Who has the highest / lowest action

[Guest MoJo]

This thread was prompted by a recent purchase, a five string Ibanez.

The seller told me, "I've had it about two years now. It's been a great bass." I was hoping that he couldn't detect the look of astonishment on my face as I looked at the, to me, incredibly high action (about 4-5mm at the 17th fret at a guess). All I could think was, 'how on earth has he been playing this?' This isn't the first time that I've been amazed at the height of the action on someone else's bass.

I used to play with a very low action but I've recently upped it to 2mm at the 17th (photo below), slightly below Fender's recommended 2.4mm. So, I was wondering, who plays with the lowest action and who has strings that you could limbo under? Photo evidence would be appreciated

Edited October 22, 2017 by MoJo

[mrtcat]

I've been amazed both ways. Some basses I've bought have had unplayable high actions and some so low that even lightly played open strings buzz. I guess I'm from a middle ground with probably 3mm at 17th fret.

[mrtcat]

I've been amazed both ways. Some basses I've bought have had unplayable high actions and some so low that even lightly played open strings buzz. I guess I'm from a middle ground with probably 3mm at 17th fret.

[Lozz196]

I`m a bit surprised, I always thought I was a bit of a caveman but just measured up and about 2.5mm so looks like as per Fender spec.

[PaulWarning]

I've recently tinkered with my string height on my Precision, thought I might fancy a bit of fret buzz, so lowered it to 2mm at the 17th fret, quickly put it back to about 2.5mm, get a bit of fret buzz if I get a bit enthusiastic with the pick but nothing silly, who'd have thought Fender know what they're doing

[kodiakblair]

I've had some quite low actions on basses. The Harley Benton PB-50 that I choose to play 90% of the time is set to 1.5mm on G,1.75mm on E. Plays wonderful with the TI flats.The 1.75-1.5mm is the norm for me but generally the bass dictates how low the action goes.

Lowest I've had was 1.25mm on G and 1.5mm on E. That was on a Cirrus and as a reaction to a Hipshot endorser complaining the ABM bridge didn't go lower than 2mm. Fella had the same trouble when Hipshot sent him a replacement bridge bridge,just to spite him I set the Cirrus with a Hipshot down to 1.5mm & 1.25mm aswell

Highest I've heard of was 4 & 6mm. That was on a Vigier up for sale. Asked ped if anything could be done and wisely followed his advice to walk away.

[ambient]

Mines about 1mm at the 12th fret.

[SpondonBassed]

[attachment=256037:Action17thFret.JPG]
My Pitbull.

If you squint, you should be able to make out the lower edge of the B at 4.5mm on the 17th fret. It was more but I made a crude shim for the neck. Even now I am running with the outer saddles sat right down on the bridge plate. Oddly for me, I was getting on okay with the higher action too.

It will probably get another rework at some point but it plays and the neck is faster than I've ever had on a bass. If I levelled the frets properly and actually had skills playing I'd be dangerous. Not bad for an inexpensive kit.

[musicbassman]

Can we just clarify something? Are we talking about taking the measurement with the E string held down at the first fret position when taking the measurement (like you would when checking if the truss rod needs adjusting) - or are we talking about the measurement with the string unrestricted - i.e just an open string?

[Guest MoJo]

[quote name='musicbassman' timestamp='1508708872' post='3393984']
Can we just clarify something? Are we talking about taking the measurement with the E string held down at the first fret position when taking the measurement (like you would when checking if the truss rod needs adjusting) - or are we talking about the measurement with the string unrestricted - i.e just an open string?
[/quote]

With the string unrestricted

[kodiakblair]

I always measure mine, open string at the 17th fret.

[Guest MoJo]

Taken from the Fender website :

[quote]
[b]ACTION[/b]

[color=#333333]Players with a light touch can get away with lower action; others need higher action to avoid rattles. First, check tuning. Using a 6" (150 mm) ruler, measure the distance between bottom of strings and top of the 17th fret. Adjust bridge saddles to the height according to the chart below, then re-tune. Experiment with the height until the desired sound and feel is achieved.[/color]

[/quote]

Edited October 22, 2017 by MoJo

[42Hz]

I have no real good tool for measuring. I set the height using a calibrated match that I have ground to appr. 2mm and then increase/lower depending on buzzyness with a slight relief of the neck. The E-string of my basses (all 4 string) will at 17th position normally be 2-3 mm. Highest on the 30" scale bass. If I get carried away when playing, plucking the string will be accompanied by a small single "clack" from the frets which is mostly audible with full open tone control if. To my ears a too low action is not good for slap. So I am probably mainstream. I like low action but when I play I don't think that I would really bother that much if the string height was 3mm on all my basses. What matters most is that the string height at 1st fret is right.

Edited October 22, 2017 by 42Hz

[steantval]

I can slip a banana between my pick ups and strings, do you think my action is to high ?

[Geek99]

Sliced or whole ? It could be a 1.5 mm slice and thus quite low

[Elfrasho]

I used to aim to get the action as low as possible, but I find now it's a bit higher. If I'm recording tend to raise it a touch too just to avoid rattles* but live you can get away with a bit more. I have a mate who's bass you'd could fit a double decker through at the 12th fret but he's immense, so clearly works for him.


*I know there's more to setting up your bass than raising the saddles but it works for me.

[lowdown]

I don’t normally measure my action, but just have.
My fretted is just under 6mm at the 17th fret and my Fretless at the same position is about 5mm (The E string-B string about the same).

[PaulWarning]

[quote name='42Hz' timestamp='1508711548' post='3394002']
I have no real good tool for measuring. I set the height using a calibrated match that I have ground to appr. 2mm and then increase/lower depending on buzzyness with a slight relief of the neck. The E-string of my basses (all 4 string) will at 17th position normally be 2-3 mm. Highest on the 30" scale bass. If I get carried away when playing, plucking the string will be accompanied by a small single "clack" from the frets which is mostly audible with full open tone control if. To my ears a too low action is not good for slap. So I am probably mainstream. I like low action but when I play I don't think that I would really bother that much if the string height was 3mm on all my basses. What matters most is that the string height at 1st fret is right.
[/quote]I used to struggle to measure string height, till I discovered putting the steel rule behind the string instead of in front of it made things a lot easier doh!!! oh yeah and a magnifying glass is a must as well

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='lowdown' timestamp='1508741421' post='3394032']
I don’t normally measure my action, but just have.
My fretted is just under 6mm at the 17th fret and my Fretless at the same position is about 5mm (The E string-B string about the same).
[/quote]

Crikey that's not far off my double bass! Maybe you're not Lowdown at all

[lowdown]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1508745242' post='3394049']


Crikey that's not far off my double bass! Maybe you're not Lowdown at all
[/quote]

You should see my Double Bass action..

Oddly enough, there are people who pick my electrics up and think the action (s) are not high compared to their Basses.

I always thought there were more variables involved than just action (if a Bass feels & plays right to the individual). String gauge, tension, rounds/flats etc...

Interesting thread. Beats 'what sticks do you use?'

[Paul S]

I never usually measure it, just adjust until it feels right for me - but having just checked a few it seems I have them set somewhere around 3-3.5mm at 17th fret.

[ped]

I like mine super low. The G string is lowest and the E a tiny bit higher to give a better slap. I play very lightly so there is no buzz, but a delicious clank when digging in. Here you can see the G and I’ve had to magnify it so much you can see the discolouration where the string hits the fret, invisible to the naked eye. The neck has to be dead straight to achieve this, which is why I like my Vigiers, but not every Vigier I’ve tried is able to do it quite so well. My little Wingbass also has a flat fingerboard because it’s got no truss rod either, the board is flat glued to the body which is a single cut shape. As a result it’s also extremely low - maybe lower, in fact... will see if I can get a pic later.

[url=https://ibb.co/bza5GR][/url]

[Roland Rock]

[quote name='steantval' timestamp='1508716788' post='3394014']
I can slip a banana between my pick ups and strings, do you think my action is to high ?
[/quote]

...or your pickups too low
or your bananas too small

[Geek99]

Are they eu standard bananas ? What if they don’t have enough relief to align with the neck ? Fitting the banana with a truss rod could work - twin rods shared with the neck perhaps a la Rick ?

[SpondonBassed]

[quote name='steantval' timestamp='1508716788' post='3394014']
I can slip a banana between my pick ups and strings, do you think my action is to high ?
[/quote]

No but if you progress to a grapefruit I'd say you ought to write to an agony aunt.