So, I’ve ended up with these values below.
- Action where the neck meets the body (19th fret for me)
| E | 3.00 mm |
|---|---|
| A | 2.75 mm |
| D | 2.75 mm |
| G | 2.50 mm |
- Action @12th fret :
| E | 2.50 mm |
|---|---|
| A | 2.25 mm |
| D | 2.25 mm |
| G | 2.00 mm |
Buzzing solved ! Most sites I’ve read consider these values in-between Medium to Low-Medium action. I wouldn’t know, since I just followed John Carruthers’s videos and ended up tweaking the string height action individually, playing and adjusting until I was satisfied.
some tips and tricks :
- This might sounds obvious but don’t get overly anxious about your specific issue with your instrument. At one point, I started to get overwhelmed, thinking almost everything was wrong with it, until I just restarted every tests from scratch, calmly. Test are just that : tests. Maybe some of them can’t even apply to your specific instrument. And as I said before : no need to get anxious about something a professional will solve in a breeze.
- Don’t use the tiny allen wrench if you have a precision tool kit with allen bits somewhere. The thing drove me crazy and kept falling, or sometimes I had a hard time to fit the holy holes. Grr !
- if you’re using a string action gauge, and I highly recommand that you get one (like D’Addario), try to maintain it into place @12th fret while adjusting the height, if you can. It’s way easier and faster to actually see what you’re doing than getting back and forth.
- I’m not too sure about this one (might be true only for a new bass), but I think replacing your strings and even tuning will influence your action. Since the strings tension influence the bending of the neck. I needed to rest after adjusting my E and A strings. When I got back to it a few hours after, the action was… not right. Not a lot NOT right. But still NOT where I left it. So, just keep that in mind.
That’s it ! Thank you for reading ! And helping !
note :
I’ve found these following values below to be quite helpful for metric system users since these are quite simple. I think it’s a good starting point.
Action (General Guideline) from the 12th fret :
| E | 2.50 mm |
|---|---|
| A | 2.50 mm |
| D | 2.00 mm |
| G | 2.00 mm |
DISCLAIMER : Keep in mind that it is by no mean a guide. You shouldn’t even consider the measurements indicated here knowing it’s from a guy who started bass 2 months ago, but … since it’s a valuable experience and I’ve spent quite some time searching for what I needed, so there’s that ^^.
But I decline responsibility if it breaks your strings, kill your cat in the process and sparks the furor of a superhuman being passing by, angry at the sounds you made with your tortured instrument, who then decides to melt you in a very painful way with his laser angry eyes.
Like so :
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