Double Bass String Height: Finding the Sweet Spot for Maximum Playability

[@ry_guy_]

Man, thank you so much for this. As an electric player, I've been absolutely clueless on upright string height and adjustments. Very well explained!

[@doublebasshq]

Glad to help!

[@stevewalters6403]

I was happy to see you mention Joey Naeger. I had him setup my bass last week. Very happy with the result.

[@doublebasshq]

Joey is great!

[@neoelitist]

Good intro to this topic! In Canada, a lot of us have adjustable sound posts too....and BTW snazzy techno outro!

[@badscrew4023]

Mine is 4 - 5 - 6 - 6, pretty much the same :) (set up for both arco and pizz)

[@robertocassani]

Jason, you wonderful man! Great video as usual. I hope you’re keeping well. Thank you always for the great service you deliver to bass players. String height-wise, I have always had quite a high action, but I personally found that when I play a gut setup, I need the strings to be higher…still, frankly I’m not sure if it is wholly a matter of sound or a psychological compulsion to “dig-in” a bit more to respond to the feel and character of the guts…maybe another topic for you in future…thank you so much for your excellent work ❤!

[@StephenScherr-eq9wp]

Believe it or not I build upright electric Basses out of 2x4s your video is helpful.What worked for me is fiberglass resin.super hard.Best thing about this bass is it can stay in tune for a long time.Rebuilding an upright that was found in a dumpster.Thankyou for a wonderful video. Been playing bass since 3rd grade now 63 years old

[@doublebasshq]

Great to hear!

[@FleeFool]

0:37 ???

[@JCO-13]

Great video! Are you are measuring string height to the bottom or top of the string?

[@doublebasshq]

I’m measuring to the bottom.

[@LearnJazzBasswithMattRybicki]

So good!

[@johnray6906]

Thanks for the video! I had a question about the 'nut height'. I come from an electric bass background and adjusting nut height is pretty simple. I've found that my upright teacher's strings near the nut are incredibly close to the fingerboard, whereas mine stick up quite a ways. It makes pressing the low F and generally working in half position very strenuous. Do you have any advice for adjusting the nut height or is that something that players don't usually think about or care too much about and I just need to get stronger fingers? It seems like that block is glued into my bass rather than held on by pressure, so I can't just sand it down. Any thoughts?

[@walterw2]

experienced fretted instrument repair guy and noob upright player here: nut height is super-important! you want those nut slots as low as possible; anything above the absolute minimum makes any string instrument harder to play (as you've discovered) _without_ any improvement in tone clarity. it also throws off the intonation in those lower positions, the string gets stretched sharp by the time it gets pushed all the way down to the board you won't fix this by removing that nut, rather you (or better yet an experienced repair guy) will file down the individual string slots with special "nut files" to get each string super close to but not actually hitting the fingerboard at the front edge of the nut get that fixed and your instrument will be easier to play _everywhere_ , not just by the nut

[@badscrew4023]

+1 to having the strings as close to the fingerboard as possible at the nut.

[@themusiccovenant]

Thanks

[@seamus9305]

Thanks man

[@doublebasshq]

You bet!

[@franciscocosta8415]

Uma nova aventura

[@kevinjamiesonbelou]

Useless