Aww man yea I’m Cheech and or chong on this one. Straightened out the neck and I’m at least at 2.25 now. My saddles are silly high but I feel like I’m already buzzing. Should I be buzzing but not enough to cancel out the note?
Are you measuring that at 12 with fret 1 and the last one down or just completely open?
Completely open. Remember you can hear the buzzing but when you play through an amp / headphones you don’t always hear it through that. I think I play pretty lightly and let the amp do the work. YMMV
You also have to take into account playing style, fretboard radius, and string gauge. A general guide:
Low Action (Fast playing): 2.0 - 2.5 mm for the E, A, D, and G strings; 2.5 - 3.0 mm for the B and high C strings
Medium Action (Balanced): 2.5 - 3.0 mm for the E, A, D, and G strings; 3.0 - 3.5 mm for the B and C strings.
High Action (More control, for heavy players): 3.5 - 4.0 mm for the E, A, D, and G strings; 3.5 - 4.0 mm for the B and C strings.
Ok I think I was hearing .25 and assuming it was on the 12 with nothing down.
So for the others as dense as me 
Capo on fret 1 pushing down on last fret and measuring at fret 7/8 I get .25mm
Not pushing anything down and measuring at fret 12 I’m at 2.5
My other strings are set a little lower since they are thinner.
I also have a notched fret ruler and I have it so my neck is pretty flat.
It’s weird my saddles are still set so high. Is think with these measurements they’d be low
Maybe folks play with a slight bow and just keep them lower? I think it’s easier going for a straighter neck.
I think I’m going to try and drop my pickup a little. All I hear when I slap hard is the dang pickup.
Just going to put myself and say that I have stalactites of finger funk on the underside of my strings. Last gig I almost messed up when I saw them. 
I really should just change the strings but I think I’m going to settle for giving her a good bath.
Yeah you’re using that string you’re pressing down between two points as a straight edge to then measure the relief in your neck (truss rod adjustment).
Once you’ve got the relief you want THEN you set the action with the saddle height.
2 Likes
When I measure the action bridge, I don’t capo the 1st fret. I only capo 1st fret for truss rod adjustment. I also put the bass in playing position when measuring, and always perfectly tuned (repeat after each adjustment).
Also, when setting up your bass, doing the steps in a specific order is important.
- Truss rod.
2. Action at Bridge
3. Action on Neck
4. Intonation (string length)
I learned from John Carruthers over at Elixer strings on how to setup my bass.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te44eWXd9pc
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2DlwxSIPA0
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI9Y9MsmnEc
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC30nJgIAJM
Nonsense, that the custom tuning material that’s added for a better tone (smegma ftw) 
Rubbing alcohol works really good for that, best way to clean them is to remove them, or you can boil em though I don’t recommend it.
Nice, how are you liking the Dunlop products? I went with the Music Nomad products myself and I love them.
1 Like
Dunlop isn’t too bad I’ve cleaned fixed up probably over 12 times with this kit and other than the crappy applicator bottles it seems to work well. That little piece of goey leather or whatever for fret polishing is great and I wish I had a big sheet of it. The polish is a little silly I’m a greasy ogre so no additional greece needed.
It’s funny I had no buzz but once I loosened the strings and gave it a clean now I’m buzzy. Going to let it go overnight and adjust tomorrow. Maybe I’ll take out some relief and lower the saddles to taste.
Fortunately the intonation I set a while back held like a dream so that was a positive.
I love cleaning this bass. I use it 99% of the time and it amazes me to see the impact hours of playing have on the instrument. This time my frets were really stained and there was a little wear on the fret board in between 1/2. Just interesting to see the impact hundreds of hours has on something.
I’m a big fan of old worn tools and the more worn in this bass gets the more I love it.
4 Likes
Action gets lower as the strings get thinner. They have smaller vibration amplitude so the clearance can get smaller before they buzz too much.
YouTube recommended this bass setup video to me the other day. I thought it was very comprehensive and explained everything really well.
And if you want to stay on brand 
3 Likes
Josh’s video is great too! Probably better for a first attempt, especially since (if I remember correctly) he recommends not messing with the nut whereas the other video is pretty gung-ho about it.
The other one has some good tips though, I especially liked the bit about getting a better break angle on the A string by winding it down the post further.
Lots of great videos out there for sure. I like the Music Nomad one and use it as a reference video when I can’t remember what feeler gauge setting to use on the relief.
We live in a golden age.
1 Like
I use both as a reference with doing a setup. I use the Music Nomad tools; well thought out design.
2 Likes
For even more set-up goodness and explanations:
just used these 4 videos to check my new ashdown and enjoyed the experience as the truss rod and bridge action were a fair way out. i was pleased that the nut seemed about right tho as i didnt fancy taking a file to it like John Carruthers does in the video, he files a fair old chunk out doesnt he! 
it wasnt a perfect set up as i dont have the right tools so ive now ordered one of those string height gauges which should come today.
1 Like
I think the Carruthers videos massively overcomplicate things for what is in practice a very simple process. I really like Marcelo’s simple pair of videos which cover everything you need for most setups:
Bonus, no tools needed beyond a screwdriver and the allen wrenches that came with the bass.
1 Like
It looks like it might be a mix of dust, skin oils and sweat. But I wouldn’t go so far as boiling the strings just yet. I would first clean them with string wipes, and that might make a huge difference. I got Ernie Ball wonder wipes for cleaning strings. They can easily do the trick in this situation.
But this picture is also a good reminder for us all to regularly clean the dust from the strings. Keeping them dust free makes them easier and faster to clean and might prolong their life. I got myself a microfiber polishing cloth and I use it once a week on my bass. I rarely need to use the Ernie Ball wonder wipes because the microfiber cloth does such a good job.