Nut slot depth check using the "click" method Question ??

A "click" is pretty subjective. I use a feeler gauge, .022" at the first fret, which takes my judgement out of it. I suppose after having set it, you can memorize what it feels like, but set it with something quantifiable first. Some people use a business card, which average around .020" .

 

To answer your specific question, pressing the string down at either the 2nd or 3rd fret will work. It doesn't really matter much.

Do have one of those small thin 6" steel rulers? Those also work great for checking nut slot depth. Hold the ruler up on edge, resting it in the slot and on the frets. Look at the gap at the 1st; check it with feeler gauges or the business card. You'll get a better measurement against the rigid ruler than against the flexible string.

 

Watch this whole 4 part series on setup, it's the best I've found. He measures .022" between top of first fret and bottom of string. That's a decent conservative number, you might be able to go a hair lower. The part on nut slotting is Part 3 of 4 , but do it all in sequence. I've used this on all my basses, and it's a good starting point. I like my relief and string height a little lower than he suggests, but that depends on how well your frets are leveled, your playing style, etc.

 

Be sure that your neck is dead flat before setting your nut slots too. Also, be sure that your 12th fret action is where you want it. I like to fret at the 3rd position and look for a slight gap between the bottom of the string and the top of the 1st fret since fret height varies so much.

 

I do the "ping" test as a qualitative (yes / no) method of determining the presence of string gap. Methods vary but I depress at the 3rd fret then quickly percuss the string directly above the first fret. You should hear a distinctive ping ring-out. You can further finesse things by sliding a feeler gauge between the string and 1st fret...we're looking for .003-.005". I prefer this method as it is independent of the balance of the string path.

Riis

 

I do the same. It's also a quick to tell when there's way more than necessary.

- John

 

Actually no. You must set your relief how you like it before tweaking the nut slots or anything else for that matter. Without doing that first everything else is off. Your 12th fret action can’t be where you want it without the relief first being set.

 

Um, no. Relief, nut height, action, intonation. Always in that order.

- John

 

The video says relief,bridge,nut,intonation.

 

FWIW that’s the order I do. I use the tap method.

 

John, I do it this way as a safety net in case I cut one of the slots too deep. If I hear string buzz in the open position after cutting the slots, usually by setting the relief and then re-adjusting the action, the buzz goes away. Everyone has their own method.

 

Measure the slots a hair above fret crown height to get them correct. Theoretically, they should be at crown height exactly...but practically, you start them a hair higher, realizing that the slots will "settle in" over time.

 

.022” off the first fret is about where I set the nut slot depth for the “A” or “D” strings, depending on the bass and string gauge / relief I set on that bass. I set the B & E slightly higher and the G slightly lower.

Many luthiers set acoustic guitar nut slot depth to gradually decrease string height off first fret from the low E to high E, something like this;

E - .018”
A - .016 / .017
D - .016
G - .015 / .016
B - .015
E - .014

This helps make the pressure to push the strings to the fret feel a little more balanced and to me, the same principle applies to an electric bass.

This may be a little bit of an apples & oranges comparison, but the percent difference in diameter between two adjacent bass strings is pretty close to the percent difference between acoustic guitar strings.

Bass example: .080 A is 25% larger than a .060 D

Acoustic guitar example: .042 A is ~24% larger than a .032 D

A bass doesn’t feel balanced at all to me if all strings are the same height off the first fret. If a .130” B string on a 5 string bass feels good if the nut slot depth has the string .025” off the first fret, a .045” G string will feel way too high with the nut slot depth holding it .025” off the first fret. On a bass with the B set to .025” off the 1st fret, I would likely set the G string around .020” or less off the first fret.