An odd technique question.

[Lardass5000]

I have always wondered about 'fret jobs' and 'fret leveling' and 'pleking' etc.
In my 33 years of playing bass, I have always gotten by with being happy with having a straight neck and a good setup with good intonation. And never even considered it.

Now I feel like I'm about to break into a new level of playing and I am wondering how much certain players rely on the accuracy of there fret condition(leveling, etc) to be able to pull off stuff at the highest levels.

I have become spoiled playing fretless and not worrying about those things; or at least different things.

I mean are the best bassists like Andrew Gouche and Hadrien Feraud etc bent about perfect fret condition? Is that a requirement.

I know it is a crazy question. But as I stare down the neck of my #1(fretted) it is starting to look a little "organic", showing its age.

 

[charlie monroe]

In my experience they are good until they aren't.

You'll know.

 

[Kro]

In my experience they are good until they aren't.

You'll know.

That seems to be my experience as well. Set it up the way you like it, and play it until it starts doing weird things that can't be controlled by a proper setup. That's when it needs to be taken to a luthier.

If it just "looks a little organic", but plays great - then keep on playing!

 

[ProfFrink]

IME (and I'm not a pro by any means) playing with a low action makes certain things that are normally associated with to "star" or "virtuoso" bass players, such as faster playing, tapping, playing up the neck, fast slapping, etc much much easier. You can do all these with a higher action, and higher action has some advantages, but generally speaking a lower action is more conducive to learning new and more challenging things, at least for me.

Once I'm comfortable with a technique, it then gradually becomes possible for me to play it with higher action.

Low action is not easy to attain, for at least two reasons:

• Techs don't always fully appreciate how low I want my action to be. The better ones do, but some still set it a bit too high. It's become much easier for me once I started doing my own setups.
• Uneven frets make it impossible. Uneven frets are quite common on new basses, and I'm told that this can also develop over time due to wear and tear (never had a bass long enough to notice).

So back to the OP's Q: I'd say that action does matter, and two ways of knowing are:
a. how do you feel about your own action?
b. can the bass and neck "take" action that's low enough for you, before developing buzzing that's too annoying.

If the answer to any of these is not optimal for you: yes - you may want to look more closely at making improvements.

Another thing to consider is choice of instrument: The more "modern" style instruments such as most higher-level Ibanez SRs, Warwicks, and similar with the flatter necks are usually more "at home" with lower action than the "classic" style P and J basses.

 

[SteveCS]

I have always wondered about 'fret jobs' and 'fret leveling' and 'pleking' etc.
In my 33 years of playing bass, I have always gotten by with being happy with having a straight neck and a good setup with good intonation. And never even considered it.

Now I feel like I'm about to break into a new level of playing and I am wondering how much certain players rely on the accuracy of there fret condition(leveling, etc) to be able to pull off stuff at the highest levels.

I have become spoiled playing fretless and not worrying about those things; or at least different things.

I mean are the best bassists like Andrew Gouche and Hadrien Feraud etc bent about perfect fret condition? Is that a requirement.

I know it is a crazy question. But as I stare down the neck of my #1(fretted) it is starting to look a little "organic", showing its age.

If the fret comdition is getting in hhe way of the music you want to play or preventing the type of setup you need, then its time to get it fixed.
I've had two basses plekked and in both cases it was worth every penny. Not only does the general setup improve , but the feel and response becomes more consistent in all positions...

 

[Groove Doctor]

Give those frets a really good clean/polish/buff and see how you feel. Can make a huge difference if there's caked on goop on the frets.

If that doesn't fix it, take it to someone you trust.