neck setup / relief

[Terry Atkinson]

Hi there,

I have a '92 CR5 that needs a bit of tweaking. The action is probably too low for my taste, and I think the neck relief might need some adjustment. What is the factory setup for neck relief on a Smith?

Terry

[Tim Bishop]

Hi there,

I have a '92 CR5 that needs a bit of tweaking. The action is probably too low for my taste, and I think the neck relief might need some adjustment. What is the factory setup for neck relief on a Smith?

Terry
Factory set-up?: Feel and ear. You really need to set up the neck relief/action for you. A simple truss-rod and bridge adjustment should take care of it. My set-up may not necessarily work for you and I like fairly low action. In the end it has to feel and sound right to you.

[Terry Atkinson]

Setting the action up from the bridge I get. But for neck relief (i.e. the concave curvature of the neck), the guidance for bass seems to be "as straight as possible without buzzing". I wanted to check and see what Ken does on factory setups.

I am primarily a guitarist and on most guitars, some relief is always recommended. I guess bass and guitar are different.

So, board straight it is. Thnx for your response.

Terry

[Ken Smith]

Setting the action up from the bridge I get. But for neck relief (i.e. the concave curvature of the neck), the guidance for bass seems to be "as straight as possible without buzzing". I wanted to check and see what Ken does on factory setups.

I am primarily a guitarist and on most guitars, some relief is always recommended. I guess bass and guitar are different.

So, board straight it is. Thnx for your response.

Terry

?board straight it is?.. No, not in my book. The string needs room to breathe. Every bass is slightly different. I do them by feel. I press down the outer strings (lower first) between the 1st and about the 15th freat and look at the space from under the string to the top of tyhe fret about mid way. Say about from a 32nd" to a 16th" relief at the least and or so on the low side. More if needed. The eyeballed measurement means less than the feel. We play the bass, not measure it.

Action, if we can call it that depends on the Bass itself, the strings used and the players style/technique. Call it 3-way harmony. It must all be in tune with one another..;)

[Tim Bishop]

:)Setting the action up from the bridge I get. But for neck relief (i.e. the concave curvature of the neck), the guidance for bass seems to be "as straight as possible without buzzing". I wanted to check and see what Ken does on factory setups.

I am primarily a guitarist and on most guitars, some relief is always recommended. I guess bass and guitar are different.

So, board straight it is. Thnx for your response.

Terry
Again, it's more about feel and that depends on the player. Part of the "action" set-up is based on the neck relief. This doesn't necessarily mean "board straight". For me personally, I do like the neck/fretboard as flat as possible because I do like the action low. Now if that means I experience "fret-buzz", then maybe it's one of a couple things: The action is too low for an aggressive players playing style, need more relief, or the neck and fretboard aren't perfect (i.e. there are high-spots towards the end of fretboard) and require some slight relief (or repair, if necessary).

Ken's set-ups are not based on specific guidelines/measurements, but feel. I will say this, of ALL Smiths I have owned that came set-up from Ken, for me, Ken nails the set-up down to where IF I do need to make an adjustment, it is very slight one direction or the other.

Guitar and bass aren't that different. For me, as far as action (i.e. neck relief, etc.) I set up my guitars the same way I would my bass. I also like the neck/fretboard as flat as possible because I like my action low on guitars as well and it feels good to me.

Keep in mind, action relative to string and P/U height is also important. You'll need to let your ear guide you with that. String vibration too close or too far from the P/U's can create another set of issues.

Some bass manufacturers have and use "suggested settings" and "string height" guidelines. But, that's all they are; suggestions. Doesn't mean it's science; just a good starting reference.

If you have ANY reservation (and I'm certainly not implying you do) about how to set neck relief (or any other part of the set-up process) for YOU, find a professional that will sit down with YOU and make the appropriate adjustments for YOU, based on YOUR playing style.

There's simply not a "one-size-fits-all" answer when it comes to instrument set-up's.

[Tim Bishop]

Darn, that's what I get for writing a novel-like response and letting my coffee get cold. Ken beats me on the draw again. :) So , yeah, what Ken said. :)

[Ken Smith]

Darn, that's what I get for writing a novel-like response and letting my coffee get cold. Ken beats me on the draw again. :) So , yeah, what Ken said. :)

Yeah, what Tim said..

Isn't that Soooo much easier? I wish I woke up a few minutes later today. Would have saved me some time..;)

[Terry Atkinson]

Thanks Ken and Tim. I understand it is all about feel. I was just looking for a bit of experienced guidance.

From Ken: "I press down the outer strings (lower first) between the 1st and about the 15th fret and look at the space from under the string to the top of the fret about mid way. Say about from a 32nd" to a 16th" relief at the least and or so on the low side. More if needed. The eyeballed measurement means less than the feel. "

I use a feeler gauge when I set up my guitars as the starting point and then tweak it from there. When you have set up hundreds or thousands of basses, eyeballing it is second nature. This is the first time I have adjusted the Smith (or any bass), so a specific measurement "from a 32nd" to a 16th" relief" is a helpful starting point.

Thanks for your patience.

Terry

[Tim Bishop]

Using my new Smith BSR5EG and using Smith Medium Taper Cores, I am providing the following as a general guideline from my set-up.

The following are my measurements for string clearance across the fretboard at the 12th and 24th frets (measured from top of fret to bottom of string):

String clearance across fretboard at 12th. Fret (strings not fretted):

B - 4/64
E - 3/64
A - 3/64
D - 3/64
G - 3/64

String clearance across fretboard at 24th. Fret (strings not fretted):

B - 4/64
E - 3/64
A - 3/64
D - 3/64
G - 3/64

NOTE: Notice the consistency of the above two measurements at both 12th and 24th frets. This is what happens with a perfect neck, fret, and fretboard work. ;)



The following are measurements at the leading edge and top of the neck and bridge P/U's when strings are fretted at the 24th fret:

String clearance (with strings fretted at 24th fret) across fretboard at leading edge and top of Neck P/U:

B - 5/64
E - 7/64
A - 7/64
D - 7/64
G - 5/64

String clearance (with strings fretted at 24th fret) across fretboard at leading edge and top of Bridge P/U:

B - 6/64
E - 8/64
A - 8/64
D - 8/64
G - 6/64

Important: If your P/U's utilize the Poll Pieces and you make adjustments to them (i.e. raising them), measurements should be made from the top of the poll pieces to bottom of strings. ;)


Additionally, all things being equal, I would use this similar set-up for a 4 or 6 string bass.

Again, these are my settings for my Smith basses (+/- 1/64th.). I'm not suggesting you set-up your bass as I have, however, you may want to give it a try and determine if it works for you. ;)