Terence Kennedy wrote:
Are you guys talking about a stand up bass or a fretted acoustic bass? I am making a nut for a stand up right now and am searching for setup specs.
Huge subject.
Major fork in the road is if it will only played pizzicato or bowed as well.
.015"-.025" is typical for me. but a lot depends on funkyness in the fingerboard in the first position. They will play clean just about laying on the board if there are no humps and lumps to clear.
Check with a few of different length straight edges (6" and up) and make sure a swoop or hump won't throw things off. Sometimes the fingerboards get sanded or planed without removing the nut. Block plane any quick swoop off the end of the board. Short pieces of guitar string, the appropriate size, with a hockey stick bend in the end, work well for feeler gauges. A very smooth arc over the nut to the tuners is essential. The windings can be fragile and the strings expensive.
The same holds true for the bridge end. Setup numbers are really dependant on the condition of the board and style of play. A common setup is string heights measured at the end of the fingerboard that progress 1mm treble to bass. 6-9 for example.
lots of information is available on the Talkbass set up and repair forum.