r/BassGuitar • u/elopingbuffalonian • 8h ago
New Bass Day Peavey Patriot
Long time I've wanted one of these. Sounds so good. These should have been far more popular.
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/elopingbuffalonian • 8h ago
Long time I've wanted one of these. Sounds so good. These should have been far more popular.
r/BassGuitar • u/No_Treble_Bass_Mag • 22h ago
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I was lucky enough to get about 45 mins with Keanu before their show in Michigan. I did an interview and we ran through all his gear. He even let me shoot the soundcheck. This is a video of later that evening when they hit the stage. Love his GK rig (and so does he)
r/BassGuitar • u/herrherrmann • 15h ago
Yes, my bass is dirty. And yes, on that day it was ~35°C in Berlin and our rehearsal room was accordingly bathed in sweat. Still, I like how rough the bass (Yamaha TRBX 504) looks here.
r/BassGuitar • u/Gretschdrum81 • 7h ago
I recently got a Rickenbacker 4003SW and I needed to upgrade the bridge to a hipshot, put the original higain bridge pickup in (it came with the SD) and I want to put a Nordenbocker in the neck. I thought while I was at it I'd roll the fretboard edges, level any high frets, and recrown and dress the frets. I've never cared for how flat Rickebacker frets are.
I've never done any fret work of any kind so I was nervous. I should have practiced on a cheap bass first but I'm a glutton for punishment apparently lol
Stewmac was having a sale all I got a fret rocker, their fret dressing file, and a 6" wood handled level for only $43 vs $122 normally. It seemed like a good time to try it. I bought this crowning file. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08GCH9119?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
I think I did a decent job for my first try. I still have to do the electronics and finish adjusting the nut. Fingers crossed for when I finally get to play it in the next day or two.
r/BassGuitar • u/zachattack3907 • 3h ago
I feel as if there’s some sort of downside to it
r/BassGuitar • u/LunaBaloona75 • 3h ago
Melodic vibrato on the Bass VI: Heaven.
r/BassGuitar • u/Tight_Implement5601 • 9h ago
Sooo, I'm joining a 1980s cover band, and one of the requirements is to dress up like a famous musician from that period.
It doesn't necessarily need to be a bass player. For reference I'm quite tall, skinny, and have a moustache.
Go wild!
r/BassGuitar • u/ButFirstTheWeather • 8h ago
Cat is a bit judgy, but I found this Hofner and case on sale at my local and took the plunge. I'd been eyeballing a bass just to piddle around with, and I couldn't resist trying this one out.
r/BassGuitar • u/Weak-Tomorrow582 • 21h ago
Just got my 2nd hand MIJ (2006) P bass back from the luthier, and bought myself a 'proper' bass amp - MarkBass Little Mark. It makes the floor shake!!! The P bass now has new tuners, straplocks, LaBella flats, and is clean and tidy, and properly intonated. Lots of great practice times ahead!!
r/BassGuitar • u/_Anon_Amarth_ • 15h ago
Seems like a great competitor to the Sire Z3 and modding platform at a good price ($499). Thoughts?
r/BassGuitar • u/StackyBotrus • 1d ago
I bought the toilet seat. I rather like it! It just sounds different. I was lucky enough that the guitar Center I bought it at had the combo amp I have at home (ampeg rocket 50). It sounded good! Similar to the regular Ernie Ball Music Man but since I'm a drummer mainly, getting a bongo bass kind of made.lsense 😬👌 Got the case for free! It's a gator. Grateful for the staff there. I must have been zoned out for about 45 minutes plucking and slapping and flip-flopping this thing through its paces. It's pretty great. Much different than the Charvel pro mod San dimas four strings that I have and that's a good thing! 🤘😐🤘
r/BassGuitar • u/slamthonybourdain • 15h ago
Can’t wait for this CAR finish to wear even more. Already has some nice buckle rash on the back.
r/BassGuitar • u/Low_Development_7511 • 17h ago
Picked up a fender Jazz after military. Play for fun, play Yamaha drums, timbales, congas, my damn knees as well as vibraphone. Im here to just show my bass. Active/passive, heavy damn bass, heavier than Fender precision. Cheers. Just an old man funking along Also play vibraphone. 4 mallets, studied with some great professionals
r/BassGuitar • u/Glass-Amphibian9951 • 13h ago
Got an SR405QM from GC used, ended up losing a knob in transport and didnt come with a case like advertised so guitar center sent me a partial refund and is sending me a free case, hyped af to get back into bass, now i must wait on my Fender Rumble 100 (i got the older 1x15 rumble)
r/BassGuitar • u/nameIwantedwastaken5 • 1d ago
Got my custom bass from McGrath and it is absolutely the best bass I've ever played. Everything about it is top notch I can't put it down. Cormac was very friendly during the whole build process, took the time to answer all my questions, and was quick to respond. If you're looking for a bass or a custom build, this guy is the real deal. Thank you, Cormac, for the amazing bass!
r/BassGuitar • u/c0wboy-dan • 13h ago
Hello again on day 2 of my bass journey. Refer to this Post #1 if you want to have a look at "before" pictures of this gifted crusty bass.
Disassembled all metal parts, cleaned up with isopropyl alcohol, microfiber and some cotton tips.
Frets polished, with a fret polish set of different grit kinda rubber blocks. then comitted my first atrocity already - removed the fingerboard gunk when even i know tone is in the gunk..
Fingerboard cleaned and oiled up with a thin layer of lemon oil.
Atrocity #2 already formed in my head - I bought a 6-String set and planning to put the top 5 strings on it. E-A-D-G-C.
Feel free to comment and critique again, thanks for every input so far. 🤘
r/BassGuitar • u/punished_wretch • 8h ago
I’ve decided to stop neglecting slap so much lately, have been trying to get into double thumb and all that good stuff.
I’ve always used D’Addario 50-135s but it takes a lot of effort to pop on the A and up, and getting a nice pop with my thumb feels near impossible.
I put on an ancient set of 45-130s, NYXLs I believe, and it felt worlds nicer and effortless compared to the 50-135s. But they’re dry and dead so threw the nicer 50-135s back on, except for the B which I left a 130.
What gauges are y’all running and any advice on brands or whatever you want to mention? Should I go even lighter than 45-130? I’ve played D’Addarios since I was a kid learning guitar but I’m open to trying some other brands if my local store can get them.
Thanks!
r/BassGuitar • u/chuchomalo • 1d ago
I’m loving the range of the active P bass. Never thought I would go from a J to a P but man. Also the color eats
r/BassGuitar • u/edgardosaurio • 15h ago
So I'm looking to buy my first 5 string bass and these two basses are on my budget
The Spector Performer 5 is $281, and the Ibanez is $377.
Because of the price difference, I thought the Ibanez was gonna have way better components than Spector, but both are entry level basses.
Both are brand new.
What's your opinion?
r/BassGuitar • u/Waste-Yak-4613 • 1d ago
I dropped my bass on the concrete when my crappy strap broke and now she’s got these scuffs and a big chip.
forgive me cause I’m not a new bassist but I’m not very good with maintenance or the luthier stuff.
this is a 3 year old gretsch electromatic. everything but the shell(?) is fine. I don’t care as much about the headstock (in the 3rd photo); about how much would it cost to fix the scuff and the chip?
fmlllll
edit: not interested in selling it but thanks for the suggestions
r/BassGuitar • u/not_shift • 21h ago
Looking at buying it off private seller, is this the real deal?