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12 fret action on p bass


Geek99

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Just so I understand it correctly, if you set the neck dead straight with the strings at tension and 2.5 mm gap at the 12th fret , what happens then ?, by rights you should get no buzz anywhere unless there is a fret problem , all my basses are set  at about 1.5 with no buzz unless they are played hard 🙂

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I think I have a ski jump

most strings buzz from 15th up with 2.5mm at 12th . Relief is .3 at eighth with 1 and last fret held 

 

my stingray clone is down to 1.75 mm at 12th and it’s the same radius - so it can work 

 

unless it’s one high / low fret around 13

Edited by Geek99
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38 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

Just so I understand it correctly, if you set the neck dead straight with the strings at tension and 2.5 mm gap at the 12th fret , what happens then ?, by rights you should get no buzz anywhere unless there is a fret problem , all my basses are set  at about 1.5 with no buzz unless they are played hard 🙂

I’ll try that - by dead straight you mean no relief at all so the string is resting on fret 8?

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Just now, Geek99 said:

I’ll try that - by dead straight you mean no relief at all so the string is resting on fret 8?

With the neck straight and  no relief your strings shouldn’t be touching anywhere if your saddles at the bridge are set right 🙂

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9 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

With the neck straight and  no relief your strings shouldn’t be touching anywhere if your saddles at the bridge are set right 🙂

Clarification- strings touching fret 8 when held down at first and last frets - is that what you meant ?

 

i should have made my question clearer 

Edited by Geek99
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According to all you say and all you've tried, @Geek99, that's now obvious that your neck has the typical ski jump or heel raising. Go to a luthier and he will fix the problem quite quickly. It can go very fast or take a bit more time if he needs to remove the 3 or 4 last frets, dress the end of the neck, put the frets back, level them and crown them.

 

Don't worry it's an easy job when you have the right tools and know what you're doing.

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12 minutes ago, Geek99 said:

Clarification- strings touching fret 8 when held down at first and last frets - is that what you meant ?

 

i should have made my question clearer 

Yeah basically, Sorry geek I have to go to work now, but if you set the neck straight and it still buzzes on the upper frets then it sounds like the heel is raising 🙂

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15 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

Yeah basically, Sorry geek I have to go to work now, but if you set the neck straight and it still buzzes on the upper frets then it sounds like the heel is raising 🙂

I’ll give it a shot tonight, thank you 

 

is heel raising something I can check with a straight edge ?

Edited by Geek99
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16 hours ago, Geek99 said:

I’ve set the relief to 0.3mm at the 12th and the upper frets are still buzzing 

unfretted distance at the 12th is approx 2.5mm 

 

wondering if the nut is badly cut ? 
I can get a clear note from each string when fretted at 3rd by pinging the string with my finger nail 

Relief is normally measured at the 7th/8th fret. 10 thou in my setup 

 

 

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9 minutes ago, lonestar said:

 

You could check the nut height: fret at 3rd fret and measure gap on first fret. It should be around .76mm or 3 thou in old money

Isn’t that 0.076? I checked the fender specs 

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7 minutes ago, Geek99 said:

Isn’t that 0.076? I checked the fender specs 

 

0.08 mm

 

There's no such thing as a thousandth of a millimetre in the real world 🙂

 

0.004 mm is about five wavelengths of deep red light.

 

A 'hair's breadth' ranges from about 0.017 to 0.180 mm.

 

A thousandth of an inch or 0.025 mm is a fairly demanding maximum precision when dealing with things made largely of wood.  I used to know a very skilled engineer who once worked making piano mechanisms - they were the only wooden thing he ever dealt with that demanded 0.001" accuracy. I imagine people using ebony bearings on clocks (Harrison's Chronometers) would aspire to similar accuracy.

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6 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

0.08 mm

 

There's no such thing as a thousandth of a millimetre in the real world 🙂

 

0.004 mm is about five wavelengths of deep red light.

 

A 'hair's breadth' ranges from about 0.017 to 0.180 mm.

 

A thousandth of an inch or 0.025 mm is a fairly demanding maximum precision when dealing with things made largely of wood.  I used to know a very skilled engineer who once worked making piano mechanisms - they were the only wooden thing he ever dealt with that demanded 0.001" accuracy. I imagine people using ebony bearings on clocks (Harrison's Chronometers) would aspire to similar accuracy.

Sure - it’s 0.08 I agree - I was just questioning lone star about his suggestion of 0.76mm in his post 

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44 minutes ago, Geek99 said:

Sure - it’s 0.08 I agree - I was just questioning lone star about his suggestion of 0.76mm in his post 

Sorry Got my point in the wrong place. Always do setups in imperial as I’m a fender man and my feeler gauges are ancient !

Edited by lonestar
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