Jack!....good news. Not sure how often you go on to YouTube.com
But LOTS of video instruction on there (for even beginners) on how to do basic setups on your bass. There is also a suggested guide for Wals on the measurements of the stuff you will be watching how to do on the vids.
I will see if I can dig up the Wal info....But imagine Jose will beat me to it. Lol
Paul H@electricwood said:
The setting up of basses can be very different from player to player but we
do have some starting points/guidelines that may help you:
Neck relief - measured by fretting at both the 1st and 21st frets to create
a straight edge with the string - you may want to use a capo to hold the 1st
fret down to help you with this. Relief can now be checked by looking at
the gap between the top of the 8th fret and the bottom of the string on both
the E and G strings - anywhere from 0.3mm(business card thickness) to
0.8mm(credit card thickness) approx is acceptable depending on your
preference.
Nut height - this will be affected by the neck relief but should ideally be
as low as possible without buzzing when playing the open string. Compare the
string height over the 1st fret when played open with the height above the
2nd fret when fretting the 1st fret. It should be just very slightly higher.
If the nut is too high, it will not only feel harder to play but also not
play in tune. If too low it will rattle when playing open strings.
String height(action) - if both the above are set, the final action can now
be set. This is measured from the top of the 12th fret to the bottom of the
E and G strings. An low to medium action would measure 2mm-2.6mm on the E
string and 1.6mm-2.1mm on the G string approx. The action should taper from
E to G so as the strings get lighter to action becomes slightly lower.
Pickup heights - individual pole pieces for the E and G strings should be
set just proud of the pickup cover. The A and D string pole pieces slightly
higher to follow the camber of the strings you have set. The overall pickup
heights are measured whilst holding down(fretting) the E and G strings at
the 21fret. The distance between the top of the pickup pole piece and the
bottom of the string should be 6mm on the E string and 5.5mm on the G string
approx.
Raising the pole piece height will not only increase the volume of that
particular string but also give a more compressed darker sound - lowering
gives a brighter more open sound with less volume.
All the adjustments above affect each other plus fret condition and of
course playing style need to be taken into account so some experimentation
may be needed. Hope the info helps and let me know how you get on.
