Fretless set-up: couple of questions on action, neck relief

[Clarky]

I am pretty comfortable setting up a fretted bass to play to my taste (fast with low/medium action, suitable for pick playing). I am a newb when it comes to fretless, however, and would appreciate some advice.

I have swapped over the strings on my fretless Precision to TI Flats (which have a different tension to the rounds that were on beforehand). The action is still very comfortable finger-style (perhaps slightly high in the upper reaches) but if I use a pick there is a bit of clank of the strings on the fretboard. The board has possibly a little too much relief from the strings and I don't want to simply raise the bridge saddles (as it won't be so nice when I play finger-style).

Question then is: should a fretless have a pretty straight neck, like a fretted bass, or should you allow a little extra relief? Also, is there an accepted measurement of 'action' on a fretless (like I think of low/medium action as c.3mm at the 12th fret on a fretted bass)?

Thanks in advance

Edited March 12, 2010 by Clarky

[BB2000]

Doing an initial setup as recommended by Willis should be a good starting point:

[url="http://www.garywillis.com/pages/bass/bassmanual/setupmanual.html"]http://www.garywillis.com/pages/bass/bassm...etupmanual.html[/url]

[velvetkevorkian]

The neck on my fretless is almost perfectly straight, with just a fraction of a millimetre's daylight visible when you hold down the 1st and last "frets". Not much different to setting up a fretted IME.

[Clarky]

Cheers guys

[Beedster]

There's no ideal set up, just play around with it until it feels and sounds right for the music you play. I like a lot of buzz low down, but some clarity around the octave and above, and set up accordingly.

C