neck setup / relief

[Tim Bishop]

Originally Posted by 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

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.