How do you tell if a bass is set up properly?

[Jamco]

This might sound like a stupid question - but how can you tell if a bass is set up properly? It seems that so many basses in music shops are not setup that it is somewhat of a treat to find one that is properly setup.

Can a bass be setup to have low action and no fret buzz - and can you make this adjustment soley at the bridge or does it involve tinkering with other parts?

I currently own a musicman stingray and need to know.

Thanks

[Indiana Mike]

When to you it plays like butter with no problems .

see this ;

http://www.ernieball.com/faq_content...code=mm_basses

[Jamco]

however I've been into a shop and a technician has played my bass and he's had no fret buzz whilst I (although I play harder) get it?

[Indiana Mike]

That's what I meant , I learned to do all my own setups for ME.
I would read the EBMM stuff in the link and maybe start at factory specs and go from there .

As I learned , get the radius and other stuff way out of wack you have to go back and start over.


I could show you but not really tell you , sorry


http://www.tunemybass.com/bass_setup/









.

[codyAllen191]

you might want to get a friend that plays bass or guitar to help show you correct ways to adjust the truss rod and saddles, or you could just fiddle with it like I did with my first bass....luckily i got it right

[Indiana Mike]

one more thing and I'll shut up .


Please do not crank the hell out of the truss rod , 1/4 turn at a time , re-tune , let it rest , and recheck.

You don't want to find out what happens if you take it a couple of turns at once. I know , that's why my hondo POS is in the landfill ( circa 1986 )

[phatduckk]

musicman basses are VERY easy to set up IMO. the faq link posted above will prove a really good guide.

id say follow that to get it to factory spec first. then if you want it lower give the truss rod about a 1/4 turn. that should get the action pretty low

[west*coast*bass]

Originally Posted by Kindness

I recently posted this regarding setups on another forum:
Kindness’s Bass Setup Thread

I just read this through and you did a great job...very thourough and easy to follow.

[bovinehost]

If someone else plays your bass, whether it's your punk-loving pal from next door or Tony Levin, and says, "Hey, this setup is perfect!", then it may or may not BE perfect.

If you play it and think, "Hey, this setup is perfect!", then it is.

I have one bass - a Stingray, by the way - that I use to sort of experiment with adjustments. Right now, it's set up almost completely flat and with extremely low action. This works very well for me AT HOME, but in stinky bars I tend to play harder and get a lot of fret noise. (Experience works.)

So while I love playing that bass with that setup at home while dinking around with Norah Jones tunes, when it comes time to hit the door and play with the band, I grab something that's not quite so touchy-feely.

So it also depends on what and how you're playing - and with whom.

Luckily, as has been mentioned, setting up a Music Man bass is like falling off a log.

[stedtale]

Originally Posted by Kindness

I recently posted this regarding setups on another forum:
Kindness’s Bass Setup Thread

+1 nice job.



I also sue this http://garywillis.com/pages/bass/bas...tupmanual.html as a ref too.

[FL Knifemaker]

Originally Posted by Kindness

I recently posted this regarding setups on another forum:
Kindness’s Bass Setup Thread

Great thread!! I'm going to order a gage, I've been using a machinest ruler. It works but the gage makes soooo much more sense

I found the only way to learn setups is to just do it! Experiment, make small adjustmets, check, re-check. I spent an afternoon with a local guitar tech and have been doing my own ever since. Some basses like the EBMM's are a breeze, others are a pain in the ass. Don't be discouraged by the results you get from one bass.

[T-MOST]

You play it. If the action feels comfortable, has no buzzing or rattling, tunes up correctly and plays in tune up and down the neck it's set up correctly.

[YCBass]

Unless the neck it bowed to an unhealthy point (for the wood) I would say the best judge is you... If it's working great for you it IS perfect...

Ya, I like a relatively low action and I have the same issue at music stores - specially the big chains... most of the basses there aren't set up very well. Because they're mostly sales based and they don't have an official "tech" in house - a salesman would have to take time out of his day to work on a bass.

Maybe there is a way to have really low action and have no fret buzz but I haven't found it yet. I think it will always be a compromise. For my basses, I hear fret buzz when I play unplugged but they never come through the amp so I'm good to go.

Learn to do your own set ups Bro... It's the only way to go!

[Double Agent]

IME, the best way to have really low action and little to no fret buzz is to play with a very light touch. I don't have a light touch at all, but I still don't have my action rediculously high. I would my action is medium to medium-low. But if I wanted no fret buzz, I would have to raise it.

BTW, an easy formula that I have found is this...
If you get buzz on the lower frets (lower than 7th), you need to adjust your truss rod. If you get buzz on the higher frets (12th and higher), you need to adjust your saddles at the bridge.

[Kindness]

Originally Posted by Double Agent

BTW, an easy formula that I have found is this...
If you get buzz on the lower frets (lower than 7th), you need to adjust your truss rod. If you get buzz on the higher frets (12th and higher), you need to adjust your saddles at the bridge.

If you are getting localized buzzing below the 7th fret, your neck is too flat. If you are getting localized buzzing above the 12th fret, your neck has too much relief.

[Double Agent]

Originally Posted by Kindness

If you are getting localized buzzing below the 7th fret, your neck is too flat. If you are getting localized buzzing above the 12th fret, your neck has too much relief.

I usually dial most of the buzz out of the lower frets by adjusting the truss rod. I make very small adjustments. Once I have the lower frets perfect, the higher frets have usually picked up a bit of more buzzing. If it were extreme, I would bump the truss rod back the other way, but it usually isn't. I usually just raise the saddle between 1/2 and a whole turn of the screws and its perfect.

I am not disagreeing with you, as I respect the knowledge and skill displayed in your setup thread. Just giving my experience on setting up my own basses which has, so far, worked great for me.

[Kindness]

Originally Posted by Double Agent

I usually dial most of the buzz out of the lower frets by adjusting the truss rod. I make very small adjustments. Once I have the lower frets perfect, the higher frets have usually picked up a bit of more buzzing. If it were extreme, I would bump the truss rod back the other way, but it usually isn't. I usually just raise the saddle between 1/2 and a whole turn of the screws and its perfect.

I am not disagreeing with you, as I respect the knowledge and skill displayed in your setup thread. Just giving my experience on setting up my own basses which has, so far, worked great for me.

Everything in the setup is interactive, so in the end we probably are doing pretty close to the same thing.

[Double Agent]

Originally Posted by Kindness

Everything in the setup is interactive, so in the end we probably are doing pretty close to the same thing.

Quite possibly, but I probably more of a hack than you

[BartmanPDX]

Originally Posted by FL Knifemaker

Great thread!! I'm going to order a gage, I've been using a machinest ruler. It works but the gage makes soooo much more sense

I've been thinking the same thing. Now that I own several thousand dollars worth of basses, it probably makes sense to invest in a few basic tools to maintain them. I think I'll get the notched straightedge and the gauge, too.

I got spoiled when my Steinberger XL-2 was my main bass for over a decade. Having no truss rod and never needing any adjustments made me quite lazy. I had to learn to do setups all over again once I started buying other basses.

[Koki]

Kindness, you did a great job... My bass has low or super low action according to the thread..
This is the first time that I see string height decently described..