How even does relief need to be, across the board?

[Peter Puleo]

I've got a 5-string BEADG bass that I'm working on, where I am getting more relief on the treble side than on the bass side of the fretboard. It's a neck-thru and there is some asymmetry to the neck carve, particularly at the body "joint" area. Also, it is multiscale, with a 36" B and a 33.5" G.

I have measured at three different frets, to rule out it just being a high fret.

I've done some more neck shaping on the bass side, to a point where I can now get a relief of .015 on the G while relief on the B is .010. Before I go any further, I've got a few questions and thoughts that maybe someone can lend some insight or experience to.

- How desirable is it for the relief to be equal? I would think it is, but has anyone played with this aspect? (Has anyone measured this aspect?)
- I would expect any bass to be slightly uneven in relief due to the fairly wide variation in string tensions. Has anyone quantified this, or found it to be a problem?
- Is there any strange reason the current state might be advantageous?
- Tobias basses, and some others, use (or at least used) an asymmetric profile, heavy on the bass side. Unless the truss rod is shifted to the treble side to compensate, this would necessarily result in a situation like mine. Has anyone got experience setting up asymmetrical necks, and noticed, say, difficulty in getting a non-buzzy B or E string without having the G too high?

Thanks for any help.

[Barry Daniels]

Some like to put a bit more relief on the bass side thinking that the bass strings have a larger amount of movement. I don't do that myself. A variation of five thousandths is not a big deal and should not cause any major problem, but if you could reduce the difference a bit, that might be worthwhile.