Fender USA Jazz Fretless - Action higher than expected.

[radiophonic]

Hi All - I've just acquired a new USA Jazz Fretless and although it's a lovely instrument, the action feels a little high for my tastes. The problem is that the E string saddle has to be effectively bottomed out to get me below 2.5 mm (6/64" in old money) at the 17th fret. I know this is the approved height according to Fender, but it feels high when I'm playing (not a hard player). I'm assuming that the issue is that both the bridge design and nut slots are the same as a fretted Jazz (stock parts), so there's no additional accommodation for the lack of frets. Is this a fair assessment? Short term I'll consider exposed core strings (although nobody seems to do exposed core flats AFAIK) but I'm assuming the only real solution is to consider having the nut filed?

Am I right about the nut / bridge issue? Obviously I don't want to make irreversible changes, but I'm struggling to see what the alternative would be.

Any help appreciated.

 

[Linnin]

shim the neck up in the pocket very effectively lowers your action.
http://www.stewmac.com/Materials_an...d/Bass_Necks/StewMac_Neck_Shims_for_Bass.html

 

[Ale the Snail]

Is it factory fretless or a defretted bass?
If the latter the nut may not have been adjusted for fretless.
Neck shim should help get the action where you want it.

 

[radiophonic]

Is it factory fretless or a defretted bass?
If the latter the nut may not have been adjusted for fretless.
Neck shim should help get the action where you want it.

Factory. I must admit it had never occurred to me that this would be an issue. They must sell plenty of these after all.

 

[radiophonic]

Do I need to change the tilt or just the height though? Or is this a case of adding tilt + height then fine tuning the trussrod? Sorry if these seem a bit obvious, I've played the same Stingray since 1991 and I've never needed to do anything like this before!

 

[mojomike001]

A small amount of tilt should do the job. I've often used a couple of strips of sandpaper.

 

[UNICORN BASS]

If you really want a long term solution how about adding a tilt neck mechanism?

 

[BassikLee]

Filing the but won't lower your action at the other end. If your saddles are on the deck, and the strings are too high, shim the neck. Simple, reversible operation will have that bass singing in about 15 min.

 

[Gorn]

Little bitty shim oughta do it.

 

[39-Bassist]

A shim and a hair cut 2 bits..... lol

 

[navijaz]

Hey, I had the same issue (among others) with a new 2015 Fender American Standard Fretless Jazz Bass. I had to shim the neck which solved the initial problem, but later found out that the neck had all kinds of other issues... Slight skijump, various high spots, nut slot on D cut too deep, some of the fret lines so high that they actually caused "fret buzz". All fixable but annoying. On top of that, a dead spot between C and D on the G String that became rather more prominentest with a low action.

Long story short: I ended up with a rather highish action of 7/64 on the E and 5/64 on the G. That seems to work best. Would be interested in what you find.

 

[mojomike001]

If shim doesn't work you may need luthier to remove the 17-21 frets, remove /sand out the fretboard bump and then refret.

Did you read the thread title?
Fender USA Jazz Fretless - Action higher than expected

 

[DavC]

relief , no relief , straight neck . ? after adjusting saddles , i'd move on to the truss .. ( making sure the fretboard was well fed .. " F-one oil " )

 

[jasonmatthews]

You shouldn't need to add shims at all on a new factory fretless; it should be fine after a setup. Shims should absolutely not be necessary from the get go. If you *do* decide to add shims, just make sure you get real shims and don't use a pick or business card or whatever down there... you'll have more problems down the road.

The relief should be almost dead flat. From the factory, Fender cuts their nuts so the strings are barely off the fingerboard so that should be no issue. I can't speak for all Fender fretlesses, but my Jaco bass can get nicely low without much work (though, they say Jaco didn't have terribly low action!).

 

[ofajen]

To beat a dead horse: set the relief first, then consider saddle height.

Otto

 

[Lownote38]

Almost every Fender bass I've owned needed a shim in order to get the action where I wanted it. Sometimes they come from the factory with a shim. Sometimes not. Plus, their factory setup isn't something I like either.

 

[TMARK]

The old style bridge can get lower.

I played a Mexican fretless and a US fretless back to back at Sam Ash in NYC a few years ago. They were both set up well but the MIM was lower due to the bridge.

 

[TMARK]

I'm not really a picky player, except when it comes to fretless. Many neck issues never show on a fretted bass but drive me nuts on a fretless. Like dead spots. Even minor ones on a fretless are obvious. You loose the mwah on the dead notes and it's like knocking the needle off of a record. I recorded a song on a Stingray that belonged to the studio and the minor dead spot was so noticeable on tape that I re-recorded while pressing the end of the head stock against an amp to change the mass.

 

[ashtray]

Many nuts leave the factory too high. I understand the reason - easier to file the slots down than to build them back up. I think they set them a little high conservatively on purpose. Check that first on any bass. Then check relief. Adjust relief before adjusting the nut though.

A fretless should be pretty easy to get a nice straight fretboard on - once relief is adjusted, you can radius-sand the fretboard if needed.

And these are assembly line basses - so its possible the neck could use a shim. Fender even addressed this problem in the 70's with a micro-tilt adjustment on their necks.

 

[pasi]

fretless bass like this should not leave in factory in unplayable condition.its not buyers job shim neck and adjust hole bass playable condition.nut filing is ok but bumps in fretboard and shimming newone fender usa is no no
Ofcourse neck relief must setup right first And when bass is setup from factory all you must do is setup it your playing style/