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Best Factory Setup??

FL Knifemaker

FL Knifemaker

Apr 9, 2006
12,453
55
Lakeland, FL
www.blackwoodknives.com
#1
I'm a stickler for my bass setups being right. Custom basses aside, over the years I've been impressed by some factory setups and totally unimpressed by others. I've NEVER bought a factory bass that didn't require some sort of work to make me happy. That was up until I bought my EBMM SR Classic. They did an absolutely AMAZING setup at the factory. No need to touch anything except a very minor turn of the truss nut. It actually goes beyond the setup and intonation. The frets are perfect, nut/string/neck/bridge alignment is perfect. Overall playability is pefect, even the harmonics are PERFECT.
It is my new standard for which I will always strive to make my project basses setups equal:)

What factory bass setups have impressed you most?? No real need to get into the ones that didn't. That would do nothing but eat up bandwidth.
 
#2
I don't usually buy new basses but I got a Carvin 5 string in 97 that was perfect out of the box. I had a new G&L that had a bad neck (truss rod way too tight) that they repaired.When it came back it was incredible. Low action,no buzz. Even though that's not my preference it will still setup sickening low.
 
#7
One thing that really helps is if the bass is set up perfectly at the factory and then it still has brand new strings when you first play it. I've played well made basses hanging in stores and sometimes the strings feel horrible. The setup might be fine but sticky strings makes it very hard to evaluate a bass. Worn strings are one thing, sticky strings are another :(
 
#8
Phalex said:
Carvin. It showed up perfect and I haven't had to touch anything in about 17 years.
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While I love my Carvin fretless, it showed up needing a major setup. Never having owned a fretless before, it took me a while to figure out how it needed to be adjusted. The action when it arrived was so high, it had very little mwah. After much fiddling around, I got it to where I really love it. Overall the Carvin quality is excellent and my bass is a 100% keeper. It's also my only bass with a Piezo bridge which seems to be a good compliment to the whole fretless tone/sound.
 
#9
without a doubt sandberg and status for me, obviously if you have specifics ask on order, i did with my status, asked for as low action as possible to be like JE's other side of the frets action.

but my sandberg was set up perfectly, i dont think anyone would of had a problem picking it up and playing it. every sandberg i have played has been like this (i played a few in store before i ordered mine, but i nearly bought one a few years ago too :))

i have never had/played a fender that i could just play straight out of the box, and the ones in local shops are set up so bad :(
 
#10
I bought a Yamaha TRB years ago and that was absolutely perfect right out of the box. In fact it kind of spoilt me for other brands. Intonation, action, dead straight neck, pickup heights, fretwork - everything was spotless. I sold the bass on about three years later and aside from a few strings changes, I can't remember having to alter anything on it.

Top marks to Yamaha - they might be pretty plain instruments but they definitely don't cut corners when it comes to quality control.
 
#11
Recently I bought a Fender Deluxe P Bass right out of the bx it needs a setup and as does my Gibson Thunderbird IV , not even close to being set-up right. The only one that came to me playing ok is my Fender Road Worn P Bass . this is the cost of getting stuff on-line. I figure that I'll be spending between $80 to $150 depending on where I go ( another topice for another thread...) ) ) ) :cool:
 
#17
A little OT, but I wonder if places like Guitar Center would sell more guitars if they made an effort to set them all up properly before they hung them on the shelves. I've often wondered whether they'd done a cost vs. benefit analysis on this and discovered it wasn't worth it.
 
#20
wideyes said:
A little OT, but I wonder if places like Guitar Center would sell more guitars if they made an effort to set them all up properly before they hung them on the shelves. I've often wondered whether they'd done a cost vs. benefit analysis on this and discovered it wasn't worth it.
Click to expand...

I don't think they have. I mean, it's obvious that if the instruments had even a decent setups they'd move a lot faster. How many times have been to a music store and heard someone dislike a completely fine instrument just because it's poorly setup? I mean, even on this board hardly a day goes by without someone judging a bass by it's setup. My guess is that people in places like GC (even though we don't have GC over here) either don't know how to do it properly, don't have the time to do it properly (which, if music stores in US are anything like they are in Europe is highly unlikely) or that they just can't be bothered. I'd put my money on option C.

There's a perfect example of this over here. The oldest and biggest instrument store in Helsinki used to move some instruments back in the day and until for the last year or two, they were the only place to stock fenders and thus had a huge leg up on the competition. But these days, some of the basses have hung on their walls for years and they've been horribly set up. Nothing wrong with them as instruments, just poor setup. Now they're struggling to sell the odd squier or cheapo yamaha. And since they can't move anything, they ain't stocking anything either. So it's the MIM fender that has the strings half an inch of the fretboard or GTFO. Meanwhile, in a new place, where they actually try to do some set up, MIA and MIJ instruments are selling three times as fast. Especially the MIJ selection is usually completely new every time I visit the store.
 

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