Official Luthiers Forum!

I just got a Fender acoustic bass guitar in the shop, needing a setup. This will be my first time working on a bass (electric or acoustic). Can anyone give me some guidelines for relief and action? What about nut slots?

I searched the archives here and didn't turn anything up. I could probably turn up some info on the MIMF if I spent some time searching, but maybe some of you guys who build or work on basses can give me some good guidelines - or direct me to a good source of info (I haven't seen any books specific to bass guitars - are there any?).

Thanks!

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

You should first ask the musician for imputs.

As a bass player myself (both acoustic and electric), I can say that the action and set-up may change a lot from a bassist to another. Some guys like very low action, with a lot of buzz, that are accepted. Other ones like very high action, it really depend on the musician.

But, basically, it's pretty the same thing that a guitar. You down the action as low you can, untill it buzz.

Good luck!

If you have other specific question, don't be shy to ask.

Francis

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Francis Richer, Montréal
Les Guitares F&M Guitars

From my research and limited experience in bass building. Set-up at the nut is the same as for a six string with strings half buried in the slots and a hair of clearance at the first fret when fretted at the third. Relief around .008" and action as per Francis note. I have my action at the 12th set at a smidge over 1/8" right now on the low E. I can pick it hard with little to no buzz at that height.

Howdy Todd,

I recently completed an acoustic 5 Str. Bass. Don't have much time right at the moment but I'll get back a little later with more info on my setup. Very similar to a regular guitar in setup with varying action and tuning as mentioned above. Must use AB Strings!!!

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Bill Hodge


One does not simply, own enough guitars!

Thanks for the input, guys. Much appreciated.

Let me back up a bit...

This is a basic Fender acoustic bass with a 32" scale length. I've only had time to glance at it so far, but the action is high and there's too much upbow in the neck - mostly a bend in the middle. That's just from quickly eyeballing it - no measurements taken yet. Don't know yet how well the truss rod works or how effective it will be at bringing the neck to something resembling nice relief.

I have very limited experience playing bass myself, but 30 years playing guitar and 10 years building and repairing guitars.

I've worked on a few guitars for this guy before - both acoustics and electrics. I will talk with him some more about what kind of action he thinks he'd like on his bass, but I'm pretty sure I know what he'll say. He'll be kind of vague and leave it largely up to my judgment - he trusts me and he likes the way I've made his guitars play. He'll probably want it to play cleanly even when played with a fairly aggressive attack - that's the way he likes his guitars, and he, like me, is not really a bass player.

If I'm asked for guidelines in setting up an acoustic guitar, I would suggest some parameters, such as setting the relief between .006" and .010" (assuming measurements are taken the way I do them), nut slot depths like so (a little lengthier explanation necessary for that, obviously, but pretty much what Darrel said), and then the action at the 12th fret at about .065" for the high E and .090" for the low E. That would be more or less my "base line", which will, on many guitars, give a nice, easy playability with clean sound even when the strings are picked pretty hard. I could elaborate on that as to how far I might go above or below those measurements depending on the needs of a given player or the particulars of a given instrument, but those figures work for me as a starting place.

So, those are the kind of guidelines that would be helpful for me - some numbers to aim for, adjustable according to the situation. Darrel's reply gave me some things to work with. Do others agree? About .008" relief? Nut slots like on a guitar (I wonder especially about the nut slots since I can imagine that might be different on a bass) - just a hair of clearance, or a smidge? A smidge is at least twice as much as a hair, in my book. When I do my nut slots on a guitar, using the method Darrel described, I go for a hair (or even half a hair) of clearance over the 1st fret for the high E, but a smidge for the low E. Then, for action at the 12th fret - a smidge over .125" for the low E, as Darrel says? What about the G string?

Thanks again!

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

Good morning Todd,

Darrel pretty much has the right track set already. Here is an informative link with detailed info in regard to set up and intonation of the Bass. Below question #16 is a detailed four part answer regarding this matter. This guy pretty well covers all things Bass and it was a great help to me in setting up the one I recently finished. Hope this is helpful.

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Bill Hodge


One does not simply, own enough guitars!

Thanks for that link Bill. If the math is right, it refers to .75mm or around 0.030" of relief. That seems high to me as mine seems to play fine and buzz free at much less. Could be my relatively high action as well though.

I use a modern bass technique with slapping and popping, as well as some chords and tapping. I play my bass with a nearly straight neck, and my action set just at 4/64ths at the 12 fret, and I get no buzz when I play because I control the string vibration with my technique. I get a punchy tone, that fills the room, without muddiness in the mix. I also don't use compression for a full dynamic tone.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

Todd you may be at the mercy of the bass and have no choice in it's set up if that neck is hosed. Guidelines are helpful but often times useless when all you can do is set it up the best you can. And of course it is player dependent too. I go for higher action on my bass's at about 3/32 over the 14th fret with as flat a fretboard as I can get it. I don't measure the nut height but try to go as low as possible there, again that will depend on the curvature of the neck.

Thanks, everyone, for your continued input.

Guitarwhisperer, I appreciate you sharing your experience (as both a player and a pro guitar tech), which gives us an idea of how low the action can be for some players. A few questions, if you don't mind:

Is the 4/64ths (.0625") action measured on your highest string or lowest, or both?
Is this a 4 string bass?
What's the scale length?
What string gauges do you use?
Is it an acoustic bass?
Do you have an actual measurement for the relief?
Is there an average relief measurement you would recommend for most 32-34" scale basses for your average player?
Any recommendations on nut slot depths for basses?

Thanks again!

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

Understood. Thanks.



You and theguitarwhisperer have both given just one number for action (in your case 3/32" or .094"). Is this because it is your practice - and perhaps common practice - to set up the action the same across all the strings on a bass?

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

There are no acoustic guitars that get the bass register, so you start out with an impossible task.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Todd,

3/32 down to 2.5/32 is what I aim for on my personal set up.

I actually set the neck straight, using the string as a straightedge. I then measure each string individually and set them all the same a hair under the mark, and then put just enough relief in them to get them right at the 4/64th mark, the bottom of the string just barely covers the line.

I play a 5-string bass, and am experimenting with the 6-string bass.

For 34 inch scale I use 45-125 DR Fat beams, and for long scale I use 40-120. The heights stay the same.

I set acoustic basses a hair higher, I don't use an actual relief measurement, it's faster for me to just use the string, 10,000 plus setups into it, I'm pretty consistent that way.

As far as nut slots, half the string should rest in the slot. The depth should be such that when the string is held on the third fret, the string JUST clears the first fret, so that when the first fret is played, the note does not sound sharp due to the end tension.

For the average player, I reccomenbd 3/32 or 4/32 inches of string height at the 12th fret, with the same string height from the bridge, unless they wish to develop their technique further, in which case the bass must be set up for it and the techniques learned over time. Took me about 3 months to adjust.


A Lot of guys think I set my guitars up backwards because I do the saddle height first based on a straight neck, and then adjust the relief, but it makes sense because the high notes need to ring true, and then enough relief is put into the neck for the low notes to ring true, the whole fretboard sounds clean that way. The neck is set straight, the nut slot is set, the saddle heights are set, the right amount of relief is adjusted, then finally the intonation. Each adjustment sets up the next one.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

Thanks, JF! .094" on the low string and .078" on the high (I think in thousandths when it comes to action height, so I'm just translating that for myself).

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

Much appreciated! I find your approach very interesting, and well worth some thought. And the guidelines you give will be very helpful to me. Thanks!

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

No prob. BTW all measurements must be checked with the instrument in playing position.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

Yep, thanks, I always do. And I quickly noticed how it's even more critical with a bass.

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/