Fretless bass nut tolerances

[Brian Hart]

I'm building a new nut for a fretless bass, and it's a 5 string.  Anybody have a good suggestion for tolerances off the board?  Also, suggestions pertaining to a fretted bass would be fine too, as I can subtract the fret height from it.  I usually shoot somewhere on the .040 side, but I want some more specific numbers.  This is for a pretty good player. 

[Jeff Highland]

Just a hair over level with the board.

Slope is important too, you need to slope back to the headstock, but not too much or the stiffness of the string(especially the low B) will cause it to rise up off the nut before straightening, and this will make the first position action feel stiff.

[Paul Verticchio]

Hi Brian.

With most of my "better player' customers, I'll do a 'ballpark' setup at the nut and then ask them to play the instrument. At that point, I make adjustments to meet their personal preferences. The thing I've noticed most over the decades is that no two player's "needs and desires" are exactly the same. That also means that some folks like much higher action than others to accommodate their style. I guess what I'm saying is that there's no single "ideal' setup spec when an instrument is being custom built for a SPECIFIC customer.

btw: your customer will LOVE the individualized approach and 'super' service. It also allows them to 'see' the level of detail involved in your setup and will make them feel invested in the build. It's a great relationship builder and word of your skills will spread like wildfire. :) All good stuff.

Best of luck, man and we'd love to see photos of your finished product :)

[Robbie Collins]

I just converted a Carvin 6-String bass to fretless and lowered the nut slots so that the distance at the first fret marker from fretboard to bottom of string was quite proud of what the distance would have been at that location from top of the fret to bottom of string. I then let the owner determine final height.

Here's my customer, Powell:

[Jeff Highland]

One thing to consider with a fretless bass is that it is not all about the way the action feels, but is also about the tone.

Most players are going to want a certain amount of Mwah(Board Buzz) and for it to be uniform over the fretboard so as the other guys have said, consultation and trial by the player is important.

Generally If you have mwah on the fingered notes you are not going to want the nut to be at all higher than the board so the open notes are not too different tonealy