Is my setup ok? (string height, truss rod, ect...) (big pictures)

[duo8675309]

I made a thread a few months ago about this. Since then i had my instructor adjust the truss rod for me and fix my action. And then I tweaked my action a little bit as well. But I just want to make sure everything is in order, because i see some pictures of some basses and their action is lower than mine, and i'm wondering if mine is still too high. And if my neck is strait enogh. I went to that site that is in the sticky before, but honestly this is the most confusing thing to me. I get how to adjust it but I just can't seem to tell if its right or not. Cause the way its set up right now I have to cut my mids out a lot or else i will get a lot of clacking on my first two strings and some on my second two, and if I go into drop D tuning it tends to have a little more fret noise and clacking. Its still a major improvement over what it once was though.

This is my neck, which i don't think looks like a bow and arrow anymore.


This is how high my E-string is at the 12th fret.


This is the string height right at the nut


This is the 3rd-9th frets.


And just for the hell of it, this is how it used to be.


So yeah. I would like my action to be lower, but if it goes any lower the strings will clack like crazy.

[glwanabe]

That is WAY to much relief in your neck.
Do you have the tools do do a setup? It doesnt take many but you will need a few.

Go to the Fender site and find the setup guides. Read through it a few times until you understand what they are saying.

Relief is set first! Relief it not how you adjust string height for action adjustments.

If you don't have a set of feeler gauges, you can approximate a decent action height with a buisness card, that is still a bit high but will work far better than your current situation. .015" of relief is usually PLENTY of relief for your bass.

Loosen your strings. Stand beside you bass and put the truss rod wrench on the trussrod nut. Notice where it is, now loosen your nut by about a 1/4 turn, then gently apply a small amount of pressure to the headstock with your hand to straighten your neck, now tighten your trussrod nut about 1/4 turn past the original starting point. STOP

Retune your strings.

Capo the "E" string at the first fret. If your don't have a capo, use a clothespin and use the "A" string to hold down the "E" string like a wedge. OR. have somebody hold the "E" string down at the first fret.

Fret the "E" string at the last fret. Measure the distance between the fret and the bottom of the string at the 8th fret. This is where you are looking for your relief measurement.

Your bass may take a little while to settle into it's adjustment. Especially with as bowed as that neck is. If you need more relief taken out repeat this process. Wait a day between adjustments if your not familier with what your doing.

When your relief is to where it is supposed to be. Then set your string height action using your bridge adjustments.


It's not rocket science to learn how to do setups. It does require that adjustments are done in the proper order to get the right end result.

After you can set relief and string height action properly, you can move on to other aspects of setups. Such as checking if your nut is cut to high.

[glwanabe]

Originally Posted by Joshua

I would only add that I was taught to fret at the point where the neck meets the body, not at the last fret. The reason being that there is only relief in the part of the neck that floats free. The part of the neck that is bolted to the body in theory should be flat.

And there certainly does appear to be lots o' relief in that neck. Don't be afraid to measure the relief first, just to ensure that the adjustment makes a difference (ie that the rod is working correctly).

Joshua,

I have also done it that way. So as to not confuse anything I just quoted what Mr. Gearhead prescribes. If that is the only thing that you had to add, then I feel good I was clear on how to go about setting the relief.

[duo8675309]

Seriously? Man i took it to have it tightened, and I was afraid to tighten it any more because i didn't want my truss rod to break. But its too loose? Grr. Ok, I shall tighten.

EDIT: btw, the last picture was from like, 5 months ago or something. Just so you know.

[duo8675309]

Ok, all in all I think I've turned it about 1/2 a turn give or take. How does it look now?

(same views as before)

[emils]

Your neck looks fine, stop playing with the truss rod and use bridge saddles to adjust the hight.

[fourstringdrums]

Much better. As Emils said, stop adjusting the neck and use the saddle adjustments to fix the action from here. Next time when checking for relief, use your eyes, but as a poster above said, fret at the first fret and where the fret meets the body (I usually do the last fret) and press down around the 9th fret to see how much the string moves. That will show how much relief you have. I like a very slight bit, if any at all.

Keep in mind too that some basses can achieve lower action for your playing style easier (or at all) than some others.

[duo8675309]

Originally Posted by emils

Your neck looks fine, stop playing with the truss rod and use bridge saddles to adjust the hight.

What? I thought i was done! Well w/e, it plays good now, so I'm happy. Maybe i'll do some touch ups after the wood settles.

[emils]

What I ment was,the neck looks fine, if you want to adjust the hight don't do it with the truss rod but use the saddles. The way you have it setup in these photos looks just fine to me.

[SnuffdaCrimeDog]

Whoa! Holy terd first off now it looks like you have a back bow. I dont know why people keep telling you to tighten your truss rod. Your first pictures you posted, everyone except the last one where the action was hella high, looked fine. Don't always go straight the truss rod always examine the bridge too, because most likely you can make corrections there. Don't get me wrong the poster before me have put down alot of good advice as for measuring relief, but along with the last few posters said, stop touching the truss rod, use the bridge saddles, or your gonna end up with a bigger problem then high action. L

[fourstringdrums]

Originally Posted by SnuffdaCrimeDog

Whoa! Holy terd first off now it looks like you have a back bow.

It's hard to say from a picture. I've seen pictures that made it look like the strings were on the frets. The best thing he should do is take it to someone who can do a setup if he's not that familiar. It sounds like he has a slight grasp on it, but until he gets more comfortable with it someone else can diagnose how everything is.

[glwanabe]

Originally Posted by SnuffdaCrimeDog

Whoa![b] Holy terd first off now it [/B]looks like you have a back bow.

I dont know why people keep telling you to tighten your truss rod.

Your first pictures you posted, everyone except the last one where the action was hella high, looked fine. Don't always go straight the truss rod always examine the bridge too, because most likely you can make corrections there. Don't get me wrong the poster before me have put down alot of good advice as for measuring relief, but along with the last few posters said, stop touching the truss rod, use the bridge saddles, or your gonna end up with a bigger problem then high action. L

1. No, it does not appear that he has a backbow.

2. It appears that there is to much relief in the neck. Backbow would appear as the middle of the fretboard as the highest point, not the lowest.

I've gone back and read through your few post that you have posted here. From the few questions that you have asked, to me it does not appear that you understand setups properly. I'am not trying to be an a jerk to you, but your wrong in what you say.

Another poster said to just eyeball things. That is ok to a certain extent. If you have some feeler gauges USE THEM! You can "SORTA" setup an instrument or you can take a couple extra minutes and be precise about it.

I've read so many post from people saying how somebody has this wicked good setup guy, and they only let him touch there bass, BAH! YOU! can be a wicked good setup guy with a little patience and a couple of simple tools. Do things in the right order, paying attention to the proper tolerances, and your bass will play much better than just getting somewhere in the ballpark. For every adjustment that is not to spec, it affects other adjustments. It may be that because you skimped on step one, that you won't get optimal results at some step down the line.

If it is worth doing, do it right! Peoples lives depend on the job you do!

Sorry, thats me from my day job.

[duo8675309]

Originally Posted by glwanabe

1. No, it does not appear that he has a backbow.

2. It appears that there is to much relief in the neck. Backbow would appear as the middle of the fretboard as the highest point, not the lowest.

I've gone back and read through your few post that you have posted here. From the few questions that you have asked, to me it does not appear that you understand setups properly. I'am not trying to be an a jerk to you, but your wrong in what you say.

Another poster said to just eyeball things. That is ok to a certain extent. If you have some feeler gauges USE THEM! You can "SORTA" setup an instrument or you can take a couple extra minutes and be precise about it.

I've read so many post from people saying how somebody has this wicked good setup guy, and they only let him touch there bass, BAH! YOU! can be a wicked good setup guy with a little patience and a couple of simple tools. Do things in the right order, paying attention to the proper tolerances, and your bass will play much better than just getting somewhere in the ballpark. For every adjustment that is not to spec, it affects other adjustments. It may be that because you skimped on step one, that you won't get optimal results at some step down the line.

If it is worth doing, do it right! Peoples lives depend on the job you do!

Sorry, thats me from my day job.

Wait, so what? Is it still not good? I've been trying to get this right for so long. Ok, so what do you think I can do to improve upon it then?

[69nites]

Originally Posted by duo8675309

Wait, so what? Is it still not good? I've been trying to get this right for so long. Ok, so what do you think I can do to improve upon it then?

The most important thing about setup is that it feels right TO YOU

it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks (Unless you have it set up real bad and it sounds like crap) but as far as feel goes

If it sounds good and feels good to you I wouldn't touch it untill you feel you need to

I am constantly trying to get my basses setup better and better and as my technique gets better my setup changes

Granted I'm not a pro and I don't have the experience that these other guys have. what I do have is I set up all my own stuff and I play for hours every day all my basses are comfortable in my hands.

[emils]

Why do you think there are no "Online guitar setup services".
It is hard to judge if there is anything wrong with your bass from few photos posted on here. It "looks" OK to me but if you're not sure get someone who knows what they are doing to check it out.

[glwanabe]

Originally Posted by duo8675309

Wait, so what? Is it still not good? I've been trying to get this right for so long. Ok, so what do you think I can do to improve upon it then?

STOP!
First,

I was replying to the poster who said something I felt was wrong.

Second,

Are reading what has been said about setting the relief?
Do you understand what we are telling you?
Did you read the setup guide?

http://www.fender.com/support/setup/basssetup.php

Read this guide! Read it several times. It is laid out in the order.


Relief is only measured when you are depressing the strings at the first fret and last. Once you have that measurement set, then set your string height at the 17th fret using the bridge saddle adjustment. Raise or lower to the spec that you like. I use 6/64 on the "E" and "A" and 5/64 on the "D" and "G".


Did you measure your relief? Do know how? Do you have the tools? (Feeler gauges)

Did you adjust the bridge saddles for string height?
Like the last poster said. How does it feel to you?


There is more to the setup than these two adjustments, BUT lets get this worked out first. Your 2nd set of pics looks better than the first
but, I can't eyeball from a pic a measurment of .015". I'am good, but I'am not a superhero from the justice league.
Tell us some measurments you are at currently.

[keyboardguy]

Here;s a good setup site:

http://garywillis.com/pages/bass/bas...tupmanual.html

Mike

[SnuffdaCrimeDog]

First off, I apologize. Heres what I see and I've been adjusting my own neck for a while. After your last adjustment it look likeed at first ur neck had a backbow, after I looked at again your neck looks good,but it hard to tell by the picture you posted. I'm not taking back my comment about the trussrod. If you string are high use the bridge, if there to much relief(checked by fretting at the first frett, and where it meets the body) Then make a truss rod adjustment. High action is not always caused by the truss rod. It cant be at the bridge too. Don't do anything to your neck now raise and lower ur strings at the bridge like other people are saying. As I said before these shots of your bass are hard to decpipher from just looking at them. But my point is your neck looks fine, and there nothing wrong with it.

[guy n. cognito]

Originally Posted by duo8675309

Wait, so what? Is it still not good? I've been trying to get this right for so long. Ok, so what do you think I can do to improve upon it then?

If it feels good and plays well, then why continue to mess with it. Setup is a very personal thing. For example, I always use the "Fender Method" to get a basic setup on my basses, but I then tweak it from there to get the setup that works best for me. When I'm done, I am no longer setup to the exact specifications persribed in the Fender instructions, but the bass feels great to ME.

If you are new to setups, I recommend finding an experienced tech and paying him to do a setup for you, with one caveat: he has to let you watch and show you how it's done. You can learn more from that one experience that rereading written instructions a dozen times. With you there, he can also show you how to tweak the factory settings to your playing style.

[pkr2]

Everyone is being patient and the original poster seems to be trying to understand how to set his bass up.

IMHO, he's being overwhelmed with what seem to him to be differing opinions.

The only advice that has been given so far that seems questionable is in the very first response that emphatically stated that the relief needed to be adjusted.
Duo#s next response "OK, I'll tighten it" should have rang a bell to us all.

It goes without even saying that it is totally and completely impossible to make a diagnosis on the strength of the pix.

Duo#s, I suggest that you listen, for the moment, to only one person. Everyone that has responded could likely help you out. All at once is a chinese firedrill.

I can personally recommend that you follow Joshs' instructions to the letter. Not that lots of others aren't just as qualified but right now there are too many cooks stirring the pot.

You can bet that it would be an accident if your truss rod is adjusted properly, I don't care how well you think it plays.

Good luck