Teach me o wise ones.

Youtube.

Seriously.

I learned everything first from Youtube and any questions I had, I posted them here on TalkBass.

Now I do my own setups and minor repairs. Major repairs I take to a teach and learn from them and see what they do.

Soldering pickups? Learned through Youtube!!

 

Don't be afraid to ask the techs you've been going to if you can stand by and watch them work on your bass. Ask questions, but not mundane ones, but ones that require them to think and speak. The more complicated the questions, the more knowledge you'll receive...unless your techs are absolutely useless...

 

Half the videos on Youtube are wrong. Avoid any and all "expert village" videos.

As far as setup videos, this series is pretty good. Its a detailed instructional video that explains the setup process in the right order.

 

Stay away from any amature YouTube posters. You can't just trust anybody on there!

Look at Carl Pedigo from Lakland.

 

Pedigo is here as are the best written guides available and the above posted vids are super as well. http://www.talkbass.com/index.php?threads/ALL-BASIC-SETUP-QUESTIONS-ANSWERED-HERE.125382/

 

Dan Erlewine.

Buy it.
Read it.
Then you will understand why and not just how.

 

Check out Dave's World of Fun Stuff on YouTube. This guy has an impressive amount of bass setup videos:

https://www.youtube.com/user/davey4557

 

He's also got some weird and overly negative opinions.

 

He's an old gooch, what do you expect? I learned a few valuable tips from him but also knew that not everything he says should be taken as face value.

He is an old gooch and complains a lot. I avoid a lot of his videos unless they look interesting...like the Geddy Lee bass neck gooch. I'll stop saying "gooch" now.

 

Whatever you do, don't over-adjust the truss rod in a short time! Thankfully I learned on a cheap used bass, but it was still a great Ibanez I'll miss... all because I didn't take more time (I should have turned it 1/8 - 1/4 of a turn, waited about an hour, and then checked / repeat as necessary... NOT about 2 full turns in one shot!!)

 

Be careful where and from whom you get your information. Anyone can post a video on the internet. That doesn't mean the information contained therein is correct.

Starring in a video doesn't make anyone an expert. And sometimes the experts make boring videos.

 

Scotts Bass lessons covers basic setups

 

What happened next? Don't leave us hangin'.

 

I took a guitar setup class with a "world-renowned" local luthier and it was a great experience.

The series of videos posted by Hopkins is basically what it comes down to - truss rod adjustment, bridge height adjustment, nut slots, and finally, intonation.

You'll need to get a set of tools together.

 

You adjust the rod until proper relief is obtained. If two full turns are required to set proper relief, and the rod doesn't run out of adjustment, then you turn the rod two full turns. Of course you check your progress along the way, but there is absolutely no need turn 1/8 of a turn then wait an hour to turn it again. That is a total myth, that if were true would leave a whole lot of touring musicians very unhappy with their guitar techs.