Musicman stingray 5 neck relief/higher action

[Delamitri79]

Hey folks.

I'm lucky enough to own a fantastic 97 SR5 with a maple neck and ceramic pickup. It's a beast.
Now, I've toyed around with multiple string heights and truss rod adjustments and bridge settings. I was always looking for that sweet spot for my kinda playing (pop/rock and I like to dig in a bit)

Recently I loosened the truss a little more than I'd normally have it (about the thickness of my bank card when 1st and last fret depressed down) and holy cow!!! It is absolutely singing.

Even acoustically it's just got huge tone. My action is probably a bit higher than the majority of players I watch on this forum but my god I love it.

Anyone else tinkered with the higher than average side action.

Many thanks

 

[tbonesullivan]

Higher Action definitely gets you better tone, IMHO. You lose less vibration from contact with other frets, and the strings can vibrate more freely. The EBMM factory action is a bit higher than other manufacturers, and I think its because it was chosen for tone, and not for having a really low "fast" action.

Heck there are some famous 80s shredders that use some pretty high action, so I don't see why "Low" equals "fast".

 

[danny-79]

Agree. A higher action will give you a better tone and more volume as the strings have more room to move/breath.
I like my basses set up how I like them.
I use the recommended settings as reference/start point then go from there cause really at the end of the day the only person who can set up your bass is you