You play very softly and so this action is appropriate for you. Those that play with a bit more force need it to be higher to let the strings vibrate fully.
Action is (and was always) the matter of taste and compromise. Ease of play + speed = low VS clean sound and more versatility + harder play and less precise intonation = higher action.
The lowest action I managed to get was on a 35" scale Ibanez BTB. The height was 2.5mm - 1.5mm @ 12th fret (low B to high G). There was no buzz, but the string attack felt more percussive - kind of like Flea's bass tone.
Nice setup Anderson. I have a 2004 Deluxe P bass and with Ernie Ball Slinky Flatwounds I get the same result. Plays like a dream even when you give it some.
Hey! I just found your video on doing your own set up. I for years depended on repair shops to do my set ups and had to wait a week and spend alot of money. I recently brought a fretless jazz bass and did it myself and the bass plays EXACTLY how I like it. What a difference. This in a way feels like my first real bass. You dont need to do measurements and make a science project out of it you do it by trial and error and in this age of utube you can educate yourself in how to do it. Eventually I may need to have the fretboard worked on from wear and tear as its a fretless but this time Im leaving on the flats that the bass came with rather than have roundwounds chew up the fretboard. Your action is even lower than mine. Beautiful!
Measurements ? Totally agree so many factors involved, the player and how one plays the instrument Is or should be the first to consider and you cant really measure their technique. Regarding fretless Bases I've built two over the years and always use round wounds on ebony (no fingerboard coating), Before TH-cam on my Fretless Basses I got the Basses playable with easy action by scraping the finger board lengthways from nut to bridge direction with a short piece of cut off craft knife blade about 1/2" in length under each string in turn then tuning it up to pitch to see where the buzz was so that I was working with full tension on the neck (except for moving the string out of the way on the part I was working on)
Thank you for the compliment and kind words. Honestly, I've had "Proper-Fenders" that never played as well as my Squiers. It's manly because I do the work myself.
I Love super low action on a bass. I play a Chapman NS Stick with no radius on the fretboard, and it's the only way I have been able to get sick action as low as I want it. So I am pleased to see this on something of a P-Bass.
Man I miss my squier P bass ...gonna definitely have to get another one...they do play like butter... currently running an Epiphone T-bird and wanting to get a Fender style again just to change up a bit
Try converting a P-bass to a fretless one. I made a mess removing the frets myself. Next time I'll do that to a bass, I'll carefully file them flat, they leave a nice indication. Contrabass players could smile now, being a beginner, my musle memory has not settled in. I still like these stripes. That's the reason I mounted the bridge on the original spot, again. I had removed the frets, for I wanted slightly longer strings and moved the bridge +/- two inches. The Ball strings are long enough, nobody wants a knot in each string. Intonation was a problem. Solution is fretless, or moving the frets, and fretless is easier. Getting the fingerboard flat again, it wasn't easy. I added a superglue finish and sanded it as good as possible. Still two spots in between two frets have a tiny bit of buzz. And I allow myself some more action, against buzz, but it is not like crazy high. It works for me. I play a set of pretty standard roundwound 45-100 Ernie Ball strings. And I like them, low gauge numbers are easy on the fingers. Maybe next set of strings I should try higher gauge, I expect them to sound more bright. Or I can feel how soft flatwounds play, but I'm afraid I like the roundwound sound too much. Summary: if you have a cheap P-bass extra, and you can handle basic tools, converting it to fretless can be great fun. When you want to learn playing fretless...
i just bought a squire precision bass and want to work on the setup myself, been searching youtube for the secrets and the magic. I just ordered a truss rod and string action gage online so I'll start this journey this week. Your action looks great!
I like the way your squier looks. As far as the set up to each hos own. I respect that. As far as yours go. I like it. And yes i agree. learn to work on your own stuff. I have had mine looked at by a tech. He said i dont see or hear anything wrong.maybe the strings are a little high. Same store different day different tech. Lot of fret buzz. Neck was ok. Needed adjusting bad. He took care of the problem. Said learn to work on your stuff.
My action for my jazz bass is really high but I’m to nervous to adjust the truss rod and also my pickups can’t go down lower because they mess up the screw and I tried wiggling the pickup. The action is high that when I try playing faster and higher notes it has the tapping noise on the frets
That is impressive. Lower than I have been able to get on any of my several p basses (including a 2008 Squier VM) w/o the fret buzz. And I've put in some serious hours trying. Sounds just great and must be a breeze to play (which is saying something, for a P bass). May try some Chromes to see what I am able to achieve. Thanks for a solid vid.
Takes time and practice playing the whole neck. I have the lowest fret with string pretty much sitting on the fret. I learned to let the pick up do the work and soft gentle style finger or pick will get it done!
Hey man! So cool!! And how is the difference between chromes and steel or nickel strings? What do you think? I'm trying new types of strings nowadays. Cheers.
hi im a new bass player, i just bought a bass 2 days ago and i have a hiigh action because there is 6mm between E string and 12 fret in the fretboard and i find it a little hard although im also a guitar player so i dont have a problem with fretting but i do a little with my new bass.. So should i setup my bass to get the action get lower or continue with it ? and is 6mm too much ? and also i forgot to mention that i like ur style of playing keep going man!
Thanks for the compliment. As for the setup, absolutely you should lower your action. Check the straightness of the neck first and adjust it [truss rod] then lower the action [bridge saddles]. I'm sorry, I don't use measurements, I judge MINE by feel alone. You might just take it to an authorized luthier.
Type of strings make a huge difference on how low you can go nickles can go super low but stainless cant go as low also what measurements do you consider low?
Start slow. Do small adjustments and let settle in for an hour or even overnight. Keep track of where you started from. If the buzzing is between the first fret and the 10th or so fret then you may need to loosen the truss rod just a little. If the buzzing is at 12th fret or about then you may need to raise the bridge a bit. Don't be too shy to make your own adjustments, the more you do it the more attuned to it you'll become. Use common sense, you're qualified to do your own adjustments.
I need to get my action lowered. I have the original out of the box set up and original strings. It feels like work, my fingers are suffering. I wanted to try adjusting it myself but it seems like too much to possibly get wrong. 😁🙃
Quick and dirty setup guide, 100% effective, no measurements needed (not what most people say to do): 1) Adjust the neck until it looks relatively straight, slightly concave. Don't be too picky yet. 2) Adjust the bridge saddle heights until you like how much it's buzzing when you play the highest few frets. 3) Adjust the neck until you like how much it's buzzing around the lowest few frets. (this won't affect the higher frets) 4) Intonation (google it, not too hard) 5) Pickup height (google it)
couple points: -OP is using flatwounds, they don't buzz as easily -if you want low action, there will always be fret buzz when you play hard, it often sounds good thru the amp tho. Most basses are setup to buzz a little when you play moderately hard. What you want is a consistent amount of buzz across the neck, not possible if your frets aren't level (they usually aren't) -what you don't want is for a note to buzz and then die, that's a sign of too low action and/or bad fretwork. You might be able to hammer a high fret back in its slot. Quick and dirty setup guide (not what most people say to do): 1) Adjust the neck until it looks relatively straight, slightly concave. Don't be too picky yet. 2) Adjust the saddles until you like how much it's buzzing when you play the highest few frets. 3) Adjust the neck until you like how much it's buzzing around the lowest few frets. (this won't affect the higher frets) 4) Intonation (google it, not too hard) 5) Pickup height (google it)
@@ts4gv thanks, that great advice. I’m working on getting my properly set up to eliminate as much of the buzz while making the bass playable. The strings are too high so I have to crush down on them to play the note so my fingers get tired and sometimes catch the strings because of how high they are. I’ve been working on adjusting all of the components in your list and I have made some improvements but I still need to check the neck again, I’ll check each of the frets as well. I might have a few that are too high so I’ll remove the strings and start from scratch. Thanks for the advice that really helps. Cheers.
@@jasoncherry5849 good luck mate. i will say if it's hard to play, lower the action (in the order I suggested). And if you ever think your strings are buzzing too much, do a sanity check & plug it in the amp to make sure it's actually a problem. Might sound awesome if that's the sound you're going for. also there's a great forum called TalkBass. Check it out it rocks, I've got a ton of useful advice from there. Maybe post some pictures of the neck viewed from the top down, folks will tell you if it's way off & if there's any severe fret issues. The most annoying thing about beginner DIY setups without measuring tools is a sense of scale. It's hard for you to know what a "slightly concave" neck actually looks like. Or how high a fret has to be to cause a major problem. But my guess is that your neck is too concave, and chances are your frets are good enough.
@@ts4gv thanks man I appreciate the advice. I’m just getting started playing only after 46 years so I have a long climb ahead but I’m looking forward to it. Thank you once again, cheers to you my friend.
Hi Anderson, thanks for sharing. I have a Squire 70's Vibe Squire bass and I just install flatwound strings on it. The factory action settings are HIGH. You failed to mention how you lowered the action. Is it simply a matter of lowering the string saddles? I would appreciate your advice before I starting adjusting mine.
So sorry, It was a combination of lowering the saddles and adjusting the trust rod. I didn't use factory stats, I go with feel. I watch TH-cam videos and learn what I can.
@@bassworship50 No worries. I'm like you and try and do as much as I can myself. 😀With so much going on with recording and writing and mixing sometimes these important things get left behind. I've had the bass for about 3 years and haven't touched it setup wise until this morning. After watching your video, I checkout the bass and sure enough I had to tighten the truss rod which I've done many many times to my guitars over the years. I just needed a little inspiration which you gave me. 💪The action is right where I want now. Thanks for your help.
I basically checked out some TH-cam videos and went from there. I understand the work of the truss rod and why sometimes it the nut or maybe shimming the neck. That bass had a great, strong neck as most P basses do [thickness wise]. Once I straighten it, and reset the string height and intonation, my work was done. I have a musicman 5 string that's going to my luther tomorrow because no matter what I do, I can't stop it from buzzing. Could be a lifted fret...I'm also having that plastic nut changed to bone.
@@bassworship50 yea I have the later model that has active pickups with ebanol fret board. I can do Seinfeld slap all day on that thing. The other bass I had was a 800$ schecter stage 5 and it fuckin sucked compared to a 300$ squire bass. I sold the schecter as soon as I could find a buyer.... took a year to sell it was just undesirable I guess.
I love low action, however, how can I make the strings be less tight with standard tuning?... I like my strings a bit loose, how can I improve/control this? Does it have to do with the srings gauge or bridge adjustment? thanks.
Nice work Anderson. I think its important that musicians experiment with their own instrument and get the action where you want it uniformly across and through the entire fretboard. I have my action set around 2-3mm from the 12th fret which is pretty low, and I have seen people get it down to 1-2mm which takes a bit of time, experimentation and patience.
For me, 1.5 mm at the 12th feels ideal. But I like a bit of fret clank when I play harder, so it works well for me to go that low (and my go-to tech is solely responsible for achieving it w/o buzzing, not myself). And you are right about the real difference it makes to experiment and discover what works best for you and then how to best implement it. Playing becomes a more enjoyable experience when it just feel right.
One common misconception is that a neck needs to be straight. In fact, the opposite is true, especially for low action. It's called "neck relief" and it's the reason truss rods are adjustable in the first place. Placing a very slight bow in the neck allows the strings to sit lower in the fingerboard than they would on a straight one. Any doubters can easily fact-check this, or better yet try it out for themselves!
I am curious how this is possible? In theory the saddles and nut hold the string in a straight line between one another. If you adjust the neck of the bass to add relief, you’re only adjusting the neck of the guitar further away from the strings and not bringing the neck closer to the strings, right? Not quite sure what I am missing here…
@@nicholasbuckton6368 your theory is half correct. However, it only tells the story of when the strings are not fretted. Relief is increased to allow the strings clearance from the frets when you are fretting. If you can imagine a string height of 2.5mm above the 12th fret when open, then fret at the first fret and the clearance at the 12th fret decreases - and decreases further the higher you fret up the neck. If you set your action height with a straight neck with no relief, then by the time you get to halfway down the fretboard, your strings will be rattling against the higher frets. Relief prevents this, as you are in effect adding clearance as you travel further down the board and across the overall “curve” of the relief. The setting up of the relief versus overall action height is a balancing act between comfortable action and playability down the neck. The better the fret job (level) then the lower you can set the action with a lesser amount of relief.
I mean not every driver can do anything at their car motor etc but an instrumentalist should be able to adjust/set/tune their gear since its not so hard to do, even i can ;) But i'm not talking repair like broken wood etc, thats something other, luthier job even. So, youre right of course, to be able to screw around at the instruments saves money, it also tightens the relationship to the instrument, it feels perfect then. Cheers! :-)
is this already a chinese made? i bought one about a year ago, really not that long after I started playing. you can get a serious guitar for little money if you are lucky. also swapped the electronics, but I chose the solderless EMG stuff. the fretwork on my Ibanez SR300 is basically all over the place and they adjusted the 'setup' instead of correcting their mess: neck bent like a hockey stick, way to tall nut and the bridge saddles were all jacked up in the air. the squier was different, playable out of the box and the fretwork is just top notch for an entry level bass, you can play this thing literally with no neck relief and below 2mm string action. I really like that message at the end, unfortunately many ppl just starting out have no idea what they are looking at and nobody to help them, so they end up buying instruments of terrible build quality and basically with no setup, and they play on these things way to long
Lordy, Lord- wished you showed HOW you got the action low and without buzz. I bought John Carouthers book, memorized his YT Elixir sponsored 4 part series and my expensive Jazz has action like a trampoline. I moved back east and in this small hillbilly city, no one can tech out a good setup. I might smash it with a shovel. Damn humidity here has messed up my Warwick ebony fretboard necks as well. Please do a vid on the mechanics of your method. Thx much.
This is ok, on this particular day but with the humidity its back to the bench. I think I paid a tech to get it this low, then buying all the tools in the world I can't find a good online tutorial to keep it low. Thx for your insight. th-cam.com/video/_qHs2ZTR5SU/w-d-xo.html
@@bassworship50 That certainly helps! I am in the process of setting up my bass right now. And I'm ordering some tools to get it done properly. Nothing fancy; just a feeler gauge set, a ruler, and a capo.
a bass that is made at nominal dimensions and is assembled with proper torque specifications will be a excellent finished product , regardless of the brand name . Ive owned a Squier Chris Aiken bass that played and sounded better than a few American made basses Ive tried out. It is definitely much better than the Made in Mexico pc of shit I bought 6 months ago and traded out already. That one was a pure dud. They must of assembled it after a company fiesta and the employees ate one too many tamales. They were probably sleepy and burpin and fartin their asses off as they were half ass assembling that bass.. Im glad you setup your Squier with low action and no fret buzz . It just goes to show the bass snobs that turn their noses up at the lower line products that its not always about the brand name .. its about final product out the door and craftsmanship . Your amp has alot to do with final tone too ,,and its ALL about your hands . a musicians hands are the do all to end all when it comes to great tone and continuity. Ive seen great players pick up a 150 $ bass and made it sound like a dream .A WET DREAM at that ..Ewww Weee Brotha ..Willy Hunter from Canton Ohio was one of those guys .He was a notorious alcoholic/homeless man and former funk/ jazz bassist that played the music scene in Canton back in the 50s and 60s and early 70s ..He played with the Ojays -sat in with The Drifters and acts like that when they came thru Canton back then.. He walked in Gatussos Music when I happen to be there one snowy afternoon in 1983 -picked up a used Hondo bass and started bustin chops playing Steve Wonder (Superstition).. He'd bring tears to your eyes. TEARS brotha.. thats how good he was ..RIP Willy..you were one of the unknown greats ! Peace man keep on bassin
One size doesn't always fit all and factory settings don't always work for better players. I've had brand new basses that I've sanded the back of the neck, etc. To each his own my friend. I've had Japanese fenders that have crushed american fenders, it's all preferable...
Anderson McCant okay cause I already did the truss rod mine is perfectly straight but my strings are high , i just need bridge adjustments . Thanks for the help 🙏🏽
O.k.,but you are just healing the strings!If you play harder like Metal,Rock,Funk...(mainly on stage), you will have tons off buzzing or klapping...😉🤟🎸
Steve Harris got his tone with a light touch to play fast for long periods of time and then a super low action to get some clank and boosting treble at the amp to help cut through. And he uses a p bass with fresh .110-.050 flatwound strings.
The bridge height of each string from high to low string has to be slightly higher like going up steps. The truss rod must be adjusted so your intonation is good and your neck is straight which also eliminates fret buzz. Open string and note on same string at 12th fret should be the same. After that if not right, tighten or loosen the spring screw at bridge to get intonation on each string at same pitch on 12th fret.
I brought that bass used on ebay, took everything apart, did a complete cleaning of the bridge/saddles and put it all back together...very far from factory 🏭...
@@bassworship50 Specific to the action though, Fender factory specs are 2mm on treble side and 2.4 mm on bass side (assuming a 9 - 12 inch radius). Use a feeler gauge btw top of the 12th fret and bottom of the string. Lots of guys work at getting lower than that. Factory setup is always a happy medium.
great u touchink the string ,, no bad technic but il like to hear give it away now of rhcp ,, or at least some stronger finger scales played all over neck ,, respect //ps what is your bow in the neck if carefuly lightly fret ,,gently ,,1 and 24 or last fret you got what is the ,,gap between 12 fret and bottom of e string,, other think is if just let bass lie on bed what is top of the 21/or 24 fret to bottom of e a g d strings,, i got at lowest still setting tjhat allow me to play let just say rhcp higher ground with groove and full tone,, or primus tommy the cat ,,on fretted bass wersion // i feel on fat e top of fret to bottom of string is /depend is it fender asdd some //fodera can go a bit lower but looses the groow /sound on thumb only rithm ,, so 2,2 to 2,4 mm under fat string and 2,1 to mm to 2,4 mm if fender or some fat bass,, but on ,,supermodern basses ,,graphite all reinforcemant etc ,, 2,2,to 2,5 mm on e string is fine and on g 2,1 to 2,4 is also ok ,,, A AND G STRINGS mesuret in this manner depend on neck radius, string gauge but rule of thoumb top 2 /E AND A are some quarter to half mm higher than thin d/g ,, of course you do this after setting bridge for harminics//simple that 12 th fret is really precisse on half way from nut to bridge where string brakes ,, pickup depth ,, i for slapp like neck pickup a bit more sunk into body and bridge a bit closer to strings ,,please mail me if any rant ,question //we might find some new bass thing together ,,all welcome MITJA KAVEC SLOVENIJA BASSIST /4 STRING //by trade,, //MY MAIL /michomicho223@gmail.com / please do get in touch i am ordering me a wery expensive bass/last i ll buy in this life ,,i play left handed bass altho i m righty ,, but that s another stort ,, was looking at laurus basses since close to my country ,, but i am afraid after listening all of demo sounds that it will not fill my need for infection s grooves if any so old here ,,or similar funky/slappy sound where not as much as flea but got to kick a string not cores it //i will ansver i nead hlp so please i can help too ,got loads of recorded songs/albums ,,help me and ill help in any /all mather i can //THANK YOU ALL /mitja ljubljana slovenia //laibach//
Chrys, sorry for any inconvenience. I'm a hobbyist and not a "luthier". I just know how to fix my own basses. I sold that bass to a recording studio about 2 years ago, peace.
@@bassworship50 No worries, no inconvenience. I am also a hobbyist, not a "luthier". You recommend people learn how to set up their instrument, and for good reasons. Measuring tools are the best way to know what you have done and to get repeatable results. A set of automotive feeler gauges to measure neck relief and a string action gauge ruler to measure string height are both really helpful.
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Love low action like that, the glide is so real
You're so right 😅
the tone on that bass is amazing!
Thanks, I no longer have this bass and it's the 2nd worst sell I ever made in my music career.
You play very softly and so this action is appropriate for you. Those that play with a bit more force need it to be higher to let the strings vibrate fully.
I'm more of a Digger, I attack, but you're definitely correct sir.
Action is (and was always) the matter of taste and compromise. Ease of play + speed = low VS clean sound and more versatility + harder play and less precise intonation = higher action.
@@yeoldefoxeh254I use very high action on my bass and actually the intonation and sound is better🤔
Thank you for the good advices, Anderson. I'll jump experimenting with this low-action config. Keep on sharing:p
The lowest action I managed to get was on a 35" scale Ibanez BTB. The height was 2.5mm - 1.5mm @ 12th fret (low B to high G). There was no buzz, but the string attack felt more percussive - kind of like Flea's bass tone.
Ok, I never "measure" per say...I go by feel alone.
I am really enjoying your channel my friend. You are definitely an asset to the TH-cam bass community. Much love.
Thank you for your kind words.
Nice setup Anderson. I have a 2004 Deluxe P bass and with Ernie Ball Slinky Flatwounds I get the same result. Plays like a dream even when you give it some.
It's a good skill to have. I've been working on my basses since 1987
I love my Squier p/j special basses. I do all my own set ups.
It was a pleasure to watch your fingers just glide over the neck. Smooooth playing.
Thank you
Hey! I just found your video on doing your own set up. I for years depended on repair shops to do my set ups and had to wait a week and spend alot of money. I recently brought a fretless jazz bass and did it myself and the bass plays EXACTLY how I like it. What a difference. This in a way feels like my first real bass. You dont need to do measurements and make a science project out of it you do it by trial and error and in this age of utube you can educate yourself in how to do it. Eventually I may need to have the fretboard worked on from wear and tear as its a fretless but this time Im leaving on the flats that the bass came with rather than have roundwounds chew up the fretboard. Your action is even lower than mine. Beautiful!
Measurements ? Totally agree so many factors involved, the player and how one plays the instrument Is or should be the first to consider and you cant really measure their technique. Regarding fretless Bases I've built two over the years and always use round wounds on ebony (no fingerboard coating),
Before TH-cam on my Fretless Basses I got the Basses playable with easy action by scraping the finger board lengthways from nut to bridge direction with a short piece of cut off craft knife blade about 1/2" in length under each string in turn then tuning it up to pitch to see where the buzz was so that I was working with full tension on the neck (except for moving the string out of the way on the part I was working on)
Nice job, you've achieved every guitar/bass player's dream. I bet it plays like a proper Fender now.
Thank you for the compliment and kind words. Honestly, I've had "Proper-Fenders" that never played as well as my Squiers. It's manly because I do the work myself.
Brilliant! Sweet action! Great Video!
I Love super low action on a bass. I play a Chapman NS Stick with no radius on the fretboard, and it's the only way I have been able to get sick action as low as I want it. So I am pleased to see this on something of a P-Bass.
Thank you for the compliment. Have a great day and a wonderful life, peace.
Soft playing and flats. Probably nickel too. Do that with stainless steel rounds.
I have D'Addario Chromes (kind of half-flats) and super low action and it's great :)
Ernie Ball cobalts are the best! They have cobalt flatwounds too.
I hear a bit of buzz but for as low as it is it's really good
Man I miss my squier P bass ...gonna definitely have to get another one...they do play like butter... currently running an Epiphone T-bird and wanting to get a Fender style again just to change up a bit
Try converting a P-bass to a fretless one. I made a mess removing the frets myself. Next time I'll do that to a bass, I'll carefully file them flat, they leave a nice indication. Contrabass players could smile now, being a beginner, my musle memory has not settled in. I still like these stripes. That's the reason I mounted the bridge on the original spot, again. I had removed the frets, for I wanted slightly longer strings and moved the bridge +/- two inches. The Ball strings are long enough, nobody wants a knot in each string. Intonation was a problem. Solution is fretless, or moving the frets, and fretless is easier.
Getting the fingerboard flat again, it wasn't easy. I added a superglue finish and sanded it as good as possible. Still two spots in between two frets have a tiny bit of buzz.
And I allow myself some more action, against buzz, but it is not like crazy high. It works for me. I play a set of pretty standard roundwound 45-100 Ernie Ball strings. And I like them, low gauge numbers are easy on the fingers. Maybe next set of strings I should try higher gauge, I expect them to sound more bright. Or I can feel how soft flatwounds play, but I'm afraid I like the roundwound sound too much.
Summary: if you have a cheap P-bass extra, and you can handle basic tools, converting it to fretless can be great fun. When you want to learn playing fretless...
i just bought a squire precision bass and want to work on the setup myself, been searching youtube for the secrets and the magic. I just ordered a truss rod and string action gage online so I'll start this journey this week. Your action looks great!
Thanks.
You ordered a truss rod???
@@bassworship50 haha no but maybe I will have to if I end up completely destroying my bass
Thanks, Bro! Good advice!
It mainly depends on the player, some people have a softer touch they can use really low action and a straight neck and just increase the volume.
I totally agree!!!
I love it.
I like the way your squier looks. As far as the set up to each hos own. I respect that. As far as yours go. I like it. And yes i agree. learn to work on your own stuff. I have had mine looked at by a tech. He said i dont see or hear anything wrong.maybe the strings are a little high. Same store different day different tech. Lot of fret buzz. Neck was ok. Needed adjusting bad. He took care of the problem. Said learn to work on your stuff.
Awesome! Would love to see what you did!!
I learned from TH-cam videos
Gettin back into bass. Nice tips brother.
Thanks brother 🙏
Man, I love that setup! Had a luthier set my baby up recently and it's no good 😑
Thanks
It’s almost impossible to get string buzz with flats. Keep rocking brother
My action for my jazz bass is really high but I’m to nervous to adjust the truss rod and also my pickups can’t go down lower because they mess up the screw and I tried wiggling the pickup. The action is high that when I try playing faster and higher notes it has the tapping noise on the frets
That is impressive. Lower than I have been able to get on any of my several p basses (including a 2008 Squier VM) w/o the fret buzz. And I've put in some serious hours trying. Sounds just great and must be a breeze to play (which is saying something, for a P bass). May try some Chromes to see what I am able to achieve. Thanks for a solid vid.
Thanks
Love it.
Takes time and practice playing the whole neck. I have the lowest fret with string pretty much sitting on the fret. I learned to let the pick up do the work and soft gentle style finger or pick will get it done!
Those are rare and nice! I have a black one those were only made one year 98. originally came with white strat knobs.
Hey man! So cool!! And how is the difference between chromes and steel or nickel strings? What do you think? I'm trying new types of strings nowadays. Cheers.
The CHROMES give a rather smooth sound and feel, I don't like NICKLE that much, but STEEL gives me that snap i'm always looking for. Peace.
I envy that action! Mine giving me blisters 😂
hi im a new bass player, i just bought a bass 2 days ago and i have a hiigh action because there is 6mm between E string and 12 fret in the fretboard and i find it a little hard although im also a guitar player so i dont have a problem with fretting but i do a little with my new bass.. So should i setup my bass to get the action get lower or continue with it ? and is 6mm too much ? and also i forgot to mention that i like ur style of playing keep going man!
Thanks for the compliment. As for the setup, absolutely you should lower your action. Check the straightness of the neck first and adjust it [truss rod] then lower the action [bridge saddles]. I'm sorry, I don't use measurements, I judge MINE by feel alone. You might just take it to an authorized luthier.
Type of strings make a huge difference on how low you can go nickles can go super low but stainless cant go as low also what measurements do you consider low?
Richard Walley ,
Since I do my own, I don't measure, I go by feel. The strings are d'addario chromes.
I don't measure, it's just my feel and preference.
I realize this is two years old but that’s great.
Thanks
Very nice! I'm trying to get a low action without any fretbuzz as well. I'm a bit nervous about messing with the trussrod
Start slow. Do small adjustments and let settle in for an hour or even overnight. Keep track of where you started from. If the buzzing is between the first fret and the 10th or so fret then you may need to loosen the truss rod just a little. If the buzzing is at 12th fret or about then you may need to raise the bridge a bit. Don't be too shy to make your own adjustments, the more you do it the more attuned to it you'll become. Use common sense, you're qualified to do your own adjustments.
I need to get my action lowered. I have the original out of the box set up and original strings. It feels like work, my fingers are suffering. I wanted to try adjusting it myself but it seems like too much to possibly get wrong. 😁🙃
❤❤❤
im planing on doing this
Quick and dirty setup guide, 100% effective, no measurements needed (not what most people say to do):
1) Adjust the neck until it looks relatively straight, slightly concave. Don't be too picky yet.
2) Adjust the bridge saddle heights until you like how much it's buzzing when you play the highest few frets.
3) Adjust the neck until you like how much it's buzzing around the lowest few frets. (this won't affect the higher frets)
4) Intonation (google it, not too hard)
5) Pickup height (google it)
That’s a great sound. I have a lot of issues with fret buzz and I’ve been making adjustment to try and remove it.
Thanks, I just watch TH-cam videos and learn what I can.
couple points:
-OP is using flatwounds, they don't buzz as easily
-if you want low action, there will always be fret buzz when you play hard, it often sounds good thru the amp tho. Most basses are setup to buzz a little when you play moderately hard. What you want is a consistent amount of buzz across the neck, not possible if your frets aren't level (they usually aren't)
-what you don't want is for a note to buzz and then die, that's a sign of too low action and/or bad fretwork. You might be able to hammer a high fret back in its slot.
Quick and dirty setup guide (not what most people say to do):
1) Adjust the neck until it looks relatively straight, slightly concave. Don't be too picky yet.
2) Adjust the saddles until you like how much it's buzzing when you play the highest few frets.
3) Adjust the neck until you like how much it's buzzing around the lowest few frets. (this won't affect the higher frets)
4) Intonation (google it, not too hard)
5) Pickup height (google it)
@@ts4gv thanks, that great advice. I’m working on getting my properly set up to eliminate as much of the buzz while making the bass playable. The strings are too high so I have to crush down on them to play the note so my fingers get tired and sometimes catch the strings because of how high they are. I’ve been working on adjusting all of the components in your list and I have made some improvements but I still need to check the neck again, I’ll check each of the frets as well. I might have a few that are too high so I’ll remove the strings and start from scratch. Thanks for the advice that really helps. Cheers.
@@jasoncherry5849 good luck mate. i will say if it's hard to play, lower the action (in the order I suggested). And if you ever think your strings are buzzing too much, do a sanity check & plug it in the amp to make sure it's actually a problem. Might sound awesome if that's the sound you're going for.
also there's a great forum called TalkBass. Check it out it rocks, I've got a ton of useful advice from there. Maybe post some pictures of the neck viewed from the top down, folks will tell you if it's way off & if there's any severe fret issues.
The most annoying thing about beginner DIY setups without measuring tools is a sense of scale. It's hard for you to know what a "slightly concave" neck actually looks like. Or how high a fret has to be to cause a major problem. But my guess is that your neck is too concave, and chances are your frets are good enough.
@@ts4gv thanks man I appreciate the advice. I’m just getting started playing only after 46 years so I have a long climb ahead but I’m looking forward to it. Thank you once again, cheers to you my friend.
Hi Anderson, thanks for sharing. I have a Squire 70's Vibe Squire bass and I just install flatwound strings on it. The factory action settings are HIGH. You failed to mention how you lowered the action. Is it simply a matter of lowering the string saddles? I would appreciate your advice before I starting adjusting mine.
So sorry, It was a combination of lowering the saddles and adjusting the trust rod. I didn't use factory stats, I go with feel. I watch TH-cam videos and learn what I can.
@@bassworship50 No worries. I'm like you and try and do as much as I can myself. 😀With so much going on with recording and writing and mixing sometimes these important things get left behind. I've had the bass for about 3 years and haven't touched it setup wise until this morning. After watching your video, I checkout the bass and sure enough I had to tighten the truss rod which I've done many many times to my guitars over the years. I just needed a little inspiration which you gave me. 💪The action is right where I want now. Thanks for your help.
Thanks for the vid man
You're welcome
Please post a video on how you were able to get the action so low thanks!
I basically checked out some TH-cam videos and went from there. I understand the work of the truss rod and why sometimes it the nut or maybe shimming the neck. That bass had a great, strong neck as most P basses do [thickness wise]. Once I straighten it, and reset the string height and intonation, my work was done. I have a musicman 5 string that's going to my luther tomorrow because no matter what I do, I can't stop it from buzzing. Could be a lifted fret...I'm also having that plastic nut changed to bone.
I love some squire bass. Solid gear
Me too! So sorry I sold that bass!
@@bassworship50 yea I have the later model that has active pickups with ebanol fret board. I can do Seinfeld slap all day on that thing. The other bass I had was a 800$ schecter stage 5 and it fuckin sucked compared to a 300$ squire bass. I sold the schecter as soon as I could find a buyer.... took a year to sell it was just undesirable I guess.
@@bassworship50 that one in this video is kinda hard to find now actually
I love low action, however, how can I make the strings be less tight with standard tuning?... I like my strings a bit loose, how can I improve/control this? Does it have to do with the srings gauge or bridge adjustment? thanks.
Roundcore light gauge
@@marchangel7462 Thanks, man!
What gauge strings are you using?
That Squier sounds good. What pickups are those?
It's a $13 ceramic pick up made by a company called Warman
Nice work Anderson. I think its important that musicians experiment with their own instrument and get the action where you want it uniformly across and through the entire fretboard. I have my action set around 2-3mm from the 12th fret which is pretty low, and I have seen people get it down to 1-2mm which takes a bit of time, experimentation and patience.
Thank you Micheal
For me, 1.5 mm at the 12th feels ideal. But I like a bit of fret clank when I play harder, so it works well for me to go that low (and my go-to tech is solely responsible for achieving it w/o buzzing, not myself). And you are right about the real difference it makes to experiment and discover what works best for you and then how to best implement it. Playing becomes a more enjoyable experience when it just feel right.
It's hard to do that on fenders. How did you get yours that low?
I had to adjust the truss rod and the bridge Plus I also put a shim in the neck
@@bassworship50 what does a shim do?
Right on
One common misconception is that a neck needs to be straight. In fact, the opposite is true, especially for low action. It's called "neck relief" and it's the reason truss rods are adjustable in the first place. Placing a very slight bow in the neck allows the strings to sit lower in the fingerboard than they would on a straight one. Any doubters can easily fact-check this, or better yet try it out for themselves!
I am curious how this is possible? In theory the saddles and nut hold the string in a straight line between one another. If you adjust the neck of the bass to add relief, you’re only adjusting the neck of the guitar further away from the strings and not bringing the neck closer to the strings, right? Not quite sure what I am missing here…
@@nicholasbuckton6368 your theory is half correct. However, it only tells the story of when the strings are not fretted. Relief is increased to allow the strings clearance from the frets when you are fretting. If you can imagine a string height of 2.5mm above the 12th fret when open, then fret at the first fret and the clearance at the 12th fret decreases - and decreases further the higher you fret up the neck. If you set your action height with a straight neck with no relief, then by the time you get to halfway down the fretboard, your strings will be rattling against the higher frets. Relief prevents this, as you are in effect adding clearance as you travel further down the board and across the overall “curve” of the relief. The setting up of the relief versus overall action height is a balancing act between comfortable action and playability down the neck. The better the fret job (level) then the lower you can set the action with a lesser amount of relief.
You raise the saddle height? You go with a flatter neck or is the trust normal so its bowed?
It's a combination of several things
I hear you dude. Learn how to do it yourself. Sound advice.
Angus Beare, saving money too!!$$$$$$$$$$
I mean not every driver can do anything at their car motor etc but an instrumentalist should be able to adjust/set/tune their gear since its not so hard to do, even i can ;) But i'm not talking repair like broken wood etc, thats something other, luthier job even. So, youre right of course, to be able to screw around at the instruments saves money, it also tightens the relationship to the instrument, it feels perfect then. Cheers! :-)
Yes indeed. I keep my j bass very low. It plays real easy.
Amen!!!!
is this already a chinese made? i bought one about a year ago, really not that long after I started playing. you can get a serious guitar for little money if you are lucky. also swapped the electronics, but I chose the solderless EMG stuff.
the fretwork on my Ibanez SR300 is basically all over the place and they adjusted the 'setup' instead of correcting their mess: neck bent like a hockey stick, way to tall nut and the bridge saddles were all jacked up in the air. the squier was different, playable out of the box and the fretwork is just top notch for an entry level bass, you can play this thing literally with no neck relief and below 2mm string action.
I really like that message at the end, unfortunately many ppl just starting out have no idea what they are looking at and nobody to help them, so they end up buying instruments of terrible build quality and basically with no setup, and they play on these things way to long
MIM
Lordy, Lord- wished you showed HOW you got the action low and without buzz. I bought John Carouthers book, memorized his YT Elixir sponsored 4 part series and my expensive Jazz has action like a trampoline. I moved back east and in this small hillbilly city, no one can tech out a good setup.
I might smash it with a shovel. Damn humidity here has messed up my Warwick ebony fretboard necks as well. Please do a vid on the mechanics of your method. Thx much.
This is ok, on this particular day but with the humidity its back to the bench. I think I paid a tech to get it this low, then buying all the tools in the world I can't find a good online tutorial to keep it low. Thx for your insight.
th-cam.com/video/_qHs2ZTR5SU/w-d-xo.html
I learned just about everything I know from watching his TH-cam video
This is basically what I’m looking for, but for my bass I don’t care if it buzzes. Lookin to play hard.
Did you have to level the frets in order to get them so low minus the buzz, or wasn't that necessary?
No, I didn't do any fret work at all on that bass. I think I got really lucky with a super straight neck, neck-pocket, and bridge.
@@bassworship50 That certainly helps! I am in the process of setting up my bass right now. And I'm ordering some tools to get it done properly. Nothing fancy; just a feeler gauge set, a ruler, and a capo.
They can't do it here in Germany, tried to get them to do Low Action but every time they get it wrong.
what's the name of those strings?
The streams are D'Addario chromes
Thats nice low action!! How to achieve that?!?!
I'm not a guitar tech so, I really can't explain it. I tweak the bridge and truss rod according to videos I see here on TH-cam, sorry 😞.
Flat wound strings need more tension than round wound strings. Try getting low action like that with round wound strings. BUZZZZ!
What are the measurements at the r 12th fret?
I have no idea, since it's my bass, I go for feel alone.
Gotcha. I have mine set up at 6/64th in at the 17th fret and it’s perfect for my playing style
Nice thunder stick
Thanks
a bass that is made at nominal dimensions and is assembled with proper torque specifications will be a excellent finished product , regardless of the brand name . Ive owned a Squier Chris Aiken bass that played and sounded better than a few American made basses Ive tried out. It is definitely much better than the Made in Mexico pc of shit I bought 6 months ago and traded out already. That one was a pure dud. They must of assembled it after a company fiesta and the employees ate one too many tamales. They were probably sleepy and burpin and fartin their asses off as they were half ass assembling that bass.. Im glad you setup your Squier with low action and no fret buzz . It just goes to show the bass snobs that turn their noses up at the lower line products that its not always about the brand name .. its about final product out the door and craftsmanship . Your amp has alot to do with final tone too ,,and its ALL about your hands . a musicians hands are the do all to end all when it comes to great tone and continuity. Ive seen great players pick up a 150 $ bass and made it sound like a dream .A WET DREAM at that ..Ewww Weee Brotha ..Willy Hunter from Canton Ohio was one of those guys .He was a notorious alcoholic/homeless man and former funk/ jazz bassist that played the music scene in Canton back in the 50s and 60s and early 70s ..He played with the Ojays -sat in with The Drifters and acts like that when they came thru Canton back then.. He walked in Gatussos Music when I happen to be there one snowy afternoon in 1983 -picked up a used Hondo bass and started bustin chops playing Steve Wonder (Superstition).. He'd bring tears to your eyes. TEARS brotha.. thats how good he was ..RIP Willy..you were one of the unknown greats ! Peace man keep on bassin
One size doesn't always fit all and factory settings don't always work for better players. I've had brand new basses that I've sanded the back of the neck, etc. To each his own my friend. I've had Japanese fenders that have crushed american fenders, it's all preferable...
How u do that?
I don't have any formula, I just follow stuff i learned here on TH-cam
That looks like my old MusicMaster. Sniff
How did you do it ?
Truss rod and bridge adjustments
Anderson McCant okay cause I already did the truss rod mine is perfectly straight but my strings are high , i just need bridge adjustments . Thanks for the help 🙏🏽
@@kompajosh1671 bring the saddles down.
La Bella flats right?
D'Addario chromes
@@bassworship50 What gauge are these?
@@yeahmateyeah8649 medium
it has buzz when you're sliding .. I hate that .. would be 100x worse with rounds too
That bass sounds like milk.
Thanks 😊
You have a nice face. :) We who play with round wound strings have a little bit more of a challenge. Can you slap on that thing and still get no buzz?
?????
O.k.,but you are just healing the strings!If you play harder like Metal,Rock,Funk...(mainly on stage), you will have tons off buzzing or klapping...😉🤟🎸
Steve Harris got his tone with a light touch to play fast for long periods of time and then a super low action to get some clank and boosting treble at the amp to help cut through. And he uses a p bass with fresh .110-.050 flatwound strings.
but how??
Pls do a tutorial....😢
Yes please!! Help us save that $$
The bridge height of each string from high to low string has to be slightly higher like going up steps. The truss rod must be adjusted so your intonation is good and your neck is straight which also eliminates fret buzz. Open string and note on same string at 12th fret should be the same. After that if not right, tighten or loosen the spring screw at bridge to get intonation on each string at same pitch on 12th fret.
That is not ultra low action. That's just straight from the factory action on well built basses, although maybe not Squier.
Hahahahahaha, ok...
I brought that bass used on ebay, took everything apart, did a complete cleaning of the bridge/saddles and put it all back together...very far from factory 🏭...
@@bassworship50 Specific to the action though, Fender factory specs are 2mm on treble side and 2.4 mm on bass side (assuming a 9 - 12 inch radius). Use a feeler gauge btw top of the 12th fret and bottom of the string. Lots of guys work at getting lower than that. Factory setup is always a happy medium.
@@murfbass yes but at 17th fret, not 12th....
@@luigi.zanini Good point. You're right. Thanks for catching that.
i hear buzzes....
WIZARD
😂😂😂😂
I’m hearing buzz lower down now start digging in. Wouldn’t suit most bass players
O K A Y
👌
great u touchink the string ,, no bad technic but il like to hear give it away now of rhcp ,, or at least some stronger finger scales played all over neck ,, respect //ps what is your bow in the neck if carefuly lightly fret ,,gently ,,1 and 24 or last fret you got what is the ,,gap between 12 fret and bottom of e string,, other think is if just let bass lie on bed what is top of the 21/or 24 fret to bottom of e a g d strings,, i got at lowest still setting tjhat allow me to play let just say rhcp higher ground with groove and full tone,, or primus tommy the cat ,,on fretted bass wersion // i feel on fat e top of fret to bottom of string is /depend is it fender asdd some //fodera can go a bit lower but looses the groow /sound on thumb only rithm ,, so 2,2 to 2,4 mm under fat string and 2,1 to mm to 2,4 mm if fender or some fat bass,, but on ,,supermodern basses ,,graphite all reinforcemant etc ,, 2,2,to 2,5 mm on e string is fine and on g 2,1 to 2,4 is also ok ,,, A AND G STRINGS mesuret in this manner depend on neck radius, string gauge but rule of thoumb top 2 /E AND A are some quarter to half mm higher than thin d/g ,, of course you do this after setting bridge for harminics//simple that 12 th fret is really precisse on half way from nut to bridge where string brakes ,, pickup depth ,, i for slapp like neck pickup a bit more sunk into body and bridge a bit closer to strings ,,please mail me if any rant ,question //we might find some new bass thing together ,,all welcome MITJA KAVEC SLOVENIJA BASSIST /4 STRING //by trade,, //MY MAIL /michomicho223@gmail.com / please do get in touch i am ordering me a wery expensive bass/last i ll buy in this life ,,i play left handed bass altho i m righty ,, but that s another stort ,, was looking at laurus basses since close to my country ,, but i am afraid after listening all of demo sounds that it will not fill my need for infection s grooves if any so old here ,,or similar funky/slappy sound where not as much as flea but got to kick a string not cores it //i will ansver i nead hlp so please i can help too ,got loads of recorded songs/albums ,,help me and ill help in any /all mather i can //THANK YOU ALL /mitja ljubljana slovenia //laibach//
My action is lower than Your action :) :) :)
is this a challenge?
@@ettoremacca2927 i think it was
Low action is fine, but you need to fix your right hand technique man
You're just a hater, a straight up hater! Negative keyboard warrior
How about giving the MEASUREMENT of how low your string action is? No way for you or your viewers to know what you are talking about without it.
Chrys, sorry for any inconvenience. I'm a hobbyist and not a "luthier". I just know how to fix my own basses. I sold that bass to a recording studio about 2 years ago, peace.
@@bassworship50 No worries, no inconvenience. I am also a hobbyist, not a "luthier".
You recommend people learn how to set up their instrument, and for good reasons. Measuring tools are the best way to know what you have done and to get repeatable results. A set of automotive feeler gauges to measure neck relief and a string action gauge ruler to measure string height are both really helpful.