project_c Posted April 29, 2018 Share Posted April 29, 2018 I bought a cheap unbranded J neck and put in on one of my precisions. The neck is pretty nice, it's the right shape, it feels good, the rod is fine, it's nice and straight (the tiniest bit of relief, no backbow), but I can't get the action anywhere near as low as I'd like to, it starts choking out if I go under 2mm. I have my action set very low on my other basses (around 1.2mm at 17th fret) and I'm wondering whether it's possible to achieve such low action on the cheap neck. Would a decent fret levelling help with this, or would I be wasting my money? Is there anything else I should be trying? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary mac Posted April 29, 2018 Share Posted April 29, 2018 If everything else is ok, then you won't be wasting money on a fret levelling, that's assuming they are in need of levelling. Have you checked them with a straight edge/fret rocker? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
project_c Posted April 30, 2018 Author Share Posted April 30, 2018 7 hours ago, gary mac said: If everything else is ok, then you won't be wasting money on a fret levelling, that's assuming they are in need of levelling. Have you checked them with a straight edge/fret rocker? There's nothing drastic I can spot with the ruler and small setup measuring tool I use, but something is definitely making the strings choke out way higher than they should be. Might just be one or two rogue frets, not sure. Assuming the neck is straight and the rest of the bass has no issues (it was fine with its previous neck), could it be anything else apart from the frets? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleabag Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 You're only 0.8 mm away from your ideal string height, according to your 1st post. I suppose you could sand down the neck at the area that fits in the neck pocket Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Japhet Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 Might be worth trying a different nut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary mac Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 7 hours ago, project_c said: There's nothing drastic I can spot with the ruler and small setup measuring tool I use, but something is definitely making the strings choke out way higher than they should be. Might just be one or two rogue frets, not sure. Assuming the neck is straight and the rest of the bass has no issues (it was fine with its previous neck), could it be anything else apart from the frets? If you have a shim towards the back of the pocket, then I would remove that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
project_c Posted April 30, 2018 Author Share Posted April 30, 2018 Thanks for the suggestions. It's quite close to the ideal height but it does make a big difference playing-wise (relatively speaking..). A new nut is a good call, the existing one could well be part of the problem. There's no shim there, but in any case I think I'll drop it into the Gallery and let them have a go on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
project_c Posted April 30, 2018 Author Share Posted April 30, 2018 18 hours ago, gary mac said: If everything else is ok, then you won't be wasting money on a fret levelling, that's assuming they are in need of levelling. Have you checked them with a straight edge/fret rocker? Actually just to update this, I was wrong, I had a really close look today and I found a clear problem spot. The 10th fret seems a tad higher at the G string than all the others, my string action gauge ruler rocks up and down like a see-saw when it's on top of that fret, so I think this may be one of the main issues here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary mac Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 Seems like you've spotted a problem then. A few strokes of a file, if your confident and it should be sorted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonBassAlpha Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 Or a gentle tap with a hammer and a wood block. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.gif.9ad672bb8b84505709f76b39c8c256ec.gif)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.