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I had a set-up a year ago that I felt was "OK" but it wasn't there yet. I took it with me to Orlando and went to Bass Central. Michael (long-haired dude who sits at the desk) said "Give it to me!" An hour later he'd lowered, raised, widened, and generally probed it in places I'd never dare probe. When he was finished he played about 2-3 minutes on it and wow it sounded like a much newer and more expensive bass. He said he'd 'maybe' moved things a mm at most, that I had it close, but he had it just right. Saying all of this to say he NEVER used any tools to measure anything. He just listened and felt. Of course he does this to about 6 or 8 basses each day so he's gotten very good. But I wish I could just sit down and do what he did. Without tools - probably not. But with tools - I can probably get closer to it. I just finished re-stringing it last week and have spent an hour every evening adjusting maybe 1/4 of a turn this way or that way. Just tiny little moves but honestly I can feel and tell when it's where I want it to be.
I play my APII SB R80 at the factory specs with DR Strings.. Whichever ones are on sale.
Chicken pot pie, 4 for a buck..
Chicken pot pie, 4 for a buck..
Here you go...
Relief - .016" @ 7th fret
Action - 1.8mm @ 12th fret on all strings
Spacing - 13.5mm @ bridge 7mm @ nut measured from edge to edge as opposed to on center
Strings - D' Addario Half Rounds .030 - .045 - .065 - .080 - .100 - .130
EMG DC45s @ 4mm B 3.5mm C - bridge & 5mm B 4.5mm C - neck (depressed at 24th fret and measured @ center of pickup)
I'm really particular about these specs and will reset after every string change, which is around 4 months, as well as any time things feel a little off... I've noticed that I start to feel it when relief is .002" out and action is .1mm off
Relief - .016" @ 7th fret
Action - 1.8mm @ 12th fret on all strings
Spacing - 13.5mm @ bridge 7mm @ nut measured from edge to edge as opposed to on center
Strings - D' Addario Half Rounds .030 - .045 - .065 - .080 - .100 - .130
EMG DC45s @ 4mm B 3.5mm C - bridge & 5mm B 4.5mm C - neck (depressed at 24th fret and measured @ center of pickup)
I'm really particular about these specs and will reset after every string change, which is around 4 months, as well as any time things feel a little off... I've noticed that I start to feel it when relief is .002" out and action is .1mm off
So your telling me you can feel when your relief has moved less than the thickness of a sticky note? I say this because I just measured one and its .003 thick. And the same thing with your action which is less than .004?
Dude you must be an alien!
I'm not saying it's normal, just that I can feel that movement... And I'll sit in the green room for an entire set break dialing things back in from that. It's most likely a manifestation of OCD and years of being meticulous about the measurements being exact...
The only time I can tell a difference in the action or relief is when it happens almost immediately. For instance, I put a Fender Blacktop in the back of my vehicle & drove 90 minutes to get home in sub-zero temps.
When I got home, the thing played like crap. The next morning it was fine.
However, if something goes out of whack over time, I won't notice until there's fret buzz or some other symptoms.
I've been keeping an eye on the humidity lately. It can get too low indoors when it's cold outside. That is another case where I can tell a difference, when the humidity gets really low.
When I got home, the thing played like crap. The next morning it was fine.
However, if something goes out of whack over time, I won't notice until there's fret buzz or some other symptoms.
I've been keeping an eye on the humidity lately. It can get too low indoors when it's cold outside. That is another case where I can tell a difference, when the humidity gets really low.
Same
Absolutely
Sounds about right.
Sorry guys I don't even know how you can measure .002 on a bass. A feeler gauge isn't accurate enough. I've been a machinist for many years and worked in QC for many of those and we hold very tight tolerances sometimes down to .0005. If you make two of the same parts and one is .005 differences you cannot see that very easily without magnification and your certainly not going to feel it. Measure how thick a credit card is. Its about .030. Thats thirty thousandths of an inch thick. .003 is three thousandths of an inch thick. Thats one tenth of the thickness of that credit card! Sitting here I just measured a piece of note paper with a pair of micrometers and its .003. I don't believe your going to feel that! Just a simple change in temparature can make your neck easily move enough to make the strings move .005 to .010 in height not to mention expansion and contraction of the string. Now perhaps if it moved .002 and caused your strings to start buzzing because you just happen to have them set just right then of course you'll notice that. But your not going to accurately measure .002 on string height. Maybe if you measure it on a device like a microview you could check it, but a feeler gauge is not an accurate way to measure string height, at least not to that precision. Either that or your aliens
BassHappy
Supporting Member
I find that my set ups do vary slightly from bass to bass. I play hard with a pick, and I like to get the action comfortably low but with no buzzing. This is where it starts:
Neck Relief .025" (Fender spec is .015 but this is a little too flat for my playing style)
Action 7/64 (Fender spec is 6/64 but this was a little too low for me)
Neck Relief .025" (Fender spec is .015 but this is a little too flat for my playing style)
Action 7/64 (Fender spec is 6/64 but this was a little too low for me)
I'm just wandering, what bass is it? 13.5mm sounds small, despite edge to edge measuring
I like my relief a bit less but that's about where I like my string height also.
Yes, you are absolutely correct- for some people. However, some people, like myself, are just wired for minutia; others may know their instrument (car, tools, computer, etc.) so well, that they can sense the slightest deviation from optimum. Just as an example, I have 3 G strings sitting on my workbench- .040, .042, and .045, all brass end D'Addarios. Without fail, I can tell which is which just by looking at them. But, I am just this-side-of-crazy, so that probably has something to do with it.Sorry guys I don't even know how you can measure .002 on a bass. A feeler gauge isn't accurate enough. I've been a machinist for many years and worked in QC for many of those and we hold very tight tolerances sometimes down to .0005. If you make two of the same parts and one is .005 differences you cannot see that very easily without magnification and your certainly not going to feel it. Measure how thick a credit card is. Its about .030. Thats thirty thousandths of an inch thick. .003 is three thousandths of an inch thick. Thats one tenth of the thickness of that credit card! Sitting here I just measured a piece of note paper with a pair of micrometers and its .003. I don't believe your going to feel that! Just a simple change in temparature can make your neck easily move enough to make the strings move .005 to .010 in height not to mention expansion and contraction of the string. Now perhaps if it moved .002 and caused your strings to start buzzing because you just happen to have them set just right then of course you'll notice that. But your not going to accurately measure .002 on string height. Maybe if you measure it on a device like a microview you could check it, but a feeler gauge is not an accurate way to measure string height, at least not to that precision. Either that or your aliens
Not trying to argue, merely offering a different perspective.
mark beem
Wait, how does this song start again??
Same here.
I do have some preferences however; 19mm spacing at the bridge, nickel rounds (DR Pure Blues 45 ~ 125), 35" scale on 5 string basses... Relief, string height.... Those are things I can "eyeball" and / or feel from having played so long.
I'm more particular when it comes to intonation. Can't stand playing a bass where it's not set correctly. Like nails on a chalkboard to me.
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