String Height - Art of Slap Bass

This topic has 2 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 14 years ago by Klaus.

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October 26, 2010 at 2:39 am #1009

Klaus
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Hello all,

When I was playing mostly folk on my upright, I never gave much thought to my string height, and always dealt with the strain it put on my fingers. However, now that I’ve been introduced to the wonders of slap, I’m starting to think about setup a lot more. I have two questions:

1.) Where do I measure my string height?
2.) What is an ideal slapping string height from that point for orchestral strings (not sure what kind I’m running)?

If my word of mouth sources are correct, I measure from very end of the fingerboard to the bottom of the string. If this is right, then I’m looking at about 1.7 cm!!!

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!

Thanks,
~Klaus

October 31, 2010 at 11:11 am #1012

kynan
Participant

hi klaus
that sounds really high especially with steel strings i know a bass player who plays amazing with his steels about 4-5mm off the fret board i dont know how he can get any grab but he can…mine are around 6,7,8mm

try experimenting everyone is different

goodluck

October 31, 2010 at 5:15 pm #1013

Klaus
Participant

Thanks for the advice – I called my local music store and they offered similar string heights measured from the bottom of the fingerboard. My cousin Danny (a woodworking wizard) and I recently did some work on the bridge and now the strings are about the same height as yours. Now that I have the instrument set up with the modifications, it plays beautifully! I’m really inspired by Milt Hinton’s clean tone/hand slap sound, so the way I have it now (with the steel orchestral strings) is really perfect for me.

~Klaus
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