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No reply on the electric guitar and bass section, so...
I have a Ovation Elite 5 String Acoustic Bass Guitar, (with pick-up but not in as nice condition as this one!) in for some work. Neck's like a banana, hope the truss rod is OK.
Could anyone tell me how much is ball park relief, and action @ 12th, for an acoustic bass?

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Unless someone asks different, my set-up specs are 0.016-0.020" relief and 0.078-0.125 action, first to last, respectively. (I actually use metric 0.4-0.5 and 2.0-3.2 mm -- so much easier!). I don't remember where these came from, but they are part of the reference table I have taped to my cabinet. No one has complained, but I'm not a bass layer.


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Me neither, and thanks for the metric, saves me converting from **** Imperial.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Set the neck rod basically straight with a tiny bit of relief. Assuming the nut is properly adjusted, I'd ideally like to see in the range of 4/64" (under the g) - 6/64" (under the E) to 5/64" - 7/64".

Unfortunately I've seen many similar basses with necks that won't adjust properly. I have a theory that bass necks that spend a lot of time out of adjustment under tension develop permanent forward bows.

If the bass will always be played through an amp, set it up like an electric bass. If you are hoping to get some real acoustic tone out of it, good luck. In that case I would slowly raise the action with shims until it was too painful to play, then back off until the tone noticeably starts to decrease.
In my experience, Acoustic bass guitars can't deliver the goods without an amp. Although I played on a $5,000 handmade one that could hold its own in a true no-electricity jam.

Sorry, should have said - this is fixer upper to be sold off, and apparently is so-so acoustically, but plays well amplified.

_________________
The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.