Bringing up the action... time to be a man

[JMT3781]

Anyone who has had a bass off here from me, or has een me play will know im a complete wuss, and have my action so low its frankly quite ridiculous. For example, should i lean back whilst playing on stage, gravity causes all my strings to choke themselves out.

However, today i went into the bass tech where i work, and said, "bring up the action".

So he did, and to be honest, i feel faster, more accurate, more comfortable... the tone of the bass has improved no end, and i'm pulling stuff off that has been foxing me for ages...

Really am very happy, anyone else been through this?

[thisnameistaken]

I never had super-low action because I always had lousy amps and I had to pick too hard to hear myself. These days I do have nice amps but I am old so I'm not interested in twangy string noises or playing fast.

[risingson]

Yeh I prefer slightly higher action. I don't slap either so I don't miss that aspect of it.

[urb]

Bollocks to it I'm a wuss - I love my action low and light - fighting the bass is a pointless exercise for me. Admitedly my action is very low but it's not as low as some players I know, I think it's all about the end result, ie does it sound good and are you comfortable while playing? Damaging tendons, fingers and wrists to 'be a man' is just silly, so do what feels good and suits you best, not out of some misguided macho attitude.

Just my 0.02 Euros...

M

[JMT3781]

[quote name='urb' post='899457' date='Jul 19 2010, 09:43 PM']Bollocks to it I'm a wuss - I love my action low and light - fighting the bass is a pointless exercise for me. Admitedly my action is very low but it's not as low as some players I know, I think it's all about the end result, ie does it sound good and are you comfortable while playing? Damaging tendons, fingers and wrists to 'be a man' is just silly, so do what feels good and suits you best, not out of some misguided macho attitude.

Just my 0.02 Euros...

M[/quote]

the time to be a man bit was a joke lol...

when i say the actions gone up, its probably a few millimetres, so its not like i'm fighting for every single note.. far from it. But its enough to make a difference to the sound, never knew so little could do so much

[bubinga5]

i used to have my action super low with hex core strings that were tight...i found i had to play soft with no dynamics in my finger playing...if i dug in i would choke the notes....the string needs room to do its thing....this is a prob with super low action IMHO.. and i could forget slap...sounded bad

there is a balance to be had IMO

Edited July 19, 2010 by bubinga5

[urb]

[quote name='bubinga5' post='899471' date='Jul 19 2010, 09:54 PM']i used to have my action super low with hex core strings that were tight...i found i had to play soft with no dynamics in my fingers...if i dug in i would choke the notes..this is a prob with super low action IMHO..

there is a balance to be had IMO[/quote]

Absolutely - my action allows dynamics and I do play with a light touch but can dig in when I need to Gary Willis has a lot of sensible advice on this style and it works.

By the way Bubinga5 have you heard the new Incognito album yet? It's rather good...

[4000]

[quote name='urb' post='899457' date='Jul 19 2010, 09:43 PM']Bollocks to it I'm a wuss - I love my action low and light - fighting the bass is a pointless exercise for me. Admitedly my action is very low but it's not as low as some players I know, I think it's all about the end result, ie does it sound good and are you comfortable while playing? Damaging tendons, fingers and wrists to 'be a man' is just silly, so do what feels good and suits you best, not out of some misguided macho attitude.

Just my 0.02 Euros...

M[/quote]

+1 to that!

[thisnameistaken]

What about that pope eh?

j/k.

Another benefit of higher action is if you play with envelope-following effects, you can get a much broader range out of them without ending up with manky string noise.

[JMT3781]

FREEDOM!!!

[JMT3781]

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='899568' date='Jul 19 2010, 11:05 PM']What about that pope eh?

j/k.

Another benefit of higher action is if you play with envelope-following effects, you can get a much broader range out of them without ending up with manky string noise.[/quote]

thats a really good point, never even thought about that... perhaps i'll look into all the envelope filters ive discarded int the past lol

[Marvin]

My action is probably quite high.
However, I borrowed a bass last year and the action was so high the previous owner must have been William Tell and he used it to take pot shots at apples. It was near impossible to play.

Edited July 19, 2010 by Marvin

[OldGit]

After (I think) Water of Tyne's suggestion about a year ago I raised all mine by one complete turn of the bridge screws each and I've been playing better.
This is not the only change because I also switched from 90% pick to 90% fingers at about the same time. I think if I still played nostly pick I'd have it lower but it does seem to work better up a bit higher plucking with my sausage fingers.

[deathpanda]

I've had my action as low as possible, but it just feels weird. On my Geddy I've now got it completely perfect, still quite low but not too high that it makes playing difficult. I usually play quite aggressive (with fingers of course) and with my current action it sounds like a beaver being punched in the face, you know that lovely bassy thudding sound?

[OldGit]

[quote name='deathpanda' post='899582' date='Jul 19 2010, 11:22 PM']it sounds like a beaver being punched in the face, you know that lovely bassy thudding sound?[/quote]

No.
Castor Canadensis or Castor Fiber?
You aren't confusing it with thumping a Capybara are you? I find they sound rather lika a Warwick. I guess it's the wood.

[velvetkevorkian]

I'll have mine as low as possible please

[wateroftyne]

[quote name='OldGit' post='899579' date='Jul 19 2010, 11:20 PM']After (I think) Water of Tyne's suggestion about a year ago I raised all mine by one complete turn of the bridge screws each and I've been playing better.[/quote]
I think I probably was the culprit.

I used to have a pretty low action, and it started to get lower and lower. Eventually, even though the strings rang unhindered, they had no... life.

I raised the action and my basses began to sing again.. the notes were BIG. At a gig I genuinely don't feel they're any harder to play.

I haven't looked back.

[JMT3781]

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='899596' date='Jul 19 2010, 11:37 PM']I think I probably was the culprit.

I used to have a pretty low action, and it started to get lower and lower. Eventually, even though the strings rang unhindered, they had no... life.

I raised the action and my basses began to sing again.. the notes were BIG. At a gig I genuinely don't feel they're any harder to play.

I haven't looked back.[/quote]

exactly like me mate, am really looking forward to my rehearsal tommorrow

[Kongo]

Mine are precisely where they need to be. I gotta be careful with my hands with what runs in my family, but at the same time they need to stay strong.
Differences in "Struggle" and "Challenged". But yes, I'm done with fighting my basses, now I have my main ones play as they should do, and leave a stupidly high action one to practice on to keep finger strength up.

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='OldGit' post='899592' date='Jul 19 2010, 11:30 PM']No.
Castor Canadensis or Castor Fiber?
You aren't confusing it with thumping a Capybara are you? I find they sound rather lika a Warwick. I guess it's the wood.[/quote]

I can't say I'm familiar with beaver-punching timbres either, I suppose we don't have that particular rite-of-passage here in Yorkshire.

But I did once kick an alsatian in the nuts and that sounded like a low-pass filter in a feedback loop.

[EBS_freak]

I play with a light touch. I can get away with a low action and still believe that I can get everything I want from the instrument I need to. In fact, if I play an instrument with a higher action, I tend to struggle... and on a longer gig I can get real pains in my wrist.

Low all the way for me I'm afraid.

[Rich]

I like a nice low action, not so low that everything chokes off but low enough that it reacts to my light touch. I have ramps on both my main basses and I find this helps me to maintain said lightness and get a good even response. Since my carpal thing, I'm very wary about wrist and/or finger pain. High action, nein danke.

[xgsjx]

I always had my action set about mid. After having read countless posts about lower action being faster, easier, whatever else, I decided to lower my action & one thing I have noticed is constant fret click. Doesn't matter how heavy or light I play, fingers, pick, slap or tapping. Every 2-3 notes & CLICK, pain in the bahookie!
I haven't found any advantages yet as my playing is just the same & can go up & down scales no quicker.

The bass could be a factor in how low an action you can have or maybe my truss rod needs slight adjustment (I do get fret buzz when I try & play the 7th fret on both the E & G strings together, limits my B minors).

[Dood]

Jon Shuker set mine with a cigarette paper

[Fat Rich]

Back in the day I had my action so high you could drive a bus under it (when there were only Routemasters) It was so high I used to have to tune a semitone flat because getting the string pushed down to the fret stretched it back up to pitch.

Now I've come back to playing again I've set them all super low and I kind of like the feel of it, but I'm finding I want to sneak them back up a little to get more dynamics and less click.

I'm currently at about 3mm for the low B and E, going down to about 2mm at the D and G.... so still fairly low, but I may raise them a little more yet.