Action Stations! Do you like a high action?

[gjones]

Recently I've played a few different basses belonging to other bassists. All the basses had two things in common. The first was they all belonged to experienced and very able bass players. The second was that the action on all of the basses was really very high (in one case it was more like a bow and arrow than a bass).
Once I got over the fear that I was going to break something by tweaking with my trussrods I've always liked a lowish action on my basses because they're easier to play (ie my playing improves when the action is low) and it takes less physical effort to actually fret a string. But I've been wondering why all these very competent bass players have their action so high (in one case the E string was about 1 cm high at the 5th fret on a precision bass). Am I missing out on something? Personally I can't figure it out why you would want a high action when you can adjust your bass to have it much lower - maybe they just can't be bothered? Are there bass players out there who are well aware how to achieve a low action but prefer a higher action for some reason?

Edited June 12, 2011 by gjones

[thisnameistaken]

1cm action at the fifth fret sounds more like a broken bass than a setup choice.

I set mine up a little higher than most I think - maybe 3mm to 4mm around the 12th fret depending on the strings and what the bass can cope with. I basically set them up so I get no string buzz or very, very little. My Warwick I set up a bit lower but it's a much better bass than most.

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

Can't stand high action - why make it difficult to play? In my experience I think that in a lot of cases (but not all) this could be the result of the owner:
a) not knowing how to setup a bass
not wanting to spend money on a setup
or
c) not knowing that basses need to be setup - "this is how it came from the shop" - even though they may have changed the strings for a different type

[Evil Undead]

Dang, I thought my action was high! Mine's at about 2mm at the 12th fret on both of my main basses. I like it that way.

My backup however, is about 3.2mm at the 12th, and I don't like it at all. Hence why it's a back up

Edited June 12, 2011 by Evil Undead

[nick]

I've got a relatively high action (about 3-4mm) on my Fender CIJ P-Bass which is strung with 49-109 La Bella flats. Use this bass for Motown, soul etc... like the feel of extra tension & resistance, better for ghost notes,double stops etc.... Plus it gives that tone IMHO.
All my other basses are strung with lower actions & lighter gauge strings.

Edited June 12, 2011 by nick

[RhysP]

I played one of Billy Sheehans basses once at a clinic he did & the action was way higher than most people on here would use.

I prefer my action a little on the high side compared to a lot of people on here - too low & I just don't like the feel of it. Anything under 3mm at the 12th fret on the E string I would consider too low for me.

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='gjones' post='1266136' date='Jun 12 2011, 02:56 PM']Recently I've played a few different basses belonging to other bassists. All the basses had two things in common. The first was they all belonged to experienced and very able bass players. The second was that the action on all of the basses was really very high (in one case it was more like a bow and arrow than a bass).
Once I got over the fear that I was going to break something by tweaking with my trussrods I've always liked a lowish action on my basses because they're easier to play (ie my playing improves when the action is low) and it takes less physical effort to actually fret a string. But I've been wondering why all these very competent bass players have their action so high (in one case the E string was about 1 cm high at the 5th fret on a precision bass). Am I missing out on something? Personally I can't figure it out why you would want a high action when you can adjust your bass to have it much lower - maybe they just can't be bothered? Are there bass players out there who are well aware how to achieve a low action but prefer a higher action for some reason?[/quote]
1cm at the fifth fret sounds impossible.

However, I prefer some height to my action - it allows the string to vibrate more cleanly and, IMO, sounds better. There have been several threads on this already.

[gjones]

[quote name='EssentialTension' post='1266156' date='Jun 12 2011, 03:11 PM']1cm at the fifth fret sounds impossible.[/quote]


Yes, that's what I thought as well. That action was on a old US precision bass (complete with a rusty nail as a strap button) played by the son of the bass player in a very well known 70's classic heavy rock band (he probably inherited it from his dad who now plays alembics) . He's an excellent bassist who has been playing professionally for the last 15 years and this is (as far as I know) his main bass. I only played it for a couple of songs and the bass itself sounded great but there must be something seriously wrong with the neck to be able to get the action that high.

A couple of times I've toyed with the idea of offering to set these peoples basses up for them and make them easier to play with a couple of tweaks of an allen key or a screwdriver but I'm afraid they'll take it as an insult to their 4 stringed pride and joy.

[MacDaddy]

as low as possible for me. With a decent bass and set up you can still have a low action and play hard and not suffer ill effects.

[Doddy]

Right now,I have my action pretty high. I've not measured it but it's comfortable for me.
It doesn't make things more difficult and it gets a better sound.

I remember hearing Nashville player Dave Pomeroy say once that he's a big believer in
heavy strings and high action. Will Lee apparently used to have really high action too-although
it's lower now.

[Evil Undead]

IIRC, Jamerson liked a high action as well

[risingson]

[quote name='Evil Undead' post='1266275' date='Jun 12 2011, 04:35 PM']IIRC, Jamerson liked a high action as well[/quote]

I'm sure it was a bit to do with preference as he was originally an upright player, but I think it had less to do with whether he liked it or not and more to do with how he probably couldn't be bothered with the upkeep of his bass! La Bella flatwounds don't help either if nothing is done to relieve the tension that the strings have on the neck of the bass.

I like my action somewhere in between. I hate really low action as it doesn't suit my playing style. I think some players learn to put up with the quirks of their bass guitars because they don't have the time or the knowledge themselves to set them up properly, and as a consequence when someone else plays their instrument they find it difficult to play properly. Our old guitar player's telecaster was virtually unplayable for me and anyone else because the action was so high, but he could play perfectly on it and was happy with what I considered to be a really terrible setup.

Edited June 12, 2011 by risingson

[Marvin]

As low as I can get it with as little fret buzz as possible, hopefully none.

I couldn't play with a 'high' action.

[Wil]

High action all the way for me. I prefer the feel, and it gives the strings room to vibrate. Low action makes it easier to fret, yes, but for me it'd be an unacceptable tone compromise.

Edit - just measured my P, and it's 3mm at the 5th, 4mm at the 12th (measured on the low B from the tops of the frets - all my basses are strung BEAD). Is that considered high? I've got no idea.

Edited June 12, 2011 by Wil

[Mykesbass]

Isn't 1cm at the 5th fret going to give serious intonation issues?

[kevin_lindsay]

Paul Turner (Jamiroquai) has all his basses set with high action - around 1/2" at the 12th fret. He has a monster tone whenever he plays. But, whenever I play his instruments up at "the dusty end" I find my fingers slipping under the strings due to the height if them!!

Pino's basses are set with a medium action, not so low you can't dig in without thf bass rattling, and not high so it's s pig to play.

I guess it's all down to personal preference, huh?

[bubinga5]

each to his own but a low action is great as long as it doesnt choke the notes... i would rather fret a note with a couple of mm,, i could get 2mm at the 12 fret with my old Modulus jazz..shame the tone was plain. wonderful playing bass

[SteveK]

I can't say that I particularly [b]Like [/b]a high action, but, I do dislike rattles and buzzes. IME what most consider a good action is way too low for me.
If you're a string tickler, then a low action will probably work for you...I'm not!
If I'm going into the studio then I'll raise the action a little more. A studio situation is far less forgiving (rattle-wise) than live.

[lowdown]

Another high action here as well, strung 46-135.
I can do all the tricks on it with little effort.
And much prefere the meaty sound i can get [for me anyway] with a big clean sound when DI'ed.
I suppose its all down to the player. No right or wrong way.





Garry

[Ancient Mariner]

I went over one of my basses yesterday that I'd restrung with flats some time before, with much higher tension. It played OK, but must have been at least 5mm at the 12th. Got it down to about 3mm, and it feels low and easy now - almost too easy. Had to tweak the truss rod as well as drop the saddles (the shim I put in seems to have compressed as well). I quite liked the higher action in some ways, as it allowed me to dig in more, even though it was a little inhibitory to easy playing.

One thing I did find was that playing around the 12th fret on a neck with no relief caused rattles behind the fretting hand where the strings would rattle on the first couple of frets further down the neck.

One of my basses arrived with an action so low that I couldn't play it at all without serious rattles, although a fret level helped a lot too.

Edited June 12, 2011 by Ancient Mariner

[JTUK]

Always low for me.

I had a friend round with a MM Sterling and I couldn't be bothered to play it with his action.He tried my basses..liked the idea..and we set about lowering his action..although I didn't do the neck as it had that MM rotary thruss rod end..and I wanted to check it out before proceeding..plus he had a rehearsal that night so we left it with my tinkering.

He can back to say that it was much easier..and more pertinently, less tiring, so I'll do the neck next time as well.

[Lorne]

1mm at the 24th on one of my basses

[ThomBassmonkey]

Action should be as low as possible without choking notes or excessive fret buzz IMO.

If it's not affecting your sound there's NO reason to move your action up.

[gjones]

The comments about the sound being better with a higher action are very valid it is a much cleaner sound. I do like a low-ish action and I can get away with it and a bit of fret rattling when playing live but that fret rattling sound can be irritating when recording. I used to have my Geddy action set ridiculously low. So much so that many times I used to have to adjust it at the gig to ensure it didn't choke (as the neck is very temperature sensitive). I think a lot of bass players assume setting up a bass is a mystic art and are afraid they may damage their truss rod if they start tweaking it (like I did for a long time). What I was interested in was if people specifically choose to have a high action and it looks like a lot of people actually do.

Edited June 12, 2011 by gjones

[Lozz196]

I have my basses set up so that I can hit the strings fairly hard without fret buzz, so the action is always higher than it could be. if I were to play less aggressively, the acton could be lowered qute a bit. When I had my bass set up, the luthier set it up with a great low action, with regular gauge strings. I immediately put heavy gauge strings on it, and the extra tension put the action where I like it.