The Electra Forums

action on my x-620 is still too high for my liking, and I've got the bridge adjusted all the way down...

I fear snapping the rod....

_________________
My Electra Pages
I have too many projects!

too high where? everywhere? at the nut, at the 12th fret? you might need to consider working on the nut a bit. i use a piece of emery paper folded in half.

I'd say at about the 5th fret its starting to get a bit high for me. I have the bridge bottomed out in the tailpiece too.

plus I'm used to the flatwounds on my jazz, and the roundwounds I put on this like to "stick" to my fingers

_________________
My Electra Pages
I have too many projects!

Emery paper by itself is okay in a pinch, but it will not give you a nice round bottom to the slot, and if the slot has the slightest "V" shape to it you could develop pinching resulting in tuning problems. With larger gauges such as those on a bass you can wrap the sandpaper/emery cloth around a nail close to the same diameter to insure the slot is rounded at the bottom.

What kind of relief have you got in the neck? If you are using standard E tuning you should need very little or next to none save for the rare guitar with a dynamic, unusually flexible neck.

As far as sticking to the strings goes, a very light coat of bore oil (used on woodwind instruments, but ideal for rosewood and ebony) will make sliding up and down the scale much easier. I keep a terry washcloth lightly saturated with it in a ziplock back, and swipe the neck and fingerboard with it before playing.

I forgot we were talking about a bass.

But I was thinking the same thing- truss rod adjustments in my mind are better for getting rid of buzz than for lowering action. You get a narrow range of adjustment between no relief and not quite too much, beyond that the adjustments need to happen at the bridge or nut.

WOuld it make a difference the string gauge, or whether it's round or flatwound? I guess I don't have much experience with bass strings.

Every guitar is different. Some generate more relief in the upper registers than lower, some the opposite, and yet others distribute the relief evenly along the fingerboard with truss rod adjustment.

String gauge does play a part in that heavier gauge tends to place more tension on the neck while playing and bending as well as at rest, and requires more counter tension on the truss rod. Depending on how the guitar neck is made this could have no impact or a lot of impact. It all depends on the instrument's construction and the particular piece of wood the neck is made of.

Flatwound and round wound as far as size goes should be the same, but flat wound are as a rule going to be a little less lively than round wound due to the nature of the winding shape.

String brand and composition also play a small part in how low the action can go. The softer the metal composition, the more lively the string, and thus the higher the action, but this is not the case here.

Eye down both edges of the neck with a light source reflecting off the ends of the frets. It should appear as a row of BBs. If the row appears extremely curved there could be too much relief in the neck. This will also tell you if the neck has warped in any place over the years. This is not entirely uncommon, expecially if a guitar has been stored improperly for any length of time or stored in an ill-fitting case (where the weight of the guitar rests on the neck and not the back of the body when laid flat).

if I lower the grooves in the nut, I'll start having buzz at the first fret. the bridge cannot physically be any lower unless I go with a non-original bridge.

there's probably about 1mm clearance at the first 5, then gradually increases to probably 3mm past the 12th fret or so (guessing)

maybe I'm just spoiled by the Longnecker

_________________
My Electra Pages
I have too many projects!

Without actually being able to look at the guitar in person I couldn't begin to guess. If the neck were straight the distance would normally increase as you get closer to the bridge in a steady incline. What you are describing sounds more like there is some curvature to the neck. It may be truss adjustment, it may not.

You'll need to eye down the edges of the neck to see if there is any relief, and if so, where is it most noticeable.

Sometimes just a little additional tension on the truss will straigthen things out. If it's a kink, it may be a little more difficult, but can be undone. I've "cooked" quite a few warped necks winning more battles than I've lost.

I tightened up the rod just a touch, and it's much better now. still getting used to the neck and slightly different playing position when sitting down.

also discovered part of the reason the E seemed higher than the rest. The saddles on the Ric style bridge are notched, but also, there slightly differ in height. I used a A or D saddle in the E position when I combined the 2 partial bridges. Next time I change strings I'm gonna work on that saddle to bring it back down where it's supposed to be....

I still have to install a thumb rest though..... I'm really used to having the PU cover on the jazz to anchor against....

_________________
My Electra Pages
I have too many projects!

I'm relieved to hear it just took a simple truss tweak and it wasn't a kink or warp.

when I look down the edge of the neck, it looks straight as an arrow...

I think I can do a little more tweaking on the bridge to bring it down more, and allow for adjustment up too...

_________________
My Electra Pages
I have too many projects!