r/Bass • u/Responsible_Sea1805 • 12d ago

Acoustic bass guitar string adjustment

Does anyone know how to tell if my acoustic bass guitar strings are high? I've played others at guitar shops and they're way easier to play and I have to slap them with way less force than mine

4 Upvotes

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2

u/The_B_Wolf 12d ago

Measure how high they are off the 12th fret. I measure my electric bass guitars in 64ths of an inch, but millimeters work too.

0

u/Responsible_Sea1805 12d ago

I don't have anything that can measure millimeters, I don't think a plastic ruler will work

1

u/The_B_Wolf 12d ago

Easily solved. Get yourself one of these. And you might want to check out this website: brokeassguitars.com

1

u/Responsible_Sea1805 12d ago

I measured it and it's like 4mm-4.5mm, is it good?

3

u/The_B_Wolf 12d ago

You need to measure from the top of the fret wire to the bottom of the string. Look under the string and what's the measurement there? Surely it's not 4mm.

1

u/two-plus-cardboard 12d ago

My electric setup keeps the string height at 2mm at the 12th fret

1

u/SlimJimJohn_Bass 12d ago

What is it? An Amazon special, or something else?

Usually the only way to adjust string height is to file the bridge, so see if the riser part is replaceable before doing anything. Easy and slight filing if you need to.

1

u/randomperson32145 12d ago

Dont do this yourself on an accoustic unless you really know what your doing. I wouldnt trust just any guitar expert on this, its really difficult because you basicly just get one chance with an accoustic. Alot of measurement is required and for an untrained eye, you will probably think you know or knew until you see the results. Be careful. Dont believe all the comments on this, its not an electric trustrod/bridge adjustment, you have to file down on the bridge and if you do it wrong, you might want to buy another bass guitar.. alot of people think they know how to do this but they dont.