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Credit card thickness?
- Thread starter ByF
- Start date
Ya, I said to hell with that theory and have been adjusting my own basses since I started owning them. And that has worked fine, never damaged one or broke on and my latest bass and they went in order of least to most valuable so the stakes were lower in the beginning.
I adjust my relief until the string just rests on the frets, then back it off slightly. I'm going for just-under-dead-straight when i set up my bass.
After trying to use rulers, business cards, auto feeler gauges etc. on mine and my son's basses, I just broke down and bought this from Stew Mac.
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It's less that 1/2 the cost of one set up trip to a luthier and it's great for other things like setting pickup height and such. It has scales that measure in .010" increments and 64ths. For all the basses, I follow the steps in the Fender manual setting them to the nominal values and then tweak them slightly from there to suit individual playing styles.
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It's less that 1/2 the cost of one set up trip to a luthier and it's great for other things like setting pickup height and such. It has scales that measure in .010" increments and 64ths. For all the basses, I follow the steps in the Fender manual setting them to the nominal values and then tweak them slightly from there to suit individual playing styles.
From a well known companies websight
Neck Radius
7.25"
9.5" to 12"
15" to 17" Relief
.014" (0.35 mm)
.012" (0.3 mm)
.010" (0.25 mm)
and you use the first fret and 17th fret to check the relief with the strings.
Doesn't explain how they think you can adjust relief on some of their guitar where you have to take the neck off though.
Neck Radius
7.25"
9.5" to 12"
15" to 17" Relief
.014" (0.35 mm)
.012" (0.3 mm)
.010" (0.25 mm)
and you use the first fret and 17th fret to check the relief with the strings.
Doesn't explain how they think you can adjust relief on some of their guitar where you have to take the neck off though.
I saw these... and considered. At first glance I assumed one side had Inches and the other had Metric, but no... they're two difference pieces at $19 each. I'm to cheap for that to get both. I'll just keep using my transparent ruler that has both on it already.
Rick Auricchio
Registered Bass Offender
I just checked my StingRay 4. Using the EBMM method of 2nd and 12th frets, the relief is less than .016. Using 1st and 17th, it's just about there. As for how thick EBMM's business card is, one never really knows.
So my eyeball relief setup, done at 1st and 21st frets, pretty much matches Ed's.
So my eyeball relief setup, done at 1st and 21st frets, pretty much matches Ed's.
It was put to me in another thread that if the bass is in good condition you won't need to do the measurements and can do them on the fly.
What I didn't quite understand about this and should have asked is how does that really make a difference? My logic, If you can see a massive bow or any bow for that matter in the neck and its resulting in unacceptable action for you, then you have to keep adjusting the rod until the necks straight no matter how long it takes regardless of if its a well kept bass or not.
Why would anyone spend $hundereds on an instrument and go cheap on tools?
Why would anyone need to keep truss rod adjustment tools "handy"? Will you be adjusting your action just before a gig?
10 bucks will get you all the "special" tools you will ever want.
Why would anyone need to keep truss rod adjustment tools "handy"? Will you be adjusting your action just before a gig?
10 bucks will get you all the "special" tools you will ever want.
I like mine at a "credit cards thickness" because I get less buzz from the lower frets where I play at the most. Having .030" relief (9th) gives a tad more clearance space at the next fret up relative to the one being depressed. I never actually use a plastic card though as I find it easy to gauge by feel, and I always use my G string to measure from as the high side has the most tension. I'm a stickler though for using a Stew-Mac string action gauge for saddle height.
Here's a great site on the subject > Link Removed
Here's a great site on the subject > Link Removed
The string height lines are in .010" increments, but actually measure in .005" increments if you take into account the thickness of each line as exactly .005". Measure the string and add or subtract the height of the line to get the additional precision.
This is a really, really handy tool--I used to use automotive feeler gauges, but this is much faster.
That being said, I still set relief by feel...
5 years later 
anyway, a credit card gap is way too much!
you can get easier playing and clearer tone with less buzz by straightening the neck out to more like the aforementioned .010", then raising the saddles to get the clearance you want.
having a lot of neck bow just puts the extra string height behind your fretting hand where it doesn't do any good.
anyway, a credit card gap is way too much!
you can get easier playing and clearer tone with less buzz by straightening the neck out to more like the aforementioned .010", then raising the saddles to get the clearance you want.
having a lot of neck bow just puts the extra string height behind your fretting hand where it doesn't do any good.
Hopkins
Commercial User
A business card is about the proper thickness, a credit card is a bit to thick. Personally I set them up by putting a capo on the 1st fret, holding the string down on the 20th and tapping the string at the 7th. I have set relief on enough necks that I just do it by feel and by eye.
yeah, me too.
hold down the string at the first and last, look at the gap under maybe the 8th or 9th fret, see how close i can get that gap to going away.
also, i'm checking said gap under both outside strings! if the neck isn't perfect and one side closes up before the other, that's where you have to stop.
I couldn't say the last time I used my feeler gauges to set neck relief on my basses although I did use them for years. I've done it so long now, I just hold down the "E" string at 1st & 17th frets and tap the string against the eight or ninth fret. I've managed to figure out the feel, sight, and sound of the relief gap that's good for me. I know I'm probably getting it around .010" on one bass and maybe .018" on another, but after I play the bass for a few seconds, I can tell if I need to tweak one way or another.
I'm in the .010 camp or thereabouts. I don't usually measure because it's one of my basses and I know where each one needs to be for the current state of the frets. I just don't need tools and if it ends up .008 or .01354864268 and plays well, shoot that's close enough. My fingers tell me the story when I play the dang bass.
That's just me, if you need tools have at it but don't forget to put them down on occasion and play the instrument
At least you all set up your own basses. Another player I know has a $2500 bass and has never set it up in the ten years he's owned it. I played it at a jam (by some miracle) and I judged that his relief is 3/16" and action is 3/8". No hyperbole, truth. I say nothing to him because it's always a drag discussing most things with him about any subject. I'll tell you though that when he used my CV P I got for $175 he sure mentioned that it played not TOO bad for a Squier: A Squier with .010 and 2 - 2.5mm action and the nut filed to perfection.
Relief spec is in the hand of the holder, if you will. It's also in the current state of the bass. My 1962 jazz plays clean with about .005 relief. Suggested and standards are often out the window in real world but we starting points.
In closing, .030 is nuts, time to get the frets leveled if you can't go down to at least .015, at least in my mind. You might think differently. That's cool.
That's just me, if you need tools have at it but don't forget to put them down on occasion and play the instrument
At least you all set up your own basses. Another player I know has a $2500 bass and has never set it up in the ten years he's owned it. I played it at a jam (by some miracle) and I judged that his relief is 3/16" and action is 3/8". No hyperbole, truth. I say nothing to him because it's always a drag discussing most things with him about any subject. I'll tell you though that when he used my CV P I got for $175 he sure mentioned that it played not TOO bad for a Squier: A Squier with .010 and 2 - 2.5mm action and the nut filed to perfection.
Relief spec is in the hand of the holder, if you will. It's also in the current state of the bass. My 1962 jazz plays clean with about .005 relief. Suggested and standards are often out the window in real world but we starting points.
In closing, .030 is nuts, time to get the frets leveled if you can't go down to at least .015, at least in my mind. You might think differently. That's cool.
5 years later
anyway, a credit card gap is way too much!
you can get easier playing and clearer tone with less buzz by straightening the neck out to more like the aforementioned .010", then raising the saddles to get the clearance you want.
having a lot of neck bow just puts the extra string height behind your fretting hand where it doesn't do any good.
As I said earlier - I don't use gauges to set relief, but just for the sake of it - I checked the clearance with one business card (G string), and I had to shake it in order for it to fall out so I guess I was off a little in my distance guess from what it actually is. You didn't need to get smart with me - I'm not new at this.
This is exactly how I do it, but I'm mainly only care about the G & D - I don't mind a little buzz of my E & B.
