Action Height.

So I was taking a quick look at my bass and I actually realised how high my action is. It goes a little like this...

Fret 1: 0.5-1mm
Fret 12: 4.5mm
Fret 20 (last fret): 5.5mm

To be honest, I do tend to naturally grip the neck a little harder than most people do, and with my pick attack being nice and heavy, I do like to get rid of that "clank"-ish sort of sound you get with lower actions.... And if it's really comfortable and not destroying my hands, why change it?

What are your actions like on guitar / bass? Really low or super high like me? On guitar I prefer a lower action :)

1. That action is waaaay to high, you will do some damage to your hand and wrist.
2. Loosen that hand, see above.
3. Using a pick to play Bass?..... Thats a paddlin and another 12 months in the cupboard under the stairs :p

Knew you would say something DB :P
Oddly, I have found that lowering my action makes it uncomfortable, in fact my hand once completely locked up with a too low of an action.... I'm still experimenting with my setup to fully dial in my ideal setup, after all no two setups are the same!

Hi guys

My measurements are (buhahahaa...) :

0,3mm at 1:st fret
2,5mm at 12:th fret

Don't measure anything else cause if the frets don't buzz - it's pretty ok to play.

4,5mm... that's alot. Too much for me - could not play after 3:rd or 4:th fret with that height. The E and A bass strings need some room of course but I wish I could take the string down to about 2mm on the 12:th but then I would probably have to change the 105-50 set to 95-45 - or would it make any difference? DB?

4.5mm?! That is going to mess your hand up like DB said, it will lead to tendonitis or RSI. If a low action hurts your hand, it sounds like you might be holding the bass at an unusual angle. Try adjusting your strap so the bass sits higher and then shim and get that action down, then work on loosening the death grip on the neck.

Personally, I find 2.5mm at the 12th a touch high even. A lower action should mean easier playing if anything.

@ Arzi. That depends on your playing style. If you are a light touch finger player you should be able to lower it a tad more.
When I set up for my customers, I get them to play their normal style and tweak the action until it is as low as it can go without the dreaded fret buzz.
On fretless, I actually like a slight amount of finger board buzz, it gives the Bass a nice warm sound.
Not easy to get right and requires the occasional tweak to maintain the vibe :)

@Pestybitz. Wot Pabs sed!
Get that Bass up a bit, whilst it looks cool to have it slung low it will lead to dramas later in life.
Also raise the neck angle so the headstock sits just above your elbow height or thereabouts...
AND STOP STRANGLING THAT NECK :p
You will never get fast if you are Gorilla gripping the neck!

My bass is slung really low atm, but that's mainly because the adjustment clip broke last night :P

Well

I'm trying to find a compromise so that I can use a pick once in a while. The 2,5 seems to work for both - although I mainly play fingerstyle.

Just saw this thread, Pest. Man, that action is pretty intense, I doubt I could do a four hour gig with it. And like DB says... a pick? Thy fingers are the way of truth.

Hi Pest, plenty of comments on this already. That action is so high that a truck could drive under it. Definitely would not be user friendly past around 7th fret in my opinion, and if playing higher up suspect you may get some intonation issues too.
Low action is both faster and more comfortable to play. I remember when I was a young fella I was always trying to squeeze down on the strings too hard and it is only as you get older that less downward string pressure makes way more sense. How are your frets holding out? Do they look chewed up from all the strangulation?

Since I have small hands and the muscles in my left hand aren't that strong, I tend to like the actions on my guitars as low as I can get them without buzzing, I've got a Squire P-Bass which I tried to set up to Fender P-Bass specs with the action at the 12th fret at 3mm, I find that if I try to play a guitar with a high action my left hand hurts when fretting notes.

Hello,

I'm not sure if this is the right thread to post my question to.

But I'm just wondering if anyone can help me out on fixing the intonation on the guitar that I just built. I have finished building an RC-1 probably over a week ago. Now, I've been having problems on my string action. I basically followed the guides on the website on how to install the neck and all that stuff. At the moment, I've put the bridge saddles all the way down, but the string action is still way too high for my preference. I think 4mm at the 17th fret. Also, I have tried adjusting the truss rod to fix the relief. No buzzing on any frets as of now.

Any help would be appreciated as I have been dealing with the problem for more than a week now.

Thanks in advance,

- Mark M.

Hi Mark

Could you post a few pictures so we can check for you. We need to make sure the neck pocket and neck is properly aligned and that there is no neck bow for starters.

i am assuming that you have followed the intonation setup guide as well?


gavmeister

I'm having problems with uploading the photos that I took.

Any chance I could email it to you?

- Mark M

Hi Mark, you have to resize the photos to maximum 1500 x 1500 resolution or below 1MB in size. Try doing that and the images should upload

Here are some of the photos that I took, lemme know if you want me to send different angles.

- Mark M.

Attachment 10845Attachment 10846Attachment 10847

^ sorry just bumping, waiting for anyone who can give me an advice regarding the action height

Hi Mark,

While you wait for some advice from the experts (I am not an expert), it does look like the nut is very high.

If your open strings are in tune but you play an open G chord and it is out of tune, that means the nut is too high (usually).

The nut can be removed (just tap it out) and then you can file/sand down the bottom of the nut. Go easy and try the low E string at every step. You don't want to file it down too much and then have to shim.

When you get the E string in tune as an open string and fretted at the 3td fret to a G, then you have the correct nut height.

Hi Mark, Adam is on the money. Nut height looks too high. Tap it out gently with a fret hammer if you have one.
Sand the bottom of the nut flat on sandpaper on a flat surface.
Also have a look at your bridge height, how is the gap between strings and frets at 22nd fret ?

the build looks great by the way !

@adam - thank you sir, will definitely try sanding down the bottom of the nut and see if it makes a differece.

@wokkaboy - thanks! and the gap at 22nd fret is about 3.5mm on the low E string and 2mm on the high E string. Take note that the bridge saddles are already all the way down and the string action is still pretty high.

- Mark M