Newbie's concerns on bass setup done by professional

[ugie]

Hi everyone,

I took my new bass (Fender Precision Player Series) to local guitar repair store. I told them I was a newbie and they checked out my bass and said it required complete setup.

By the way before taking my bass there, I actually had tried to do the neck, intonation and bridge action height adjustment myself, following John Carruthers videos on YouTube. (I skipped the nut action adjustment, since I found it difficult for a clumsy newbie like me).

Anyway, when I took my bass today, the guy told me: "you might hear some buzz sound while playing but that is ok as it won't be caught by the pickup". And since I don't know enough about bass (or other type of guitars), I nodded my head and said "ok".

After coming home, I took out my capo and the feeler gauge set. Putting capo on the first fret and pressing the string where neck joins the body (as John instructs in his video), the feeler gauge with 0.15 inches thickness doesn't go through the 7th fret without lifting up the string. In fact 0.06 inches is the one that goes in there without lifting the string and with no extra space. In addition, when I look at my neck from the bridge, I don't see any "little curve" with my newbie eyes.

I am really confused here. It seems the professional guitar repairmen set the neck straight. Does this mean there is no standard way of adjusting the truss rod? Everyone to its own taste?

And I don't think they bothered adjusting the nut height either (the second and third strings were higher from the neck compared to first and fourth before I took my bass to them, and it is still the case now. The only thing that is different now is they are all closer to the neck, probably because of this straight neck profile they set now).

Should I go ahead and follow John's instructions? I can do that part along with the bridge height and intonation adjustments but I don't want to touch the nut height as it requires scrapping off and I think I will mess it up if I try. So my other question is how much it would affect a newbie learning a bass with wrong nut action height? The intonation part comes after the nut adjustment, so I am also concerned that I can't set the intonation perfectly without the correct nut action height. Is this true?

Ah it is a bummer to be a newbie

 

[Turnaround]

I'm glad a 0.15" feeler wouldn't go in there - it should be 0.015", a ten times difference! If .06" goes in now, it's still way too much. You should be aiming for somewhere between .010" to .020".
You can't go wrong if you follow Mr. Carruthers. I disagree with his nut height adjustment, but other than that his advice is solid.

 

[Ratzelfratz]

I follow the instruction in "The Bass Player Book". There has to be some relief in the neck or you'll get string buzz. If the action is too low you'll get string buzz. If you're a finger style player and dig in too hard, you'll get string buzz. The neck on a bass can warp unevenly on one side of the neck vs the other which turns the job onto something more complicated and taking longer to correct. In that case, find a real luthier. I've had to have the neck on an old Fender steamed and clamped to correct the problem before it could be properly intonated. IMOP you need to find a different tech to do your set up if you don't want to do it yourself. His comment about not hearing the buzz when you play is an excuse for not having done his job properly. I had an issue with string buzz on my Gibson Victory Artist which had little to do with the set up. The problem was corrected when a luthier pulled the frets and shaved the fretboard's high spots. The damn thing weighs a ton (thank you Italia for making 4 inch wide straps) but it's one of the best sounding bass I own and I own quite a few. Good luck.

 

[ugie]

I'm glad a 0.15" feeler wouldn't go in there - it should be 0.015", a ten times difference! If .06" goes in now, it's still way too much. You should be aiming for somewhere between .010" to .020".
You can't go wrong if you follow Mr. Carruthers. I disagree with his nut height adjustment, but other than that his advice is solid.

Indeed. My mistake (I am not used to Imperial System, hence the mistake). I meant 0.015" and 0.06" (in fact the Grooveetech kit set that I have doesn't have 0.15" and 0.06" feelers anyways).
I will follow Mr. Carruthers's instructions (skipping the nut height adjustment).
Thanks for the confirmation.

 

[ugie]

I follow the instruction in "The Bass Player Book". There has to be some relief in the neck or you'll get string buzz. If the action is too low you'll get string buzz. If you're a finger style player and dig in too hard, you'll get string buzz. The neck on a bass can warp unevenly on one side of the neck vs the other which turns the job onto something more complicated and taking longer to correct. In that case, find a real luthier. I've had to have the neck on an old Fender steamed and clamped to correct the problem before it could be properly intonated. IMOP you need to find a different tech to do your set up if you don't want to do it yourself. His comment about not hearing the buzz when you play is an excuse for not having done his job properly. I had an issue with string buzz on my Gibson Victory Artist which had little to do with the set up. The problem was corrected when a luthier pulled the frets and shaved the fretboard's high spots. The damn thing weighs a ton (thank you Italia for making 4 inch wide straps) but it's one of the best sounding bass I own and I own quite a few. Good luck.

I don't have that book but I will follow John Carruthers's instructions again myself.
And I won't go to that "repair" store ever again.