counter clock wise) and the neck began to straighten. It was very noticeable, the neck was really curved. The nut does stick out a bit and worries me a little (did I do something wrong?). I did play with the saddles as well as loosened the strings every time I turned the truss rod. It seems to be a very finicky bass.

If that's how your truss rod works, I'm a bit at a loss then, because the truss rod adjustment is at the same place on my MIA Jazz, and on mine, turning to the right (clockwise as I look at it) straightens the neck. Left loosens the truss rod. I am under the impression that this is a standard adjustment unless there is something special about your truss rod. I also have to remove my neck to access it, so it's impossible to adjust with the strings on the bass.

You can wait for others to chime in on the matter, but if it's sticking out you may have loosened it enough to disconnect it inside. No worries about that, however, as you can just adjust it clockwise until it threads back in there. If it were me I'd turn it to the right until I felt the truss rod reconnect and then a few more turns to straighten it out. This is going to be tedious as after you get close you'll probably need to string it up, try it, re-adjust, string it again, etc... a few times.

Try holding your E string down at the 1st and last fret. Now look at the distance between the frets and your string in the middle of your fretboard. This is a good indication of neck bow. If you can give us a measurement there we might be able to help you dial it in a bit better.

 

[peterchui23]

hey I got the same bass as yours, Cygnus. The string height is just about 1/8" that is fine with me. I didn't remove the neck to adjust it, instead I remove the pick guard & make the adjustment (so with the strings on the bass). That is more convenient & save time...

 

[Cygnus X-1]

Hey guys, I took some newer photos of the strings and the neck. I hope it helps a little.

Jimmy, I took your advice and screwed back the nut. All seems well.

The reading starts at the 1" mark and ends at 1/4" I know it's a bit hard to read.

Best I can do on neck view

This is the height it must be for there not to be any fret buzz.

 

[Cygnus X-1]

here are three more.

in relation to pick-ups

 

[JLS]

Since you're noticing this past the 12th fret, I'm thinking this is a case of the dreaded "ski jump/fenderitis", where the neck gets a kink around the 14-15th fret, where it meets the body. If this is so, no amount of trussrod
fiddling will have any effect. Try holding your E string down at the 1st and
12th fret, have a look at the relief, and then the 1st and last fret; if there is a significant amount of more relief/forward bow, that's what you're looking at, when the "kink" adds in its de-facto, unwanted, relief.

 

[dannster]

the strings are ridiculously high. you could drive a truck under there.

Are you unable to take it in to have a proper setup and fret leveling done? Any decent shop will help you go over the basics in person. (invaluable).

other than that. regardless of where the nut is it *should* be lefty loosey righty tighty. turn it to the left and it should allow the neck to bow foward. and vice versa.

Never adjust the neck with the strings at tension loosen them up. In your case I would loosen the string till they just start to flop and let it rest overnight. adjust it tune it check it loosen adjust repeat. baby steps. get your neck as straight as possible.

You might check the shim in the neck pocket. if there is one. you might consider putting a thinner one in or removing it. Might help with the higher frets buzzing.

 

[TAZ]

If you follow the set up instructions say from Fender, you should be able to drop the action down to about 6/64 (3/32) at the 17th fret easily without leveling frets. You'll need to ease up your plucking to match the action. If you're power plucker, raise it but if it takes 1/4" to eleminate fretting out, you might want to think about your technique.

 

[Cygnus X-1]

Hey guys, thanks for all the valuable help. I've taken everything said under consideration and have decided to take the bass into the shop this week. I will let a professional evaluate it and hopefully set it up properly.

*UPDATE
I took the Am deluxe P in for a proper adjustment today. It was all taken care of free of charge within 10 minutes. My action is now low and my buzz is gone. Knowledge is power (theirs not mine).

 

[Vytenis]

Hey Cygnus, could you please take some photos of the bass setup (string height from the frets, from the pickups, etc...) that you have now (after the "shop repair")? It would be realy helpfull to have mine MIA Deluxe p-bass setup correctly