How high or low is your action set/preference?

[dr doofie]

I have been setting my action for 40 plus years by feel only. What is the tool called that you use? I would be interested to see what my numbers are.

I do like low action almost to the point of fret buzz if I play really hard.

almost exactly the size of a credit card
It’s sturdy metal and has every incremental measurement you can think of, and many you can’t
Just can’t read it, though...

 

[ChrisBowsman]

I get the point you are making bud. You picked up on hand/finger strength. I need to go as low and light as I can go as I damaged my left hand and mashed two fingers in a motorcycle accident amongst other bones when I was in my twenties. From then on my bass was a no-no as the ligaments are shot on my first finger and pinky. Switched to a Les Paul copy six string using Ernie Ball ultra lights building strength and movement slowly through the years. Still kept my bass, but was woefully inadequate on it still. However, the guitar playing slowly got better as I learned short cuts and alternative chord arrangements...even played in a few bands. Now I thrash hell out of them. Can't stretch my fingers too far, but you wouldn't notice. January last I saw an add for a Hofner Beatles violin bass, short-scale....I wondered maybe I could handle that with my limited finger span. Ordered it, dumped the strings and replaced them with medium scale flat chromes. Figured that medium scale strings would be less tight. My gamble paid off. £ucking brilliant!!! I am a bassman again. Short-scale zeros out my handicap (no pun intended). Hand strength is still a slight issue, but if I could overcome it on guitar, I will do the same on this little Hofner.

Definitely didn't mean anything negative about people using low action. Just appreciating that people here are secure enough to use what they like without taking shots at others.

Everybody's different. Even though I don't like ultra low action, I do prefer flexible strings, like SIT Foundations, Dunlop Super Brights, or DR Fat Beams. Maybe it just balances out.

 

[dr doofie]

First off, for every applicable post,
That’s what she said!!!!

Now that that is off my chest...
I clank and clunk more than Marley’s ghost on Christmas Eve.
I love the Steve Harris chrome flats beat the hell out of your fingers tone. I just lower the pickups so they’re not overwhelmed
I seems you can have identical setups on two different basses and have huge differences in tone, playability, all the stuff that’s been said already...
I only posted cause I thought the Marley thing was funny...

 

[quindecima]

Funny this should come up as I am doing 3 of my Basses this weekend. The one on the bench right now is set up @.011 relief at the 7th fret under a straight edge, almost 5/64th at the 12 fret and .010 at the 7th fret with a capo across the 1st fret and my finger on the first fret at the body of the Bass. I'll probably set the others close to that all with flats except the current one with DR Black Magic.

 

[Pops OB]

I’m in quarantine. No action at all.

 

[Col the plunker]

Definitely didn't mean anything negative about people using low action. Just appreciating that people here are secure enough to use what they like without taking shots at others.

Everybody's different. Even though I don't like ultra low action, I do prefer flexible strings, like SIT Foundations, Dunlop Super Brights, or DR Fat Beams. Maybe it just balances out.

No negative vibes taken my friend. To the contrary, you picked up on hand strength which for me is a major factor, and probably others too. Good on ya.

 

[steveinohio]

Lowest action without any kind of fret buzz. That pretty much translates into high action for most people.

 

[Thundertips]

When I get a new Bass, I always lower the action a bit. I just figure when you get it straight from the factory that the saddles are set to the neck radius so I just get the allen key and turn the saddle screws the same amount, a quarter turn at a time, until it's as low as I can get it without too much fret buzz. It seems too work. I've been doing it that way for years.

 

[Col the plunker]

Lowest action without any kind of fret buzz. That pretty much translates into high action for most people.

Depends on your guitar

 

[phangtonpower]

When your action gets as high as my jazz it’s impossible to intonate at the 12th as extremely high action throws everything off. But one should have their bass setup either by a tech or themselves. Fretless players have it easier as they can just use their left hand to stay in tune, that is if one can play fretless in tune ( not easy if you don’t strictly play fretless or double bass).

exactly.

 

[Col the plunker]

When I get a new Bass, I always lower the action a bit. I just figure when you get it straight from the factory that the saddles are set to the neck radius so I just get the allen key and turn the saddle screws the same amount, a quarter turn at a time, until it's as low as I can get it without too much fret buzz. It seems too work. I've been doing it that way for years.

Me too, even on six string guitars. Also altering the truss rod.

 

[zontar]

I probably have my action a bit higher than most.
Too low and it's harder for me to play--and more fret buzz.
And with fretted bass anyway--it's easier to bend strings with slightly higher action (Which actually is the same for me when I play guitar)
With fretless I don't really bend stings, but same thing--I prefer the feel & the control I have with action a bit on the high side.

But just a bit.

 

[chris_b]

I prefer to play with a lighter touch but I will play harder if the gig requires it. I have never measured the action of any of my basses. If I'm setting up my bass I take the saddles down until the strings buzz then I take them up until they don't. That's the level of my analysis.

 

[skortch]

Hmmm. The past ~5 years I've been setting up my bass by feel. Adjust the truss rod to get a bit of relief and then adjust the saddles to eliminate most fret buzz up and down the neck. Done. I can then play fingerstyle, slap, and pick with not much fret noise and good tone.

Out of curiosity I just measured my 5 string basses. At the 12th and 17th frets I measured 3 - 3.5mm (.12 - .135") on the B and 2.5 - 3mm (.1 - .12") on E-G. That's a bit higher than Fender spec. I guess that's medium to medium-high action?

Maybe I'll try a bit lower next time but really I dislike fret buzz.

 

[ChrisBowsman]

^ I’d call that a solid high

 

[ChrisBowsman]

And with fretted bass anyway--it's easier to bend strings with slightly higher action (Which actually is the same for me when I play guitar)
With fretless I don't really bend stings, but same thing--I prefer the feel & the control I have with action a bit on the high side.

But just a bit.

Agreed. Bending into the next string without it getting caught under your fingers is better.

 

[kinopah]

I'm pretty particular about action/relief - the result of my 1st two years on a pawn shop Aria Pro II with a hysterically warped neck. You could hunt deer on that thing and the action was about the same as the neck thickness. Way worse than my upright.

I can be friends with pretty much any bass, but I really don't want to own one without a neck that's pretty much laser-perfect and can handle low action without buzzing out. I like ~2mm (at the highest fret) with just a touch higher on the E... but I still want to be able to play hard and not sound fretty. That combo makes for kind of a tall order, and I've gotten rid of P's, J's, and Rays which I loved but just couldn't get there.

It's funny because I'm not particular about much else in life and again, I don't have a hangup about playing pretty much any bass. For the ones I keep though I think I just appreciate the precision (pun) of a bass that allows for low action with a straight neck.

 

[GIBrat51]

I like the action on my basses low. How low? Depending on the bass;
- as low as it will go, with a just a little fret buzz when I play normally (for me); or,
- as low as it will go, with no fret buzz, when I play normally (for me).
So, exactly how low is that? Depends on the bass, and the brand/type/gauge of the strings. I have 23 -or is it 24? - basses; and I'm not what you'd call a "one kind of string on everything" kind of guy. I need a cheat sheet to keep track of what bass wears which strings...

 

[Matt08642]

SR505E with a 12" radius, measured at the 17th fret: 6/64" for the B, 5/64" for the other strings

 

[Samatza]

I've tried setup by feel several times on several basses and when it feels right it's always pretty much the same measurements; 2/32" for the G and 5/64" for the E, relief is .010 to .012. This plays buzz free unless I pluck hard near the end of the neck and then it gets a bit raspy at the attack of the note.

I've had it lower in the past but it took plucking near the bridge with a light touch to avoid fret buzz, over the years it's gone a little higher but in general I think those measurements would be considered low action by most people.