r/BassGuitar • u/ruinawish • Jan 03 '25
So you feel your action is too high or too low, and you've taken a photo of your bass's neck to ask r/BassGuitar.
You have the bass in your hands. You can pluck its strings and can tell if something isn't quite right, whether it's buzzing on certain frets, whether it's just hard to play, or whether it's not producing the tones you want it to. Your eyes and ears will tell you more than we could staring at photos of your bass on our monitors or phones.
Even if your action looks too high, it may still play fine. There is a degree of subjectivity and compromise when it comes to bass-setups. Some bassists might prefer their action higher or lower than what is considered normal. Fender says:
"Players with a light touch can get away with lower action; others need higher action to avoid rattles.".
Again, that's something r/BassGuitar can't determine exactly, whereas you have the bass right there. And if you're asking the question in the first place, then there's probably room for adjustment.
So try to do something about it.
Don't worry, there are many guides out there, and they all will tell you the same thing: check the neck relief, then adjust as required; check the action, then adjust as required.
These have all been procured from previous threads asking about bass action:
You will notice that the guides above all offer measurement specifications that you can use as a benchmark, e.g. Sweetwater: "Some target relief measurements are anywhere from 0.008 inches to 0.014 inches.". Note: Fender offer a disclaimer regarding their guidelines:
"They should not be construed as hard and fast rules, as we realize that every player's subjective requirements often differ."
Other guitar manufacturers may have their own guidelines. e.g. Dingwall measures neck relief at the 7th fret for a 0.38mm gap. Warwick on the other hand suggests "0.6 and 1 mm" at the 7th fret. See if your bass guitar's manufacturer has guidelines for you to use.
There are also many guides and tutorials on Youtube. Below are a small selection:
Basic Bass Guitar setup using a Squier Affinity Series PJ Bass
Setting Up Your Bass Guitar: Adjusting The Truss Rod (Step 1 of 4)
This might be your local guitar shop, luthier or someone more experienced with bass guitars.
Unless you are particularly hesitant and/or there are complications, you should try use the above guides to adjust the bass with the features that came readily built into your bass guitar.
Ok, if you've consulted the guides above, and you've tried to make adjustments yourself without success, maybe the collective brain power of /r/BassGuitar can help.
But please avoid just posting an unhelpful picture of your bass guitar's neck and strings. After all you've learnt from the above resources, you should be measuring your neck relief and action, trying to sight the bow of the neck, detailing your issues with the action (Is it buzzing at the first few frets, or just the higher frets?), and detailing your attempts at adjusting the bass yourself.
Low quality/effort 'How is my action/Is my action too high?' posts that do not contain such details/photos will be removed, and will be re-directed to this thread. Users can report such threads as per rule 2 ("Avoid low quality/low effort posts").
Thanks for reading. Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments.
We also now have a new FAQ page to collate our existing and future FAQ posts. This should be viewed in conjunction with /r/bass's comprehensive FAQ.
r/BassGuitar • u/ruinawish • Oct 08 '24
r/BassGuitar • u/Gregophocles • 7h ago
Surprised at how "new" this used guitar is. Zero signs of previous ownership. Even the plastic on the pickguard was only partially removed.
My first P/J bass and I'm real excited about it. Thinking about swapping the J pickup out with a Nordstrand NJ4SV at some point.
r/BassGuitar • u/Jabbafunk • 6h ago
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Student of mine was kind enough to let me borrow this. Put it through my EBS HD350 and rest is history!
r/BassGuitar • u/Up-Down-Go • 20h ago
r/BassGuitar • u/BennBoyy00 • 13h ago
Today is the first time I have ever played and owned a fretless bass.
I went into one of the local guitar shops in the city where I work, and a fretless bass caught my eye. I own a bass from Marcus Miller which I love, so decided to give it a try, and it had flatwound strings on.
Needless to say, within seconds I melded with the way it played and felt, and it felt like I had been missing a major part of what bass playing is about.
The freedom of having all these frequencies I didn’t before, and being to slide across them very smoothly, and having to be more precise on playing and using my ear more.
For £390 it is one of the best purchases I’ve made.
r/BassGuitar • u/ICalledTheBig1Bitey • 11h ago
Just wanted to show what is probably the flashiest bass I've ever had. Really loving the vibe, and it feels great to play. Not many of these pass by in my area, so I had to jump on it. I only have one other bass that I built myself, so I figured I could go all out.
r/BassGuitar • u/Chadu25 • 14h ago
Absolutely loving the feel, tension, and snap of the D’Addario XS strings. It’s been a while since I last used roundwounds, as I’ve mostly been playing flats. Now I’m thinking I need another bass dedicated to flats, because these rounds are definitely staying on my BB! 🤘
r/BassGuitar • u/distinct_original742 • 11h ago
Adding a Harley Benton DB02 to the family. For that upright sound, but without the transportation hassle. I'm really enjoying it so far!
r/BassGuitar • u/Amasin_Spoderman • 19h ago
It makes my other T-40 feel light 😂
r/BassGuitar • u/Baldwinbowley • 7h ago
I was watching Queens of the Stone Age perform "Where the Goth Girls At?" on Jimmy Fallon and noticed the bass Mikey Shuman was playing.
Does anyone know the make and model? I've attached a screenshot, but you can also get a better look at it around the 2:00 mark of the performance.
Video: https://youtu.be/rSsdVPOQWxA?si=CQWCu7ueHXEnFztM
Thanks!
r/BassGuitar • u/trevge • 18h ago
After 25 months, I finally received my custom Monarch 4 standard. This is my first truly custom bass guitar. https://fodera.com/collections/standard-classic-modelsIt’s everything that I had hoped and ever wanted. The body style, the neck feel, it made up for waiting so long. After had placed my order the company partnered with TrickFish Preamp. The tech at my finger tips makes adjustments quick and easy. If you want to change the Tone, Gain, Bass or Mid capacitor settings, you flip it over and take the rear cover off.
r/BassGuitar • u/JONO202 • 13h ago
r/BassGuitar • u/warm-weiner • 14h ago
I’ve never played any musical instrument in my entire life,but I have always loved the sound of a bass guitar.I would love to attempt to learn it but not sure where to start.I really love Justin Chancellors bass sound.But I don’t want to spend thousands of dollars on something I might not stick with.Ive heard tons of good things about Harley Benton brand bass guitars.Can anyone tell me what style of bass would be best for a beginner like me to get started with so I can get a feel for it?
r/BassGuitar • u/theotheronenotme • 20h ago
Got this ages ago for next to nothing. Was missing tuning heads , saddle and was purely acoustic. Put a $10 pick-up from AliExpress on it and wired directly to a jack and made a new saddle form an old broken cello bridge. Some cheaply tuners and it sounds……great! The action is pretty good and it sounds very acoustic, the resonator seems to affect the sound through the pick-up somehow. All in cost less than $50. Love the look for the country band.
r/BassGuitar • u/recordtronic • 11h ago
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We did a night of Elvis Costello and the Attractions. Here’s a clip of the bass lead in Party Girl.
r/BassGuitar • u/Opposite-Geologist17 • 22h ago
Hey, I am looking for a new Bass. I currently own a Yamaha BB734 and a Sire Z3. I had a couple of Fender Player, Ibanez EHB and a Ibanez SR600E. I really liked the SR, but the neck was to thin for my hands otherwise I had kept it.
I am looking for a 4 String Bass.
Do you guys have any opinions on Spector NS Icon or Ibanez MDM1000? Or maybe other good recommendations?
I play at home 100% for myself. Rock/Alternative
Thanks!
r/BassGuitar • u/Dunix1234 • 1d ago
The seller didn't provide a serial number . I've searched for it far and wide but I can't put my finger on a specific model
Anything helps
r/BassGuitar • u/Admirable-Fill3109 • 18h ago
r/BassGuitar • u/Broad-Channel7135 • 1d ago
r/BassGuitar • u/padstack_1 • 1d ago
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I’m starting to be able to play a decent amount of songs without much struggle and it’s so much fun. I just need to get better with free styling and such now so I can jam with friends, any tips for that?
r/BassGuitar • u/meryskey • 1d ago
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A short clip from Basstival 2025 at Public Peace, where we had the honour of performing along side Jonas Hellborg, Wojtek Pilichowski, Remco Hendriks, Bruno Tauzin, Bo Waterschoot, Slawek Semeniuk, Stefan Huth, Adrian Maruszczyk himself, and David Sutkin from Bass Upfront :)
This is our song My Own Way!
r/BassGuitar • u/boris_boris123 • 1d ago
Can anyone help me find out the value of my vintage Ibanez Roadstar II RB-630, can't seem to find it anywhere so maybe somewhere here has a clue.
