gpw5150 Posted January 21, 2019 Share Posted January 21, 2019 How light do you play? Until a few years ago I was always a heavy handed player and consequently had a high action. However, as they years have gone on, my touch has become much more light across the strings and my action has lowered significantly - to the point of most people not being able to play my bass due to fret buzz! Anyone else playing light and going low? Is it an age thing? Can you setup a bass to be played hard with a low action? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted January 21, 2019 Share Posted January 21, 2019 1 hour ago, gpw5150 said: . . . . Anyone else playing light and going low? Is it an age thing? It's a common sense thing, a don't waste your energy thing, a wisdom gained through the years thing. . . . so yes, it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted January 21, 2019 Share Posted January 21, 2019 Agreed. I'm 62 but I came late to bass, so I'm only now realising that you can actually turn the amp up and your effort level down and get much the same effect. For me the catalyst has been playing DB in a rockabilly 3-piece. There is no way that I can maintain my previous digging-in style of play at that intensity, that speed, and for that long. Playing lighter is the only answer. On DB a pleasant surprise for me has been how much more depth of tone I get by not digging in too hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted January 21, 2019 Share Posted January 21, 2019 I sold a bass on here a while back (there's a surprise) and the buyer came back to me and complained about fret buzz, which he said was all the way up the neck. He demanded a refund. It was a top-end Jap Yamaha, and was so well made that the action was almost a case of strings sitting on the frets, no effort to play, but lovely tone nonetheless. I'm guessing he was used to a rather more agricultural approach to technique. He didn't take well to my suggestion that he simply raise the action a little either Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hubrad Posted January 21, 2019 Share Posted January 21, 2019 (edited) 20 minutes ago, Beedster said: I sold a bass on here a while back (there's a surprise) and the buyer came back to me and complained about fret buzz, which he said was all the way up the neck. He demanded a refund. It was a top-end Jap Yamaha, and was so well made that the action was almost a case of strings sitting on the frets, no effort to play, but lovely tone nonetheless. I'm guessing he was used to a rather more agricultural approach to technique. He didn't take well to my suggestion that he simply raise the action a little either When I worked in a music shop, we sold a guitar mail order to a chap who specified string gauges and setup heights to the fraction of a millimetre. Not a problem as such, but our tech (who really knows his stuff and has a natural feel for setup) phoned him to advised it would rattle all over. Customer got quite high-horsey, and 'knew exactly what he wanted', so our chap did as instructed and we shipped the guitar out. Not a surprise, then, when customer rang up suitably shame-faced and accepted the offer of another setup as per our chap's suggestion. Happy customer! Back on topic, you can go a bit lower action-wise by using heavier strings. This, of course, may alter feel and tone in a way you like or dislike.. Edited January 21, 2019 by hubrad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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