Lowered the action on all my basses.

[isaac42]

The ones I play most, anyway.

 

Played a party Saturday. Featured band was Ty Curtis (https://www.tycurtis.net/). Amazing player, and his bass player blew me away. He invited me to try out his bass, one I was not familiar with, a Brubaker (http://www.brubakerguitars.com/). 5-string Jazz bass, sounded very good. He said it was a student model, at least by Brubaker standards. Amazingly low action; every note buzzed on the frets, but it didn't seem to adversely affect the sound.

 

I've been having some trouble with my left index finger (fretting hand), so I thought that lowering the action might be easier on it. We'll see if it helps.

[DeepEnd]

Best of luck. Hope it works out for you.

[WRGKMC]

I usually set the action on my basses to about 2mm top string and 3mm on the bottom on my short scale basses which is just a hair beyond the point of string buzz in most cases. On long scale basses I might have the low E slightly lower.

 

It all depends on the strings I'm using and relief set. If the relief is flatter I need to increase the height at the 12th. If I have a normal .012" then I can set it to factory specs.

 

I don't like it too low because the string slap kills the dynamics. Too high and the strings twang erratically out of pitch. The frets are a governor which limits the string dynamics. When I pick the strings with maximum velocity they get a momentary slap on the highest fret and this keeps the dynamics in check.

 

I like being able to maintain a steady clean string tone without too much concentration and not wearing my hands out having to monkey grip the neck.

I used to be able to man handle any neck but I'm pushing 60 this year. I Try and keep my hands in top shape and I can still drive a solid rock song through without a problem but I avoid pushing past certain limits because the healing time is so long and the joint inflammation becomes severe.

 

Instead of messing with action which screws up the tone I've instead switched to lighter gauged strings. I'm not a big flat wound fan but the .039~.096" Labella Flats provide the absolute best balance I can find on my Hofner without the strings feeling like rubber bands.

 

On my other basses I'm still using the .045 to .105 D'Addario's. I don't play those basses nearly as much and those strings maintain they're tone forever without corroding.

[DeepEnd]

. . . It all depends on the strings I'm using and relief set. If the relief is flatter I need to increase the height at the 12th. If I have a normal .012" then I can set it to factory specs. . . .

Most of Isaac's basses are Rics and they recommend no relief.

[isaac42]

Most of Isaac's basses are Rics and they recommend no relief.

That's true, but I don't agree. Makes no sense to me. A vibrating string forms a curve. I think that the neck should follow that curve.

[DeepEnd]

That's true, but I don't agree. Makes no sense to me. A vibrating string forms a curve. I think that the neck should follow that curve.

Frankly, so do I, especially on a bass since the strings are longer. I don't want to argue with the people who designed and built the bass but it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I wasn't sure what your preferences were so I cited factory recommendations.

[WRGKMC]

My 470 Ric Guitar is built like the basses. I've never touched the relief since I bought it which is a testament to the build quality. It has a dual truss rod so I could for example add more relief to the bass side compared to the treble but I just prefer to leave it as is. It plays properly and so long as I keep the frets in good shape life is good.

 

I've had many bass players with Rics. The ones I've played had minimal relief but none with a dead flat I can remember.

It likely comes from the factory that way but some relief usually accumulates either from the neck settling or normal fret wear. definitely wouldn't want back bow.