Set Ups, For the 55 and Older Crowd

[bluewine]

I have read so much about set-ups on TB.

I know what a set-up is and have had them done, not by a professional, but my guitar teacher who is a bass player and has been playing bass for about 40 years like me. He sets my P-Basses (which I bought from him) and does a great job.

My question is is all this set-up stuff new, back in the day (late 60s 70s) I don't remember hearing guys talk about set-ups. We just took out scew drivers, Allen Wrenches, rubber bands and toilet tissue and just went at it until the problem was solved.
bluewine

[GM60466]

Not much has changed in setups. However, most new basses I have played come ready to go right out of the box.

G

[JTE]

There wasn't as much readily availabel information back in the '60s and '70s when I started. Simple intonation, neck adjustments, etc. required a trip to the guitar store and a week's wait around here. When I started working at a guitar store my tools included a Conn Strob-O-Tuner, some screw drivers and allen keys, a copy of the Fender Service Manual (moslty just schematics and parts diagrams) and one book on guitar repairs and maintenance by an oriental gentleman who'd modded a Telecaster for Tom Fogarty (I don't remember the author's name). I learned by messing with a bunch of cheapos and my own instruments before I took on other peoples' stuff.

But a lot of what I saw wrong was the stuff people do wrong now- cranking a truss rod to adjust the action without regard to how straight or curved the neck is, and setting the intonation so the bridge saddles look right were two biggies. In a large part, I think a lot of the attention to proper set-up is due to education. Players know more about what CAN be done instead of just assuming it's inherent in the instrument. I had people who wanted to trade in perfectly good instruments because the "never played in tune" or were hard to play. And all it took was an inexpensive set-up for those people to keep playing a good instrument.

That kind of stuff is probably why I wasn't making money in retail... I shoulda just done the trade, sold them a new ax, the fixed their old ones up and sold them at a tidy profit...

jte

[Bassgrinder77]

Toilet paper? What did you use that for?

Originally Posted by bluewine

I have read so much about set-ups on TB.

I know what a set-up is and have had them done, not by a professional, but my guitar teacher who is a bass player and has been playing bass for about 40 years like me. He sets my P-Basses (which I bought from him) and does a great job.

My question is is all this set-up stuff new, back in the day (late 60s 70s) I don't remember hearing guys talk about set-ups. We just took out scew drivers, Allen Wrenches, rubber bands and toilet tissue and just went at it until the problem was solved.
bluewine

[One Drop]

Originally Posted by Bassgrinder77

Toilet paper? What did you use that for?

Intonating the brown note.

[Bassgrinder77]

The Brown Note ... ? Is that a 70's thing?
It sounds kinda FUNKY.

Originally Posted by One Drop

Intonating the brown note.

[One Drop]

Originally Posted by Bassgrinder77

The Brown Note ... ? Is that a 70's thing?
It sounds kinda FUNKY.

It's the mythical bass note so loud and deep that will loosen a fellow's bowels uncontrollably. Funky in the oldest sense of the word, maybe.

[unclejane]

Originally Posted by bluewine

I have read so much about set-ups on TB.

I know what a set-up is and have had them done, not by a professional, but my guitar teacher who is a bass player and has been playing bass for about 40 years like me. He sets my P-Basses (which I bought from him) and does a great job.

My question is is all this set-up stuff new, back in the day (late 60s 70s) I don't remember hearing guys talk about set-ups. We just took out scew drivers, Allen Wrenches, rubber bands and toilet tissue and just went at it until the problem was solved.
bluewine

Well, the quality of our basses these days is far better than back then when the Fender was pretty much your only choice, otherwise you had to play some piece o crap Kent or something from a pawn shop. Most of us couldn't afford something really well made like a Rick either.

Despite their value today as collectors items, the quality of the old Fenders is legendary only. They were actually pretty poorly made with lots of quality control problems that often made playing them a real struggle.

So there was a limit to how well you could even set them up to where it made much difference. Twisted necks and hilly fingerboards were pretty much rank-and-file, as well as dead strings, dead spots, low frets, buzzes and so on. So about all you could do is try to get the action down low enough to not break your arm, crank up the amp as high as it'd go and just hope for the best.

Nowadays, our basses are so much better (even Fender themselves) that a real setup can make a real difference in playability and sound. So there's good reason to pay attention to doing a good setup on a modern bass.

I'm old too and remember those days with no fondness at all. I muchly prefer today, having my G&Ls and being able to set them up to play easily and without tearing my hands up....

LS

[Bassmickeyd]

I've always done my own setups so I knew how to do it and it got done right. Though I'm sure most guy's go to music stores and pay the price for the "set-up". You're instrument shouldn't move all that much once it's settled in. And settled in would mean is the instrument comfortable in your climate and the same player playing it all the time. In the north weather will change and take the instrument with it.
Players today should take the time to learn how to set and maintain their own instrument. You'd hate to be on a gig in the middle of no where and run into problems. It's happened before and it'll happen again.

[bluewine]

Originally Posted by unclejane

Well, the quality of our basses these days is far better than back then when the Fender was pretty much your only choice, otherwise you had to play some piece o crap Kent or something from a pawn shop. Most of us couldn't afford something really well made like a Rick either.

Despite their value today as collectors items, the quality of the old Fenders is legendary only. They were actually pretty poorly made with lots of quality control problems that often made playing them a real struggle.

So there was a limit to how well you could even set them up to where it made much difference. Twisted necks and hilly fingerboards were pretty much rank-and-file, as well as dead strings, dead spots, low frets, buzzes and so on. So about all you could do is try to get the action down low enough to not break your arm, crank up the amp as high as it'd go and just hope for the best.

Nowadays, our basses are so much better (even Fender themselves) that a real setup can make a real difference in playability and sound. So there's good reason to pay attention to doing a good setup on a modern bass.

I'm old too and remember those days with no fondness at all. I muchly prefer today, having my G&Ls and being able to set them up to play easily and without tearing my hands up....

LS

I agree LS, I have been to these Vintage Shops and seen the 3-10K price stickers on stuff I had back in the 60s & 70s.

I remember the problems with my basses. Why anyone would pay that kind of dough for 1 of those old basses is beyond me.

blue

[NOVAX]

because they sound and feel awesome...then and now

[bluewine]

Originally Posted by NOVAX

because they sound and feel awesome...then and now

Novax, I remember my Pre CBS 1957 Precision Bass and my 1972 Jazz Bazz. Neither one played or sounded as good as my 2000 Fender Re-issies from Japan.

But, thats just me.