Double Bass Is action supposed to be even across the fingerboard?

[aguillem]

Hi all,

I am new to Upright and have been renting for the past 6 months. I have tried out a few basses, and the action is usually comfortable at the G string (as low as 5mm) but then steadily increases until I have 15mm+ action at the E string. Is this normal? Or is the action supposed to be reasonably consistent across the strings? What should I expect from a setup (mm of string height) if I buy a bass for playing jazz and want lowish action?

When I quote string heights in mm, I am measuring from the bottom of the fingerboard.

thanks!

 

[Jake deVilliers]

Hi all,

I am new to Upright and have been renting for the past 6 months. I have tried out a few basses, and the action is usually comfortable at the G string (as low as 5mm) but then steadily increases until I have 15mm+ action at the E string. Is this normal? Or is the action supposed to be reasonably consistent across the strings? What should I expect from a setup (mm of string height) if I buy a bass for playing jazz and want lowish action?

When I quote string heights in mm, I am measuring from the bottom of the fingerboard.

thanks!

String heights are just that: the height of the string above the finger board i.e., G = 5mm D = 6mm A = 7mm E = 8mm from the top of the fingerboard to the bottom of the string.

The larger strings have a wider excursion when played and so they need a little more height.

 

[aguillem]

Thanks. So what should I expect as a differential between g and e for a nice setup? Are the heights that I described above normal?

 

[Kael]

String height will depend on personal preference, string type, etc. Generally, lower tension strings like gut are set higher. I use steel strings and generally have my height at 4mm to 8mm (G to E).

The 15mm height on the E you quoted seems a little high to me. That might fly with unwound guts, but I'd hate to encounter a 15mm E on steel. I am of course presuming you are measuring to the bottom of the string and not including the string diameter by measuring to the top of the string.