Tendonitis was the best thing that ever happened for my bass playing.

[Rev J]

I went to college for Jazz and Contemporary Music in the mid to late '90s. At that time a lot of my playing/style was centered on the Stu Hamm 2 handed tapping thing. I was pretty good at it. The problem is that I let someone else set up my bass. Looking back I realize how stupid that was.

The person I let set my bass up was of the opinion "Heavy Strings and High Action equals better tone". After letting that moron do my set up I needed to use more strength to play. Having to pull harder to make it work I ended up with tendonitis in my left elbow.

This forced me to learn how to set up my bass and change my philosophy about technique, tone, processing, etc.

The first thing that I realized is that lighter strings and lower action make the instrument easier to play. Rule number one if play better you will sound better.

The result of that is that I learned how to set up my bass myself so I don't have to rely on someone else to make by bass play the way I want it to. The only thing I don't dare adjust myself is the truss rod. I can set my own string height, intonation, and pick up height etc.

The second thing I realized was that signal processing is your friend. If you EQ right, and set your gain right you don't have to play so hard to cut through. Rule number two if you don't have to work so hard to be heard your playing will get better and you will sound better.

The third thing I realized is that nothing trumps good technique. Usually playing related injuries are caused by bad technique. Bad technique is hard to undo but it can be done. Rule number three good technique will make you sound better.

Finally I realized that volume is my friend. If you turn up loud enough you don't have to work so hard to be heard. You can play lighter to get the same dynamics and your dynamic range will improve. Rule number four the more control you have the better you will sound.

Since figuring all of this out I haven't had any problems with my elbow in 12 years. I have gone from four to five to six string basses and every time I did people were warning me that I'd have problems with my arms and have had none yet. If I didn't get tendonitis in the first place I never would've come to any of these realizations.

C/S,
Rev J

[Tupac]

Cool tips! Any tips for suing signal processing to help cut through?

[Art Araya]

Don't be afraid to adjust the truss rod! Use a straight-edge and get it perfectly level every time.

I need to learn about setting up pick up height...

[capncal]

good tips indeed. but adjusting your truss rod is just as easy as everything else setting your bass up. just 1/4 turn at a time. although some guitar techs will just tell you to crank it 'til it's straight.

[scottbass]

Originally Posted by Tupac

Cool tips! Any tips for suing signal processing to help cut through?

There have been several sound guys I wanted to sue!!! Seriously (I know it was just a typo ) the #1 rule about making a bass cut through is to not try to dominate the same frequency range as the kick drum. This usually consists of CUTTING the bass guitar between 45 Hz and 200 Hz, more or less, and then boosting the bass guitar from 200 Hz to 400 Hz, again, more or less. Of course the kick drum EQ should be cut in the same range the bass guitar is being boosted. This leaves the 45 Hz to 200 Hz range for the kick drum and the 200 Hz to 400 Hz range for the bass guitar. Everyone else in the band should have a high pass (aka low cut) filter applied somewhere around 250 to 300 Hz to prevent them from completely overlapping the bass guitar. Yeah, I know, downtuned doom rock guitarists will argue with that!

Here is more info: http://www.audiorecording.me/tips-in...ike-a-pro.html

[Fergie Fulton]

Great stuff, especially about getting the frequency of a tone correct so it is audible, rather than being loud. If it has its own "slot" within a live sound it will always be heard.

Sorry to disagree about heavy string, high action, but tune down a semitone with it and that is a great tone and feel that I have yet to find anything come close to.
But I would suppose it depends on the players technique, tension of the strings used, and how often the truss rod is set. I used to check mine most days I used it (P bass) and even used a shim or two in body pocket to help set the neck back so the strings tension would hold it in a better playing action with reduced tension.

[Peace Cee]

I agree. The lighter the touch (for me), the better I play. Ditto for the truss rod. I got the "Don't touch the truss rod" lecture too. 1/4 turn, let it sit. I too got tired of wating for a tech to set up my bass based on what he thought was "correct".

[Raymeous]

Good post. Maybe I can help with a couple of questions that cropped up along the way.

TRUSS ROD:
In regards to truss rod adjustments, keep in mind that weather affects the necks of your basses. It may not need to be adjusted, just aclimated to your current conditions like temperature and humidity. Like any adjustments you make to your instrument, take baby steps and let things settle for a bit, take another step, let it settle for a bit, until things are where you want them.


PICKUP ADJUSTMENTS:
As for pickup adjustments you don't need to wait. All you need is a small screw driver and your ears.

In the case of direct mounted pickups (most bass pickups without a pickguard), if you turn the screw clockwise you are essentially "pushing" the pickup into the body as the screw goes further into the wood. If you're adjusting pickguard mounted pickups, or guitar humbuckers with a mounting ring, the screw your adjusting is threading into the pickup and will raise it.

The closer the pick up is to the string the louder it will get. If you raise it too high you may hit the edge of the pickup or the strings may hit one of the pole pieces (magnet) and make a "click" or "pop" sound. Just lower them back down a tad.

BRIDGE:
Remeber if you raise the height of your strings you may need to adjust your intonation slightly, not much, but a smidge. This is more for the extremes of going from super low action to monster high action or vise versa


Experiment and just take baby steps and you wont hurt the instrument.

[Art Araya]

thanks for the info on pickup adjustments. when and why do i need to adjust these? how do i know when i am at the optimal distance from the string?

[Rev J]

Originally Posted by Tupac

Cool tips! Any tips for suing signal processing to help cut through?

The one thing that I've really found is what you do with your midrange. The frequency response of human hearing is about 20hz to 20khz. It is also a bell curve. About 5% is in the low range and about 5% is in the high range. Somehow over the last 20 years Heavy Metal, Funk, and Pop Music has convinced us that a Scooped Mid is a good thing (don't get me wrong I love funk). But what happens then is that you have the entire band going scooped and fighting for 10% of the frequency spectrum. So the best way to cut through is to use the frequencies that no one else is using. The original Fender Bassman and Dual Showman were based on this bell curve frequency response as was the original SVT, and the original Alembic Preamps.

Even though I am guilty of the scooped mid Graphic EQ setting I have 2 other factors working with me. One is that I'm soloing the bridge pick-up on a Fender Jazz Bass. For those about to point out a contradiction in my original post it's the Steve Bailey model so it is a six string. This is part of the source of the original "Jaco Honk". I also rest my thumb on the bridge pick up moving to the B, E, and A strings as I move up. With my hand in that position it excites more harmonics (interestingly enough another midrange phenomena), and is easier to play.

Also using a fuzz as merely a boost can help you resist the urge to play too hard and be heard. Again the right fuzz can also emphasize the harmonics and midrange.

C/S,
Rev J

[Spfairchild]

As for setting pickup height, there's really no right or wrong necessarily - there are just consequences. I set the height of mine on the bass side by fretting my lowest string at the last fret, then adjusting the height so that there's enough space/clearance that the string doesn't slap the pickup when I slap or use aggressive techniques. Your neck pickup will therefore probably need to be a little lower than your bridge one. Then, I set the pickup tilt, from treble to bass side, according to how I think the bass sounds (amplified) and what sounds I want to accentuate. If it sounds particularly thin in the high range, I'll lower the bridge pickup on the treble side and raise the neck pickup's treble side, tilting each in opposite directions. Does that make sense? I have a super strong cold right now and am not thinking as linearly as usual. More on the truss rod later...

[Bassguy87564]

Originally Posted by Art Araya

thanks for the info on pickup adjustments. when and why do i need to adjust these? how do i know when i am at the optimal distance from the string?

I am sure someone else on here can answer your question better then me put I will put in my 2 cents. The optimal distance depends on how you play. The closer the pickups are the strings the more sound you are going to get. People who tap on the fingerboard will usually have their pickups closer to the strings because tapping produces less sound than plucking the strings. So if your fingers make a lot of sound then your pickups don't really need to be that close. I hope I didn't make to much of a fool of myself with my answer

[Spfairchild]

On pickups, from my above post, I also meant to add that there are a number of other variables. There are active and passive pickups, and active pickups generally have less magnetic pull on the strings and can thus be set closer to the strings without affecting their vibrations as much as passive pickups. I'm sure I'm leaving out something, but it's basically just all common sense. If the pickups are so close to the strings that the strings buzz against them, and you don't like that, then back them off a bit. If they're so close that the strings stop vibrating a little sooner than they might otherwise, back them off a bit. If you have too much of a bridge pickup sound with both pickups on full, back that one off a bit. If you only notice that on the treble strings, screw down the treble side of the bridge one a bit. Most of it is just personal preference.

On truss rods, I would advise checking out Jerzy Drozd's free setup guide. It's very good. I like a very straight neck, but that doesn't mean actually straight to a straight level - for me, it means about .25mm to .35mm clearance at the widest point between the top of the frets and the bottom of the string, with the string held down against the fretboard at both ends of the board. Generally, there's no reason to go with a gap greater than 1mm, and you can cause intonation problems if using a relief in excess of this. So as long as your neck isn't warped by being overly backbowed or forward bowed, this also is a matter of preference. But learning how to adjust it and why is an integral part of getting it right. Check out that file! It's a PDF, and is easily found with a Google search

[kirkdickinson]

Ditto on Jerzy Drozds free setup guide. I never did my own truss rod until I read that.

Some bass players like to have the pickups very high. Doug Johns likes to strike the string down onto the pickup for rhythmic effect.

[xdanxx]

wise words.

[baileyboy]

Originally Posted by Rev J

I went to college for Jazz and Contemporary Music in the mid to late '90s. At that time a lot of my playing/style was centered on the Stu Hamm 2 handed tapping thing. I was pretty good at it. The problem is that I let someone else set up my bass. Looking back I realize how stupid that was.

The person I let set my bass up was of the opinion "Heavy Strings and High Action equals better tone". After letting that moron do my set up I needed to use more strength to play. Having to pull harder to make it work I ended up with tendonitis in my left elbow.

This forced me to learn how to set up my bass and change my philosophy about technique, tone, processing, etc.

The first thing that I realized is that lighter strings and lower action make the instrument easier to play. Rule number one if play better you will sound better.

The result of that is that I learned how to set up my bass myself so I don't have to rely on someone else to make by bass play the way I want it to. The only thing I don't dare adjust myself is the truss rod. I can set my own string height, intonation, and pick up height etc.

The second thing I realized was that signal processing is your friend. If you EQ right, and set your gain right you don't have to play so hard to cut through. Rule number two if you don't have to work so hard to be heard your playing will get better and you will sound better.

The third thing I realized is that nothing trumps good technique. Usually playing related injuries are caused by bad technique. Bad technique is hard to undo but it can be done. Rule number three good technique will make you sound better.

Finally I realized that volume is my friend. If you turn up loud enough you don't have to work so hard to be heard. You can play lighter to get the same dynamics and your dynamic range will improve. Rule number four the more control you have the better you will sound.

Since figuring all of this out I haven't had any problems with my elbow in 12 years. I have gone from four to five to six string basses and every time I did people were warning me that I'd have problems with my arms and have had none yet. If I didn't get tendonitis in the first place I never would've come to any of these realizations.

C/S,
Rev J

Good information, thanks!