High Action

[Hobbayne]

A bass playing mate of mine came round the other day while I was restringing and setting up the Mexican P I got from Lojo. He had a go on it and handed it back saying he couldnt play it as the action was too high. I though that was odd as I like it like that.
Anyway we measured the E string height at the 12th fret as it was 5mm.
Is this considered high?

[stingrayPete1977]

5mm Jayzus!!

I just checked mine (using allen keys as a feeler gauge) and they are all about 3mm at the moment but thats high for some people and all of mine are due a truss rod tweak due to this humid weather, I would aim for 2.5 at the 12th fret under all my strings when setting up generally.

Edited June 30, 2012 by stingrayPete1977

[steve-soar]

That's heading towards a high action. Mark King has a 2.9mm @ the 12th, don't know what mine are. But over the years, my gauges have gone heavier and my action has crept up.

[Doctor J]

5mm is a lot. I cannot stand high action like that. I set mine up around 2mm at the 12th fret with very little relief in the neck.

[Lozz196]

I suppose it`s what each of us think as high. I always thought I had my action quite high, just measured it, and it`s about 3mm. Anything less than that, and cos I hit the strings quite hard, I just get fret-buzz-mungus!

[mikeh]

I couldnt have it that high, mine is set to just over 2mm @ the 12th fret.

[stingrayPete1977]

Anymore than the 5mm he has already and he would qualify as an Archer rather than a bass player!

[Evil Undead]

I'm a fan of super low action at the 12th - My Fender is G 1.2mm, D 1.4mm, A 1.6mm and E 1.8mm.

I had to shim the neck slightly to get it that low but it's worth it! .

[Lfalex v1.1]

I set each of my instruments up differently according to how they sound best. Whilst the Vigier will go super-low, it chokes a little in the upper registers, so I've raised it to about 2.2 mm beneath the B@12th. The Status sounds great all the way down at <2 mm. As a rule of thumb, I'd say go as low as you can with your playing style without buzz, clang or choke joining the party...

[Truckstop]

I like to set mine at 4mm, I have a robust playing style and I also like to press down on the frets rather than giving them a feather touch. Feels weird that way!

Truckstop

[mcnach]

[quote name='Hobbayne' timestamp='1341065261' post='1713399']
A bass playing mate of mine came round the other day while I was restringing and setting up the Mexican P I got from Lojo. He had a go on it and handed it back saying he couldnt play it as the action was too high. I though that was odd as I like it like that.
Anyway we measured the E string height at the 12th fret as it was 5mm.
Is this considered high?
[/quote]

High?

VERY high!

(for me)

[Hobbayne]

I do tend you play rather hard, but I cant get on with that rattley noise you get from low action and thin gauge strings.

[lowdown]

That ain't high for me - more like a low action...


Garry

[clarkpegasus4001]

5mm? you can drive a bus under that I'd say that was very high. I like mine set as low as possible.

[JTUK]

[size=5][sup]If it had an action like that I wouldn't even pick it up.[/sup][/size]

[jaybass 70]

[b]Depends on your style of playing dude, if we were all the same the world would be a boring place ,[/b]
[b]I've raised my action on all my basses in the last month and the tone has improved massively , [/b]
[b]sounds much better in the band mix and i am loving it, [/b]

[Spike Vincent]

All of mine average 5mm at the 12th fret.I do have a fairly robust hitting style.

[mushers]

seeing this after a few beers scared the pants off me ! i just checked mine and its about 4mm .. then i realised i was checking the B
i would say 5mm is high ive played higher it just takes a bit more effort but i wouldnt want it on my bass

[BassPimp66]

5mm.... that would be very high for me. I'm a 2.5mm sort of guy.
But, rather than considering whether 5mm is high or not, I would check if this is caused by a high bridge position, or an overly curved neck.
If it's 5mm because the neck is too curved, then I would adjust the truss rod.
If it's 5mm because of the bridge, then it's your choice.

[Wolverinebass]

I tend to have mine as low as humanly possible, which on the buzzard is less than 1mm. After this I find I can't play an instrument properly that's got anything that even remotely resembles a high action.

[xgsjx]

The action on my Ibby is currently just under 4mm. I used to have it down @ 2mm & it's a little easier to move around scales with the lower action, but nothing drastic.
If it was lower or higher & I struggled to play the instrument, then I think more practice on my part would be required.

[chris_b]

I've always hit the strings quite hard so I was very happy with the high action on the Lakland. When the Lull turned up it had a very low action. My first reaction was to make it the same as the Lakland, but instead of changing the Lull I changed my technique. Now I use a light touch and I find I prefer playing that way.

[lettsguitars]

[quote name='Evil Undead' timestamp='1341066297' post='1713415']
I'm a fan of super low action at the 12th - My Fender is G 1.2mm, D 1.4mm, A 1.6mm and E 1.8mm.

I had to shim the neck slightly to get it that low but it's worth it! .
[/quote]He likes low action, but dead necks dont seem to bother him

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='lettsguitars' timestamp='1341135551' post='1714065']
He likes low action, but dead necks dont seem to bother [u]her[/u]
[/quote]

Fixed, but what do you mean anyway?

[EssentialTension]

E string 12th fret at 5mm sounds fine to me:

Lakland Decade = approx 3mm = very low, IMO
Fender Precision = approx 5mm = slightly low, IMO
Takamine B10 = approx 7mm = not low, IMO
Upright = approx 9mm =

"Couldn't play it 'cos the action was too high" sounds a bit wimpy.