• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

MOD EDIT TITLE: Setup questions from newbie

#22
He is very good and has some great ideas on DIY tools you can make. It sounds like you're quite new at the game (as we all were at one time). Start with some basics like neck relief, intonation and saddle height then go from there. Look on YouTube, there are thousands of tutorials.

As far as a black bridge, you can look up "black vintage fender style bass bridge" on reverb or eBay and find a cheap drop in replacement for around $20.

If you're anywhere near Baltimore I'm happy to help you out.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JRA and MdC64
#23
BaldyLee said:
He is very good and has some great ideas on DIY tools you can make. It sounds like you're quite new at the game (as we all were at one time). Start with some basics like neck relief, intonation and saddle height then go from there. Look on YouTube, there are thousands of tutorials.

As far as a black bridge, you can look up "black vintage fender style bass bridge" on reverb or eBay and find a cheap drop in replacement for around $20.

If you're anywhere near Baltimore I'm happy to help you out.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure where Baltimore is. I'm in Spanaway Washington

I just think it would look better with black bridge. What do you guys think? I want a black bridge for my lead guitar too. turnitblack.png I kind of want to try painting over the red with a flat or satin black and then rubbing the off some of the paint so you see the red peeking though the black so that it looks like it was on fire at one time. SOmeone painted their car that way and it looked really nice.

I KNOW that I want to go black pickup with this lead guitar as well. If it doesn;t work then I can just paint it black or something. Maybe making a design of some kind...? I don't know that it matters that much....
 
#30
I thought I posted a picture... My hand is actually bleeding! I was ignoring the sharp edges of the frets and thought that must be how Bass guitars just are. I wondered how people play with the frets sticking off the edge of fretboard. Then I deicded that even without sandpaper I could keep playing it with a simple trick. Take an old quarter dollar and use the wings of the eagle to 'sand' the rets down. This works well. I do need a screw driver, but nobody here knows where one is... pretty sure we have one, but don't know where to begin looking. I was able to tune it using a youtube tuning video. I don't even have an amp and this guitar is decently loud without one. (for practice...)

I see now that I was badly mistaken about amps. I thought it was going to be a lot deeper sounding.
 
#32
I am closer to getting these guitars, bass and electric lead setup. I spent less than $5.oo on three sets of screwdrivers the nearest dollar store. While everyone else was buying food I spent my last $5.oo on my bank card on screwdrivers. LOL! I had to adjust the truss rod on both, I thought that it was bottomed out on the bass as I couldn't turn the wrench any further then I realized that the wrench was mashed against the string and wouldn't turn any farther so I unseated the wrench and re-seated it a notch down. I used a medium thickness pick to guage the string height. It no longer buzzes on the frets as I raised and then slowly lowered the truss (after raising it) It doesn't buzz and it is easier to play as well. I hope it is done right. I don't have the amp so I can't adjust the pickups.

tools.png


I THINK I did the bridge correctly. I strummed the string using a taylor tuning thing on the head and got it to where the 12't fret rang out and showed on the tuning thing as 'in tune' for both open and the 12th fret. It sounds really good, and the bass stays in tune. I haven't checked the lead for tune yet, but this takes a little gettting used to. It will tune a bass but not to a dropped 'D' and once I figured that out then I was able to 'sneak-up' slowly to the 'E' on the 'E' string and all the rest. This has new strings, but they seem pretty good. (I stretched them by pulling up with my fingers as I tuned them.) I highly recommend the Taylor tuner. I SNIK tuner will drop-'D' on the bass, but it is more difficult to use and isn't all that accurate jumping from 'D' to "D#" all of a sudden.

tuner1.jpg
 
#37
I ended up going to Guitar Center seeing as how my adjustments just made things worse. It still sounds like a dentists drill every little bit, but I think that the sound canceling headphones are to be blamed. I loved the Rumble amp that I tested the guitar with in the store and If I had room for one I would buy one, but does anyone recommend a set of headphones.
 
#38
Timothy McCall said:
I ended up going to Guitar Center seeing as how my adjustments just made things worse. It still sounds like a dentists drill every little bit, but I think that the sound canceling headphones are to be blamed. I loved the Rumble amp that I tested the guitar with in the store and If I had room for one I would buy one, but does anyone recommend a set of headphones.
Click to expand...


I didn't get a good enough setup at Guitar Center and the first and second and third fretts buzzed when I got it home. I removed the truss rod bolt cover thing and found out why... The truss rod was jammed. I forced the wrench to loosen the truss and that did the trick. It was really difficult to turn and I was like "well if I break it I will return it and get another one" I didn't break it and it was a ton easier to turn the truss rod bolt thing and it plays awesome.
 
Last edited:

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back