Bass string actionMusic

[exigeracer]

I've got a big dumb Squier P-bass (125$ with amp included) and I hadn't played it in a while. I just picked it up again today and started playing around, and I realised how stupidly high the action was. I used to toy around with it, and right now it's pretty much at the lowest possible height, which is still a mile and a half above the frets. The strings buzz at 20th when I fret 15th.

Now, is it because more advanced basses have lower action? I remember playing some basses down at the shop, and I can play a lot faster, more precise and more confident because of the action. I can't lower the bridge because the interference with the last fret will occur earlier than it does already. Do I file down the top of the neck?

Any suggestions?

 

[Kylehnat]

How high is "stupidly high?" If the action is as low as it can go, maybe the truss rod needs adjustment.

 

[exigeracer]

Maybe 11 or 12mm?

The bridge action screws could go down a bit more, but then it would be approaching the 20th fret more, making string vibration ont hat fret when fretting earlier and earlier.

 

[Kylehnat]

12 mm above the frets?? That's crazy . My bass is set with 3-4 mm action... Could you post a picture maybe?

 

[Pako]

There are three area's of adjustment.

1.) The Nut (probably the most important, and most
2.) overlooked)
3.) The Bridge

The action should be low enough that there isn't any buzz as you work your way up the fret board.
The Truss Rod (some models do not have truss rods)

 

[exigeracer]

How'd I go about adjusting the nut to lower the action? Or the truss rod? I do not think that lowering the bridge will help anymore; it already buzzes.

I'll take a look into the truss rod, but this is pretty much the cheapest bass you can possibly buy at any music store. It ain't the sharpest ax in the shed...

 

[Gil]

How long have you had it and how/where have you had it stored?
With that kind of action, After you get the nut right, you might consider looking for a crap bass with a straight neck, and swap the good neck onto your bass.

As far as the P-Bass being a "big, dumb" instrument...You're right.
But a lot of Bass players start with one.

If you like the thing otherwise, you might also consider going to Carvin's website and either ordering a catalog, or checking out a neck. It will definitely be more time efficient than finding a crap guitar and doing the swap.

Also, you can get Carvin pick-ups and other parts pretty in-expensively.

I'm not sure about basses, because I'm a guitar guy, but I know that Strat and Tele bodies are all routed for multiple pick-ups.
If the basses are, you could convert your Squier to a multi pick-up bass.

 

[exigeracer]

I got the bass in September 2004 and played it regularly through to July 2005. It was purchased from a friend who bought the Fender Bass package a year or two previously, before selling the pack to me for peanuts and moving onto a Warwick Thumb 5. The P-Bass was stored standing on its own in the corner of my kitchen (the most rockin' room of the house) next to a large window. during the summer, it got played down in Michigan where I was for a month and a half; it was enthusiastically played live a few times, got a good outdoor thrashing (not abused, though) and was stored wherever I had room in living space. Come August/September, it got very little attention because I had just purchased a new acoustic guitar from the musical influence I had over the summer. The bass got played rarely, maybe once a month. I just busted it out to try some random riffs out, and the action up by the middle of the bass felt incredibly high.

That's the story of my bass. I'm used to the guitar, so that's what I though was the problem. I go back, and I also remember the action being high when I used to play on a regular basis, so that's why I had the action lowered at the bridge to where it sits now.

I didn't think it was a bad place to leave it, whenever I did play it, it was more or less in tune, which I'm guessing is a good way of telling if the guitar is or is not getting stored properly.

I bought the Squier bass because it was the cheapest deal I could find: 15W amp and a 4-string bass for 125$. It was a steal, and it really got me into everything. But it is a fairly clumsy instrument. If I had more money, I would have certainly gotten somehting higher end.

Unfortunately, I don't have a job and I'm in a bit of an unfavorable monetary situation, so purchasing things isn't quite an option now. I'm looking for something I can personally do to fix the problem. I can't even afford to fix the broken g string on my acoustic, I had to resort to recycling a used high-e off an electric guitar.

But you have a point in looking at upgrading the pickups. I'm not the kind of guy that gets all worked up and what setups give you a good tone and all of thge technical half of guitars, but I know and love a nice deep feel to my bass playing, something that a cheapo guitar/amp combo can't really produce.

 

[Gil]

So, you stored the bass by the window, and out of it's case? Likely not a good place. The sun coming in the window, and the widely varying humidity and temperatures of a kitchen can wreak havoc on a wooden instrument.
On a stand, this would be questionable. If it was just resting against the wall, with the neck supporting the weight of the guitar while it was leaning...
Let's just say that that would accelerate any kind of neck warpage.
Plus, the Sun would bleach out the finish.

At this point, I'd sell the thing, and use the money to get a few sets of strings for the acoustic.

 

[exigeracer]

No sun coming on that side of the house. It was propped up against a shelf sort of, at a pretty high angle, so the weight, fairly minimal, was on the neck about twothirds of the way up. I know, it's still not good, but I treated it for what it's worth. My guitar is a temple, though.

I'd like to keep the bass, though. I can't sell it. There is no place to adjust the trussrod though. It's a cheapo. Maybe rest is so the neck waps back to normal?

edit: I just realised that it rests facing the wall, so the warpage would techincally leave it with less action.

 

[Pako]

Does it 'buzz' on you right now?

If your out of bridge adjustment, you may have to live with it until you get a different bass. This is one of the things that make higher quality bass' more appealing to play, i.e. easy of playing, lower action, better tone suited for your music liking, lighter weight, heavier weight, adjustments for humidity and temperature.... If you can live with the higher action for now, it will build stronger muscles. One the off chance are you correct on your tunings? Are you sure you have the correct gauge strings in the correct position? For example, if you had a E string strung and tuned in the A position and note, that would cause unnecessary tension on the neck and would cause bowing as well.

Have fun!

 

[exigeracer]

Definitely installed the strings correctly. Medium-Large guage strings now.

The thing has a bit of a bad reputation though. I had some GHS strings in for about a half year and the e blew out on me during practice once, at the bridge while I was finger-playing: not supposed to happen.

The strings buzz at the 20th fret when I play at 15th fret. Anything above 15th is unplayable.

Anyone played/heard of Crafter guitars? One boring day I went down to the shop and played 30+basses and this one stood out as the best one. Played nice and quick, felt solid, looked stunning. For sure my next bass, but then again, a new higher-end bass is not close to importance on my list.

www.crafterguitars.com > get to electric, then one of the Congress 4 strings

 

[Gil]

No sun coming on that side of the house. It was propped up against a shelf sort of, at a pretty high angle, so the weight, fairly minimal, was on the neck about twothirds of the way up. I know, it's still not good, but I treated it for what it's worth. My guitar is a temple, though.

I'd like to keep the bass, though. I can't sell it. There is no place to adjust the trussrod though. It's a cheapo. Maybe rest is so the neck waps back to normal?

edit: I just realised that it rests facing the wall, so the warpage would techincally leave it with less action.

I bet the truss rod adjustment has to be made from the bottom of the neck with the neck off the guitar.
I hate it when that is the only way to adjust the neck. Cause it may mean the neck has to come off the instrument multiple times to get the adjustment correct. Much suckage that!

Also, consider a light set of strings and an across the board de-tune to at least lessen the amount of effort you have to put into the guitar.

That's what I do with my old acoustic. I tune 1-2 steps flat and capo at the appropriate fret.

 

[exigeracer]

Interesting idea with the tuning.

I have a lot of patience with this kind of stuff. When working with the action on the bass months ago, I'd take the strings off, lower the action, restring, have to change it, unstring, change action, restring, etc etc for an hour and a half. If gets really annoying especially when you can't thread the end of the strings through the knobs so easy because they're all bent up from their original positions.

If I get some time off and decide to do it, I'd have to "tighten" the truss rod?

Thanks a lot for the help people. 👍

I broke the d-string on my friggin' acoustic last night.... I'm ever-so pissed

 

[exigeracer]

I hope it works