How high is your action?

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='BRANCINI' timestamp='1336951796' post='1653254']
Yeah, well. Couldnt find a blue packet. you get my point though. Works with Marlboro packets as well....
[/quote]
I was always a Park Drive man myself.

[MacDaddy]

Super low action here, and have a ramp too. No loss of tone.

[chrismuzz]

[quote name='MacDaddy' timestamp='1337013658' post='1654013']
Super low action here, and have a ramp too. No loss of tone.
[/quote]

I found that having lower action tends to cause less low end, but more mids... No problem with that here!

[PaulWarning]

just been messing about with the action on a Squier VM Jazz I've just bought, now I play with a pick and give it some welly but the bottom E is still rattling somewhat with the action at 4mm on the 12 fret.
What height do other pick players have to set their height at? I read somewhere the likes of Dee Dee Ramone had their heights very high, wonder how high very high is?

[chris_b]

Oooh, an old thread. . . . . and a perennial problem.

Paul, I'm assuming that the frets are level? I would expect the Squiers to have less time spent on their fretwork than, for instance Custom Shop models. There's no way around uneven frets other than a fret stone or just playing with a higher action.

I've just altered the action on 2 of my basses. One went lower and one went higher.

I don't measure anything. I lower each string until it starts to "choke" on the frets then I start raising the strings until all notes play cleanly. If that's too high then the frets need levelling. I then adjust the strings to the point where I'm happy playing the instrument.

My Lakland had a fret level at the gallery so it plays very well but they set it up too low. I can play it but I just prefer a little more height. The lower you go the less energy you can put into playing a note.That's ok, but as has been said, the tone will also change between stroking the strings and playing them a little harder.

[Lozz196]

I`m a pick player, and am in the 2mm at 12 fret camp. It`s a fine line sorting the action out, but for me I find I like a very slight curve in the neck, not over-keen on dead flat. Once there, just adjust sadlles to how I like. I do it by feel rather than measurement, but having just measured it for this thread, I`ve found it`s 2mm.

[PaulWarning]

don't think it's unlevel frets, rattle is consistent all the way down the board, I'm not too concerned about measuring it, like some others I just keep raising it till it's stops rattling, or at least is not too bad, I measured my MIA P and found that at 4mm as well but that doesn't rattle as much as the Squire (could it be because it's a maple neck?). As for neck relief I adjust it till frett rattle is the same all the way down the board
Lozz, I imagine you must hit the strings not very hard or like a lot of fret rattle, I had mine at about 2.5mm once but I soon as I got in a gig situation, where I can get carried away it was too low, I thought my tone suffered.
When the action is at 4mm it does look high though, but I very rarely get higher than the 5th fret so I don't suppose it matters much

[Lozz196]

I am a hard-hitter Paul, as you mention I do like a bit of rattle, it`s part of the sound (as is the overdrive I use). I see the point about tone suffering, I do think the higher it is, with no rattle, it`s clearer and more distinct, but that`s not what I need at present. With the action like this, backing off a bit on the pick I can get a nice clear sound though. I suppose it`s one of those things, if you need a clear sound and hit hard then high action is needed.

[Twincam]

[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1453027114' post='2955588']
just been messing about with the action on a Squier VM Jazz I've just bought, now I play with a pick and give it some welly but the bottom E is still rattling somewhat with the action at 4mm on the 12 fret.
What height do other pick players have to set their height at? I read somewhere the likes of Dee Dee Ramone had their heights very high, wonder how high very high is?
[/quote]

At 4mm action nothing should rattle no matter how hard the string is hit, something is wrong!

[HowieBass]

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1453066812' post='2956154']
At 4mm action nothing should rattle no matter how hard the string is hit, something is wrong!
[/quote]

I'm pretty much thinking the same thing... I wonder if setting the relief from lack of fret buzz along a neck is really the best way to do it? I always go for the conventional gap under a fretted string method so maybe the rattle PaulWarning has is because the neck's a bit too straight?

[Twincam]

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1453070979' post='2956203']


I'm pretty much thinking the same thing... I wonder if setting the relief from lack of fret buzz along a neck is really the best way to do it? I always go for the conventional gap under a fretted string method so maybe the rattle PaulWarning has is because the neck's a bit too straight?
[/quote]

Some basses are funny to set up.
I will say that unless a bass is in front of me then it can be hard to diagnose the issue if indeed there is one.
You can set up a bass many ways but by far the best method is to do it in a standard fashion. Nut height, neck relief generally 0.8-0.15 and then height typically 2-4mm and intonation remembering large changes to intonation causes string height to change and vice versa.

If after this there still buzzing first fret work should be inspected with a proper fret rocker,then check neck angle some basses have shims in from the factory that are actually not needed, this can cause much angle which is annoying and make a basses hard to setup, a shim is only needed if you run out of thread on a saddle or if the neck pocket had a weird angle which hardly ever happens on any modern bass. After that then does the bass neck have a typical ski jump?.

Then again some players do need a high action ie the famous story about will lee and sadowsky. But even then at 4mm no way should you have fret buzz anywhere never mind all over.

Edited January 18, 2016 by Twincam

[PaulWarning]

I've increased the relief, the necks looks pretty straight to me, stopped the rattle up to fret 5 but it's worse after that, I suppose everything's a compromise, maybe I'm just being too picky, I asked the original question because I wondered whether any other pick players had this issue, that is, pick players need a higher action, I use a 1mm pick by the way, I only paid £135 for the bass so it's not worth spending money on it

[Twincam]

[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1453121133' post='2956478']
I've increased the relief, the necks looks pretty straight to me, stopped the rattle up to fret 5 but it's worse after that, I suppose everything's a compromise, maybe I'm just being too picky, I asked the original question because I wondered whether any other pick players had this issue, that is, pick players need a higher action, I use a 1mm pick by the way, I only paid £135 for the bass so it's not worth spending money on it
[/quote]


You cant sight a neck you need to properly check with a feeler gauge under the 7th fret.
Get a paper business card (not a plastic bank card etc) and fret at the first then use your elbow to fret the e at the higher frets then slide the business card in under the 7th and look very close business cards are 0.12 - 0.15 so good for setting up relief in general but not perfect this is in fender specs. The card should just have slight drag on it not moving the string up and absolutely no gap at all between it and the string. Then set string height for this you can use an Allen keys if you play hard set the height at the 12th if lighter the at the 17th. Any modern bass should be able to get a decent setup ive had squires that are excellent.