Doing your own set-up and neck issues

LotusCarsLtd52 · #1 02-08-2010, 07:48 PM

I want to set-up my bass to get things the way I want them. I was curious what advice people have as I am a beginner and this would be my first set-up. Does anyone have any links to websites on setting basses up?

My other questions are:

1) When I first bought my bass I had one of the guys in the store adjust the neck to lower the action. The problem was that he removed a lot of the neck relief and I got horrible buzzing until I adjusted the neck again to give it more relief. I did not mark the truss rod as I turned it so I do not remember how many times I turned the rod, but it wasn't very much. Is this going to be a problem if I try adjusting it again?

2) Is it good or bad to remove all the strings at once? I heard that you should NEVER do it unless you want to break your neck.

Thanks!

JLS · #2 02-09-2010, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LotusCarsLtd52

I want to set-up my bass to get things the way I want them. I was curious what advice people have as I am a beginner and this would be my first set-up. Does anyone have any links to websites on setting basses up?

(See the stickies, above)

1) When I first bought my bass I had one of the guys in the store adjust the neck to lower the action. The problem was that he removed a lot of the neck relief and I got horrible buzzing until I adjusted the neck again to give it more relief. I did not mark the truss rod as I turned it so I do not remember how many times I turned the rod, but it wasn't very much. Is this going to be a problem if I try adjusting it again?

(No.)

2) Is it good or bad to remove all the strings at once? I heard that you should NEVER do it unless you want to break your neck.

(This is baloney.)

Thanks!

Yer welcome.

JTE · #3 02-09-2010, 10:14 AM

In addition to what JLS posted... Straightening the truss rod is NOT how one lowers the action. While lower action is a side result of straightening the neck, the real purpose is to set the neck relief where it needs to be for YOUR bass and the way YOU play with YOUR strings. There is no single spec that's right for everyone. So, read the stickies up at the top. Invest in a copy of Dan Erlewine's "Complete Guitar Player Repair Guide", a good set of Allen (hex keys), a good 6" steel ruler marked in 64ths of an inch, a good tuner, and some GOOD screw drivers.

I suggest you sit down with your bass safely locked up and read through the educational material (either on-line or the book) a few times. Then get your bass out but leave the tools in another room, and read through it two more times. Then get your tools out and start. Remember to do one step at a time, and evaluate what you've done so if you don't like it you can always go back to where it was before you started.

Be patient- you didn't learn to play bass overnight, so don't expect to learn set-up overnight. But do learn it!

John

Pilgrim · #4 02-09-2010, 10:32 AM

^ Best ^ post ^ ever.

JLS · #5 02-09-2010, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pilgrim

^ Best ^ post ^ ever.

I'll say!

Chuck King · #6 02-09-2010, 02:22 PM

Another (cheaper) book you may want to consider is How To Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great, also by Dan Erlewine. It is focused more on set-ups and doesn't have all the other repair-related material in it compared to the Repair Guide, and it comes with a set of radius gauges, which can be handy. Of course, the Repair Guide is a great book and if you're interested, it can be a good investment---even if you don't intend to do any actual repair work yourself, it can be helpful in diagnosing problems and talking to repair techs.

As you get into set-ups, you will probably discover that once you figure out truss rod and bridge adjustments, the next big limiting factors to getting your bass to play its absolute best are the nut and the fretwork---very often nut slots are not cut deep enough, and instruments have low or high frets, especially if you're dealing with low- or mid-level instruments. Dealing with either of those issues requires specialized tools, so you can look forward to either making a fairly substantial investment, or be prepared to take the bass to a tech or luthier for those kinds of issues. (Not every bass needs those kind of adjustments, but many do.)

**251** · #7 02-09-2010, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LotusCarsLtd52

I want to set-up my bass to get things the way I want them. I was curious what advice people have as I am a beginner and this would be my first set-up. Does anyone have any links to websites on setting basses up?

My other questions are:

1) When I first bought my bass I had one of the guys in the store adjust the neck to lower the action. The problem was that he removed a lot of the neck relief and I got horrible buzzing until I adjusted the neck again to give it more relief. I did not mark the truss rod as I turned it so I do not remember how many times I turned the rod, but it wasn't very much. Is this going to be a problem if I try adjusting it again?

2) Is it good or bad to remove all the strings at once? I heard that you should NEVER do it unless you want to break your neck.

Thanks!

I'm betting from your avatar that you're a good mechanic. (an Exige in my driveway will adequately repay the compliment) Bass setup isn't that hard.

FWIW, I guaranty your bass' pick-up will not fall off if you take off all of the strings. It is the best way to clean the neck & bridge.

Look at;
http://www.fender.com/support/bass_g...etup_guide.php

There are other set up guides. Check the website for your bass' manufacturer. I find it best to do the setup with the bass hanging from my shoulder on a strap. If the weight of the bass is held by the head, the resulting added relief will disappear when you pick up the bass. I found this disturbing & confusing until I understood how it happened.

You've already noticed, some people like to play with an arrow straight neck & higher action, some like the action so low they can predict tomorrow's weather with their bass & ... It's your bass & you can have it your way.

Once you get the bass set up your way, an 1/8th of a turn on the rod, a small adjustment to the bridge, will often do. Personally, I find intonation to be the most difficult part. For now, everything is the way I like it so, I haven't changed string brand/size in a long time.

A little patience & practice will make this as easy as changing spark plugs. 8-)

BTW, do you ever race at the local AutoCross?

DrewinHouston · #8 02-09-2010, 03:06 PM

Check out the Cruz Tools series of videos on bassplayer.com:

http://www.bassplayer.com/Video.aspx...ection=lessons

They're trying to sell you tools, but not really hard, and the videos do give you a good idea of what's involved. Plus you might need tools. I already had a good tuner and hex wrenches and truss rod wrenches and screwdrivers and a machinists scale (metal ruler), I had to go out and buy feeler gauges (local auto parts store) and round-headed hex wrenches. Understand that much of the setup is subjective, so there's not a right or wrong way to do it. I intonated my fretless Jazz last night and it turned out great.

JTE · #9 02-09-2010, 03:28 PM

I like Dan's "Complete Guitar Player Repair" better than "How to Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great" (I have both) for bass players because it's got more bass-specific information. See, it's all about trade-offs so there's no right for everyone. And the bigger book goes into more detail about those, as well as specifics about bass set-up the other book doesn't cover as well.

And unless Fender's changed their set-up site in the last year or so, I find their standard specs to a higher action than is really needed- and I'm no low action fan myself.

John