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Setup Issues or Bad Bass?

Econdude

Econdude

Guest
Sep 11, 2014
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#1
I purchased a Fender USA Deluxe Jazz Bass V this weekend and love the sound, however when I bought it the guy at Guitar Center (yeah I know) who does set ups said he would do mine for me. The strings are closer to the frets now but I have buzz on my D string pretty bad from 5th fret to the nut. I also have almost no 7th fret harmonic on my E string and the same on the 5th fret of my B string. I also get overtones from my left hand pressing down on the G string while I am playing other riffs ... I have never had this problem before (I have played mostly 5 and 6 strings for many years), and I have never had any of these issues on any of my Carvins or my MTD. Was the guy who set my bass up just an idiot? Should I just take it to get set up by a real pro? Is it possible I just got a bad bass? Different strings would help maybe? Just wanted to see if anybody has experienced this with a new bass.

Thanks!
 
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#2
Maybe start by going back to GC and see if they can do a better setup for you. Or pay out of pocket to a pro somewhere of your choice. But I'd at least go back to GC once more, maybe have another person try to do a setup and ask if you can watch to see what they are doing. Since you bought it there, they should at least let you leave with a well setup bass. And just to give it a good looking over in case the bass does have issues that didn't stand out when you first bought it. They do have a good return policy.

I just bought a new '15 MIM Deluxe Active Jazz 5-Vintage White, a few weeks ago. I'm pretty impressed with this MIM. Just wish it had the passive switch like the MIA's. Not sure what all else the MIA's offer over the MIM's but again pretty impressed with the quality of this bass and the way it feels and sounds too. This has the N3-noiseless pups and I believe Fender US preamp(?) Alder body, Pau ferro fretboard and its a fairly light weight bass. I been getting a lot of compliments on its' looks and tones.

I ordered it from an online store for a Best Offer price and was hoping for the best by not buying in person, return policy put me at ease. But it came setup OK. A bit lower action than I'm used to and I was getting some string/fret noise. But I mostly have been playing my passive J5's & P5's so I lightened my right/left hand touch some and it seems to have helped. Also thinking the new XL-170 strings it came with have settled down some by now too, so that prolly helps lessen the noise I was getting. I'm gona see if its' possible to add a passive switch somehow. Will have my local tech give a good looking over soon, check the frets,etc. Maybe setup more to my liking while I'm there. But it really plays quite nice already.

I also have a Carvin SB5000 and a Valenti Super-J5 w/Nordy pups/pre. Those are great basses but I'm finding this MIM is so much fun to play.


Good luck with your new bass, hope you get it squared away soon. Post some pics when you can. Here's mine:
sp6957p9btaqmz4rurh9.jpg
 
#5
Econdude said:
I purchased a Fender USA Deluxe Jazz Bass V this weekend and love the sound, however when I bought it the guy at Guitar Center (yeah I know) who does set ups said he would do mine for me.
Click to expand...

How exactly did you tell him to set it up?
Did you give him measurements? Did you tell him how hard you play? Did you tell him what kind of music you play?
Or did you trust him to do some random adjustments to it thinking they would make it the way you wanted it?
 
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#6
Is this a problem with quality control at Fender? Admittedly I bought my 5 string Jazz 20 years ago. But when it arrived the neck angle was hopeless leaving no adjustment in the bridge. I had to install a shim and frankly I don't think it ever got completely right, but now I have sold it.
 
#7
Graham Douglas said:
Is this a problem with quality control at Fender? Admittedly I bought my 5 string Jazz 20 years ago. But when it arrived the neck angle was hopeless leaving no adjustment in the bridge. I had to install a shim and frankly I don't think it ever got completely right, but now I have sold it.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't jump to any conclusions. It really just sounds like a poor setup.
 
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#8
I'm with superdick2112, I mean not actually with him, but agreeing with him about doing your own setups. For the money you would spend to do it you could buy any tools you need (allen wrenches,screwdriver if needed,capo, machinist scale, maybe feeler gauges), and have money left over for new strings. Fender's are very easy to set up. What you describe sounds like you may need a bit of relief, and you may have some string binding in the nut or twisted strings. All easy fixes.
 
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#9
Aside from those issues, does it play well according to you? A lot of the time, guitar techs take advantage of the fact that some people don't even know what a good setup feels like. So they do whatever and players will walk away with that setup because people just trust that if a shop did it, it must be good.

Now, assuming you do know what's wrong- Set it up yourself. Takes like, a couple a minutes really...
 
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#11
So when I bought it it was an hour until closing time, he finished 5 minutes after closing and I was ushered out the door. So I didn't have a chance to check it out.

So I have done my own adjustments on truss rods before, but this one if accessible down at the body side of the neck. Does that reverse the clockwise/counterclockwise rules?
 
#12
No it should be the same. Did you check the relief? Easy to do. Take a capo, or a rubber band or anything you can wrap around the strings to hold them down on the first fret. Hold the E string down at the last fret and check how much clearance you have between the string and fret 8 or 9. It should be about .012, or the thickness of 1 or 2 business cards. I checked a paper business card and its about.010, but I'm sure they vary some. If its lower than that or touching the fret you have backbow so counterclockwise on that trussrod. If higher, tighten or clockwise. Probably go 1/4 turn at a time and check. Once you have the relief right then check how it sounds at the 1st five frets. Good luck!
 
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#13
Sorry for the all caps: TAKE IT TO SOMEONE WHO KNOWS WHAT THEY'RE DOING. Even better, take it to a Fender-approved tech.

Thank you. But seriously, that's an expensive bass and GC techs...I'd rather have my vet set up my bass, know what I mean? At least he does something well.

Learning setup is great and frankly necessary, but that's what Squiers and First Act guitars were made for. Seriously. I bought three First Act electrics, none cost over sixty bucks, to learn how to do fret jobs. Done a few before but was supervised. If you bust a truss rod this is not the bass you want to do it on.
 
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#14
Econdude said:
I purchased a Fender USA Deluxe Jazz Bass V this weekend and love the sound, however when I bought it the guy at Guitar Center (yeah I know) who does set ups said he would do mine for me. The strings are closer to the frets now but I have buzz on my D string pretty bad from 5th fret to the nut. I also have almost no 7th fret harmonic on my E string and the same on the 5th fret of my B string. I also get overtones from my left hand pressing down on the G string while I am playing other riffs ... I have never had this problem before (I have played mostly 5 and 6 strings for many years), and I have never had any of these issues on any of my Carvins or my MTD. Was the guy who set my bass up just an idiot? Should I just take it to get set up by a real pro? Is it possible I just got a bad bass? Different strings would help maybe? Just wanted to see if anybody has experienced this with a new bass.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Like others have said, this sounds like a bad setup. And, also like others have said, learning how to set up your bass is always a good idea. But, before you do that, just to be on the safe side, take it to a qualified Fender tech to have a once over with it. Usually MIA Fenders are well put together, at least the ones I've played are, but occasionally one will slip through QC so it's best to be on the safe side. Regardless, set up the bass using Fender's factory specs, then adjust to taste.
 
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#15
sounds like a bad set-up to me, too. i've met a couple GC techs who really knew their stuff. unfortunately that's two out of... well... a lot. half the time what they call a set-up isn't even really a set-up, just a little truss rod tweaking. *shakes head in disgust*
 
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#16
Almost every Fender jazz bass I've owned needed a fret level. 3 USA 4 string jazz basses.
These are production basses not a Lull or Sadowsky.
Take it to a good tech have him check the frets and the slotting of the nut and go on his recommendations.
You will be amazed on how it will play after the frets have been leveled.
 
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#19
If it's on every note from the fifth fret up, your neck is backbowed and needs the truss adjusted.

But since it's not the case with every string, I'd check the saddle heights and string radius first to see if the D is set too low relative to the other strings and the neck radius.

As far as the overtones on the G and lack of harmonics on the B and E…possibly you just need another set of strings. I'd try that first before I did anything else.

All of the above things you can do (or should learn to do) yourself.

If that fails, you may need to get your frets looked at. If you don't have any experience leveling, dressing, and recrowning frets, bring it to a competent luthier to get it done. Without some experience and the correct ($$) tools there's too great a chance you'll do more harm than good messing with your frets yourself. A brand new $1500+ bass with a compound radius fingerboard isn't what you want to try and do your first fret job on.
 
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#20
So I had a local luthier do a pro setup and I still have bad harmonics and double tones on a couple of strings/frets. I took the bass back and got my money back and bought a Mayones Comodous. :)
 

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