I was looking for a steel string action guage (the credit card one) and one of them came with a set of these, which I’ve never seen before. Anyone use them?
Dan Erlewine has a good explanation/demonstration here:
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Thanks!
This is more of a thing for guitar, not bass, and not to set string height per se but to match string height to fretboard radius. I don’t set my basses up in a way that matches a radius, I set them up so they feel great and don’t buzz.
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If you always go for the lowest possible action without buzzing, the strings automatically follow the radius and no gauges are needed at all. It’s a built-in property of low action height.
So these are really only a factor for higher actions.
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Oh wow, never thought of it in that way but makes perfect sense now. I would get buzz out then TRY to eyeball the radius. Thank you Sir.
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yeah just basically go as low as you can with no buzz on each string. No need to check radius then because it is automatically following it.
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I was obsessed with this tool until I watched a Luthier on YouTube just measure off the height of the strings on the 7th fret.
For my Squier P Bass, measuring 5/64” on all 4 Strings off the 7th fret is going to give me a natural curved radius anyhow.
I put these tools back in my bag and have never looked at them again. Sometimes Common Sense DOES beat G.A.S.
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