Set Up Question

[johnbeiser]

I recently purchased a Squire VM Jazz bass. This is my first bass and I have been playing it for about a month now. I have a question about the set up of the bass. Is there a way I can tell if the action is too high? Basically, how can I tell if I need to take it in for a set up or not? Is there a standard for how high the action should be? It seems high to me but like I said I am a newbie so any advice would help. Thanks in advance. JB

[gidbass]

I took mine in to get a setup when i first got it, and used it as a reference point when making my own adjustments. I now just do my own adjustments until i like the way it plays.

Good Luck.

[Jaco D]

I don't know what is the practice of music stores in your neck of the woods but if you bought the bass new, check with the dealer if they can do the initial set-up for free. Most stores do this as a goodwill gesture. Once this is done, get out your feeler gauges and note down the settings so you have a baseline to compare. If you want to experiment and deviate from the tech's settings, at least you know how to put it back to baseline if your experiment didn't pan out the way you wanted it.

[JxBass]

I use the setup guide on the Fender site for all my basses and find it works quite well. It works especially well for Squier basses.

http://fender.com/support/bass_guitar_setup_guide.php