• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Straight Neck

J

Jeff Lee

May 1, 2014
28
12
56
#1
Sorry if this has been covered. My question is: if you set your neck as straight as possible. Like, putting a capo on the first fret, holding down the last fret and using a feeler of. 014. Set the E string to around 3/32" at the 12th fret. The last fret, 20th or 24th, is going to be slightly higher from the top of the last fret to the bottom of the string?
I'm saying having your neck straight as possible without the strings chocking out.
 
#2
It's trial and error, really. You need to see how low you can get it with your strings of choice, your bass and your playing style. There aren't really any magic numbers that work in all situations. Just objectively, though, what you describe sounds like an awfully low action. I would think it would be very hard to prevent buzzing unless you use very taut strings and play with a very light touch.

You could still try a very straight neck and see how low you can get the strings. Just keep tweeking it and find the balance you can live with. Every set up is a series of compromises.
 
#3
I set up all my basses with a perfectly straight neck and low strings. I play with a fairly soft touch, and play right near the bridge. The nice thing about it, is if I dig in, I do get some buzz, but it just gives it a bit of an aggressive tone. A luthier I used recently told me it was "impossible" to have a straight neck without buzz. I got the bass back and the action was about 3/4 of an inch high. I had to remove the neck & re-do my setup. Worst of all, he charged me for the setup as part of the fret leveling.
 
#4
I set up all my basses. For the last 30 years from your experience mactac. I usually hold down the E or B string at the first and last fret and eye ball it and tap it at the 8th fret. Just enough so a business card will slid through. I do us measurements on the strings. Like 5/64" or 1/16" at the 12th fret and work from there. The reason is I figure, If I'm not playing up to par, it's me. Not the bass.
 
Last edited:
#7
If you have some relief in the neck, it's possible for string height at the 22nd fret
to be the same as the height at the 12th fret. It could even be less with a lot of
relief. That is why the higher frets buzz with too much relief.

-
 
#8
Jeff Lee said:
...as straight as possible. Like, putting a capo on the first fret, holding down the last fret and using a feeler of. 014.
Click to expand...
mactac said:
I set up all my basses with a perfectly straight neck and low strings.
Click to expand...
Jeff Lee said:
Just enough so a business card will slid through.
Click to expand...
see, there's "straight" and there's "straight"; .014" feels high to me, unless it's a cheap bass and you can't get any closer without causing problems.

the better the fretwork the straighter you can get away with, but i think of it like "the price is right": you're trying for as close as you can get without going over. so i always want to see some relief, even if it's like .008" or .006" for light touch players on really good basses.
 
#9
. 014 was a guesstimate. One of my Jazz Basses, it's closer to . 006. I never really measure. I just sight it. But, my question is, say the G string is 1/16" at the 12th fret, no matter how straight I have the neck, it's going to be slightly higher at the last fret. Even by a couple 64ths of an inch. Or, at least as straight without slimming the neck
 
#10
No, not neccesariy. It is only when the neck is perfectly straight (zero relief) that the string height
will steadily increase above the higher frets. The string height can remain the same above the higher
frets or even decrease as you go to the higher frets when there is some relief.

(edited) The string height can increase over higher frets with some relief - it depends on the height.

-
 
Last edited:
#11
I play my basses with a light touch so I'm able set-up my necks really straight without any fret buzz. At my 12th fret, I measured slightly less than 1/16" (1.2 mm) on G, D and A strings and slightly less than 5/64" (1.8 mm) on my E string.

I use a different set-up method that's "avant garde" to the normal basic set-up method.
 
#12
I forgot to mention that some people measure their neck relief and string height while the bass is lying on it's back on a table which is totally wrong. You will ALWAYS want to do this while it's in the "playing" position. The reason for this is the weight of the strings slightly bow itself towards the fingerboard. As crazy as that may sound it's true.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bnolsen
#13
This is an output from my action simulator program. This first image shows relief of .014 at 8th fret using 1st fret and 22nd fret.
Fender spec normally uses the 1st and 17th fret. A relief of .014 would be a slightly flatter neck using the 1st and 22nd frets.


relief1.JPG

This image shows the string heights with 3/32 at the 12th fret. Notice how relatively flat the heights are above the higher frets.
action1.JPG


-
 
#17
Jeff Lee said:
That's a cool diagram megafiddle. I forgot, is Fender's specs .014 of relief?
Click to expand...
I think .014 is their maximum value.
Emanuel Apascaritei said:
Where did you get the action simulator????
Thanks
Click to expand...
It's my own program, still in the works. I am going to be adding quite a bit to it. Right now it only uses
the neck length, and position of the neck heel and the flare into the heel for calculating the relief. It also
allows for different scale lengths and number of frets. You can set the relief at any fret, with any two
frets for the end points. You can also set the action height at any fret.
-
 
#18
megafiddle said:
I think .014 is their maximum value.

It's my own program, still in the works. I am going to be adding quite a bit to it. Right now it only uses
the neck length, and position of the neck heel and the flare into the heel for calculating the relief. It also
allows for different scale lengths and number of frets. You can set the relief at any fret, with any two
frets for the end points. You can also set the action height at any fret.
-
Click to expand...

How can I have it?
 
#19
Some may have noticed a couple problems with the first images. The dots were wrong
and the nut was a zero fret with the string sitting .010 above it.
This is the slotted nut version, showing action and relief.
Sorry about the confusing images.


relief2.JPG
action2.JPG


-
 
  • Like
Reactions: pinz
#20
Emanuel Apascaritei said:
How can I have it?
Click to expand...

I don't expect it to ever have any commercial value, so as soon as I have something in a usable form,
I will probably release it as "freeware". Send me a mail message (so I don't forget), and I will send you a copy.

It still has some rough edges, like the bottom edge of the drawing. It has those steps in it (aliasing).
I have a "blueprint" version of the neck that's about finished that looks really nice.
If there's enough interest, I may make a limited feature version, which can be ready a lot sooner.

-
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ewo

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back