Bass neck setup

[Quilly]

Decided to set up the neck on my bass using fender specs. I realized I’ve set it much lower in the past with no issues ? (I’m a lightish player) the fender specs feel kinda high to me but I think I could easily adapt.  What’s the general practice here ?

[thodrik]

8 minutes ago, Quilly said:

Decided to set up the neck on my bass using fender specs. I realized I’ve set it much lower in the past with no issues ? (I’m a lightish player) the fender specs feel kinda high to me but I think I could easily adapt.  What’s the general practice here ?

For me it is ‘I have never looked at Fender factory specs’. 

Action height is a very subjective and personal thing, as is string gauge choice and the amount of relief a player wants on the neck. Owing to that I don’t think that there is a ‘right’ setting. So long as it works for the player, then it works. 

[bigsmokebass]

Do Fender look at their own specs? I've seen a few things out of the box (guitar and bass) that have needed a slight tweaking. 

As @thodrik says, a few catalysts to consider, if you've got a lighter/heavier gauge than what Fender use as a standard could make a big difference. Set up for whatever is comfortable for yourself and as long as it all works well, it's a job well done. 

[Cuzzie]

Some like to dig in, some like to glide, some like a rattle, some like to slide

[ped]

33 minutes ago, Cuzzie said:

Some like to dig in, some like to glide, some like a rattle, some like to slide

Some like to slap, some like to tap, some give it a try but sound like crap

[Cuzzie]

I try to slap, and I sound like crap, but when I use a pick, I sound like a......

[ezbass]

Some like it high, but for some that’s a battle, so they set it low and try to avoid rattle. 😁

 

 

Having tried a few Fender Ps in my local GG the other day, I suspect the highness of the Fender specs is to allow for poor ex-factory set ups; some of them seemed ridiculously high to me.

[ped]

Some like flats, some like rounds, some like tapes or even groundwounds 

[therealting]

My advice is ignore factory spec.

You only live once so... what the heck?

[Cuzzie]

Anything around the 2-3mm mark is a decent shout, to give the strings some welly and a bit of a clout

[Cuzzie]

Set the neck straight, or with a slight bow.

The preference is yours, to allow you to flow,

 Be gentle with the rod as you twist and tweak, one false move and it’s unbearable to speak 

[John Cribbin]

I always set up a new guitar to factory specs. I figure if it's not right at that point then there's a problem somewhere.

Once I'm happy it's basically OK, then I can tweek to my preferred settings.

[fretmeister]

7 hours ago, John Cribbin said:

I always set up a new guitar to factory specs. I figure if it's not right at that point then there's a problem somewhere.

Once I'm happy it's basically OK, then I can tweek to my preferred settings.

That’s a stinky poo rhyme.