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Double Bass NS Neck relief question

O

onkelpo

Dec 1, 2004
32
0
UK
#1
Hi all.
Firstly I apologise if this has already been covered in another thread but could not find anything in searching.
I've just picked up a used CR4M. Although I've played bass guitar for 20+ years this is my first venture into EUB and as expected its a major learning curve.
For optimum setup, how much relief should be in the neck of the CR and how is this gauged ?
Is it a similar to the way a bass guitar neck would be set with a credit card width between string and fingerboard whilst fretted at 1st and 12th position.
Also what is the lowest acceptable string height to fingerboard that other players have found useable.
Any advice is welcome.
 
#2
Related question: I have an EU5, and my action is pretty well dialed in (I think) and low. There are two bad notes on the G string Ab and A (minor/major 9 above open string). I would to fix the buzzing on these notes, but not raise the action.

I'm thinking a quarter turn of the truss rod might do it, but which direction. Should I increase relief? Reduce relief and maybe raise the bridge height a smidge to compensate?
 
#3
onkelpo said:
Hi all.
Firstly I apologise if this has already been covered in another thread but could not find anything in searching.
I've just picked up a used CR4M. Although I've played bass guitar for 20+ years this is my first venture into EUB and as expected its a major learning curve.
For optimum setup, how much relief should be in the neck of the CR and how is this gauged ?
Is it a similar to the way a bass guitar neck would be set with a credit card width between string and fingerboard whilst fretted at 1st and 12th position.
Also what is the lowest acceptable string height to fingerboard that other players have found useable.
Any advice is welcome.
Click to expand...

There really is no optimum. Just with an electric bass, it is all dependent on how and what you play. With an upright bass, relief, or more often on this side of TB called camber or scoop, is measured using a straight edge on the fb rather than stopping the strings.

With an acoustic DB, you often need higher string height to get the volume you need, and if you bow, you'll need it a bit higher as well. It mostly depends on your technique and what kind of sound you are looking for.

If you are playing an EUB pizz-only, you can get away with it being pretty low as you are amped all the time anyway. Although, if it so low that it rattles excessively when you dig in, you may find yourself limited as you how you can express yourself tonally.
 
#5
half a turn clockwise to straighten the neck, followed by raising the bridge a bit did the trick. Action remains low but no more buzz on the Ab and A.
Click to expand...
Out of interest, what is your string height around the 12th position ?
I have not touched the setup on mine as yet, although could get a way with lowering the strings a little I guess.
 
#6
I've just bought a new CR5M and after a long flight back from California to Australia, I'm trying to set it up for the best sound and feel.

I'm unsure however between the relationship between bridge height, and neck relief, and their effect on the sound and tuning of the instrument. I'm crossing over from a BG player to learning the EUB, and I find that I'm still relying quite a bit on the note markers on the fingerboard as I train my fingers to the 41.5" scale.

However I'm finding that the markers are off from the true notes. Is that normal? I've measured as much as a 5mm offset between the octave mark and the true note (the real octave is 5mm higher on the neck than the marker position). There is also a difference on the marker for the 4th and the real note position when compared with the next string. Can this be corrected by adjusting the bridge height and neck relief? Should I just ignore the dots (paint them black?)
 

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