Bass Setup - Various Basses

[thrashard340]

Hello Everyone. I decided to start this thread to share my thoughts and experiences on bass setup. I've scanned the forum for similar threads and haven't seen one as of recent. So this thread will be dedicated to my small collection of basses. I will cover my individual basses but will leave out basic knowledge because it has already been discussed. I am no expert. I am very amateur with regards to setups, but I am hands-on as I work on cars. So there is no shortage of tools (and how to use them) for me. I took my time with these setups. A more experienced person could do it in half the time it took me. So even an amateur can do this if you go slow and be patient.

I am hoping that other members will add their own setups which include specs, hardships, etc. Maybe admin could consider a sticky with individual bass setups.

I own the following basses-
Washburn B-2 - Very entry level bass circa 1988, bought new.
Spector NS2A - Korean made Spector circa 1989, bought new.
Ibanez SR400 - Korean made Ibanez circa 1998, bought used.
Peavey Foundation S - U.S. made circa 1986, bought used.
ESP LTD Surveyor 405 - 5 string - circa 2007, bought used.
Ibanez SB900LE - Japanese made circa 1990, bought used.

This collection have list prices ranging from $199 (Washburn B-2) to $999 (Spector NS2A). So if you dabble in lower-end basses such as these, this may serve as a good guide. My tools included a flat feeler gauge ranging from .001" to .025", carpenters 16" x 24" T-Square, and a small 4" rule marked in 32nd" and 64th" increments. The T-Square and feeler gauge was used for neck relief and small ruler used for action.

I will start with the SR400 and the Surveyor. I haven't got to the other ones yet, but will probably do so within the next few weeks. I'll reference standard tuning for the strings.

SR400 - I based my setup off of Solarmist's guidance from other threads. The setup was started two nights ago (truss) and finished last night (action and intonation). I will check the work to see if it settled in today for more changes.
Neck Relief - No joke when they say that Ibanez's come with very little neck relief. Mine was almost non-existent, but previous owners may have tinkered with the setup. I loosened the truss to a measured relief of .016" at the 8th and 9th fret. It's too small to fit a credit card but it was enough for what I needed the bass to do.
Action - I set the action based on Solarmist's guidance (.085/.090 high and .110/.115 low). Only the E and A strings needed a little lowering. I measured at the 17th and 24th frets.
Intonation - Again, only the E and A strings here. both strings were a little flat here and cleaned up nicely.

Surveyor 405 - This bass is only two years old. I am amazed at the current setup. I didn't have to do much to this bass. I guess that's what an $800 bass will get you nowadays.
Neck Relief - Relief measured in at .008" at the 8th fret. There is no fret buzz so I left it the way it is. No adjustment here.
Action - I used the guide from ESP's website. They recommend 2mm - 3.2mm. Converting this to inches brings these #'s close to Solarmist's #'s recommended #'s for Ibanez. I measured each string and the action was right on (measured at 17th and 21st frets). No adjustment required.
Intonation - This is where I ran into my first hang-up (kinda). Intonation was good on Low B, D, G and A but needed quite an adjustment for E (too sharp). I spent the most time on this bass getting the intonation right on the E.

That's it for now. I hope this helps some of you guys out there with similar basses. I will keep adding to this thread with each bass that I setup.

[thrashard340]

I rechecked my work on the SR400 and Surveyor. It looks like they have both settled in as the adjusments described in my original post were unchanged. I moved on to the Spector and the SB900LE.

NS2A - I had this bass setup by a local shop about 10-12 years ago. The owner talked a good game and convinced me to leave my bass with him. To be honest, I didn't notice much difference (if any) when I got it back. I can't remember how much I paid. I still have the original instructions that came with the bass. It is basically two photocopied/printed sheets of paper that discuss controls and truss rod adjustments. There was nothing with regards to bridge adjustment.
Neck Relief - The Spector instruction sheet states that the neck should be perfectly straight. The instructions even tell you to put a slight hump on it unstrung to compensate for string tension once fully stringed. I checked the neck with the straightedge and tried to slide the lowest feeler gauge setting through all the frets. The only issue were the 3rd and 4th frets at .005". I wondered if the music store guy shaved my frets too low? The neck was otherwise straight, so I left it untouched.
Action and Intonation - The Spector style bridge is different than the rest of the basses above and not as straight forward. The intonation is off slightly on the E and D strings. I would also like to take the action down just a touch. I have sent an email to Spector customer service for adjustment instructions on this bridge and also the fret issue above. I decided not to mess with it until Spector customer service responds to my email.

SB900LE - I just picked this bass up last Sunday. The seller advertised that the bass was well cared for. I think he was a bit optimistic but I wasn't complaining because he was only asking for $120. It looks like the bass sat for awhile. I don't know how long, but probably at least 5 years. The guy I bought it from said he had it for the last 8-9 years. It also looks like someone tried to mess with the setup repeatedly. The truss cover is missing. I restrung it and started the adjustments.
Neck Relief - The neck had very little bow (about .004"). It also had buzz on the open E. I started yesterday evening and gave it about an 1/8 turn. The truss rod was a little stubborn (probably due to the missing truss cover). I would suggest a dab of WD-40 or a drop of Marvel Mystery Oil to loosen it up. After the first turn, the neck measured out at .008" and still had the buzz. I thought that was enough for now and walked away from it until this morning. I gave it another 1/4 turn and brought the relief to .021" at the 8th fret (still not enough to fit a credit card). No more buzz.
Action - This bridge was a little unusual as well. It didn't have individual saddles like the other basses. Instead, it has a single saddle "plate" that adjusts the "tilt" of the bridge. There is one hex screw on the E side of the bridge and two on the G side of the bridge. I found the diagram on the "help and how to" page on the Ibanez website. It is the Accucast BIV bridge near the bottom of the page. Mainly, the E side needed to be lowered a bit. I set it to the same specs as the SR400. BTW, counterclockwise lowers the bridge.
Intonation - Surprisingly, this one was the easiest to adjust so far. I thought it would've been out of whack due to the condition of the bass. Only the E (flat) and D (sharp) strings needed adjustment. This took less than a couple of minutes.

After it was all said and done, the SB900 feels slightly better on the neck than the SR400. I will wait another day or two when the adjustments settle in and then recheck them.

So only the NS2A, Foundation and Washburn remain. The NS2A is awaiting response from Spector. The Foundation is waiting for parts and the Washburn remains in storage. So the next update may be awhile. Anyways, I hope this helps.

[thrashard340]

07/05/2009

NS2A - I received an email from P.J. at Spector with regards to the issues I described above. He linked me to an instruction manual that describes bridge adjustment. At this time, I have decided to keep my current setup, so the NS2A remains unaltered.

SB900LE - I checked the setup after the initial adjustments were made in the previous post. Needless to say, the second round of adjustments weren't as pleasurable.
Neck Relief - After initially setting the relief to .021", I checked two days later and the relief settled down to .017". This was unacceptable tolerance as I was experiencing fret buzz on open "E". I proceeded to give another 1/8th turn on the truss to loosen it up. This measured out to .024".
Action - I decided to lower it another 1/64th". There is too much buzz higher up on the fretboard now.
Intonation - OK...this frustrated me the most. After having an effortless time with this on my initial setup, it now became more difficult to dial in. This step took the longest. The "E" string was particularly troublesome. After fiddling with it for almost 30 min, I finally got the intonation right on all strings.

07/08/09
SB900LE - Final check. It seems the last adjusment above settled in and no other adjusments were necessary.
Neck Relief - Finally settled to .022".
Action - Unchanged
Intonation - The darn "E" string was a pain, but finally stailized.

[Solarmist]

Originally Posted by thrashard340

SR400 - I based my setup off of Solarmist's guidance from other threads. The setup was started two nights ago (truss) and finished last night (action and intonation). I will check the work to see if it settled in today for more changes.
Neck Relief - No joke when they say that Ibanez's come with very little neck relief. Mine was almost non-existent, but previous owners may have tinkered with the setup. I loosened the truss to a measured relief of .016" at the 8th and 9th fret. It's too small to fit a credit card but it was enough for what I needed the bass to do.
Action - I set the action based on Solarmist's guidance (.085/.090 high and .110/.115 low). Only the E and A strings needed a little lowering. I measured at the 17th and 24th frets.
Intonation - Again, only the E and A strings here. both strings were a little flat here and cleaned up nicely.

Those are the settings I like; you may like it set a little differently. I like a little more relief than others because (to my liking) there's less buzz off my lower frets. The action height measurements I gave would probably be considered med-low to med. When I explain doing a setup - I try to throw in there that a setup is of personal taste, and what I prefer may not be how someone else likes it. Many bass players = many setups

Here's a really great site on neck relief > http://www.bryankimsey.com/setup/neck_relief_1.htm

[thrashard340]

Originally Posted by Solarmist

Those are the settings I like; you may like it set a little differently. I like a little more relief than others because (to my liking) there's less buzz off my lower frets. The action height measurements I gave would probably be considered med-low to med. When I explain doing a setup - I try to throw in there that a setup is of personal taste, and what I prefer may not be how someone else likes it. Many bass players = many setups

Here's a really great site on neck relief > http://www.bryankimsey.com/setup/neck_relief_1.htm

Thanks Solarmist. I wasn't trying to dispute any of your recommendations. I guess I should've put that disclaimer in there. I actually found your posts helpful when I started on my adjustments. I like your string height recommendations as it suits me well. It's also very close to Ibanez's recommended settings. I am going to try to give the SB900 more relief due to it's recently discovered "ills". There was more fret buzz than originally discovered. I figure to loosen it up about .004" at a time. And I will emphasize that these are my personal preferences and not to be forced upon anyone else. I just thought that I would share my experiences for the amateur setup guy, like myself.

BTW, that is a good link. It has some very good info.