who here sets up there own basses?

[stflbn]

Definitely. I couldn't imagine paying someone else to setup my basses. Once you know there's so very little to it.

Got a new used bass delivered yesterday. FIrst thing I did when i got home was check the relief (needs less), so went to adjust the truss rod... uhoh... it was almost maxed and can't let me flatten the neck out more.

So... a few tiny washers were in store for it. That got it flattened enough to suit me.

Then took the neck off and did a quick fret leveling on it (The frets on it were a MESS and definitely needed it bad).

Put some orange stuff I use on my neck woods from Home Depot on the neck and let it sit for 20 mins. Wiped it off... Strung it back up... Adjusted the bridge now that the neck was more to how I like it...

Done... now I have a very cool Tele style J/J config 5-stringer that plays excellent for around $275 including a new hard case.

Only took me about 2 hours total, and that's while a guy was installing a new security system in my house, so there were interruptions.

 

[Ric5]

I build my own basses, adjust my own basses customize basses, build my own speaker cabinets, etc ...

I am a big "do it yourself" type of guy.

 

[cosmic53]

i take care of the truss rod, the bridge saddles and everything else myself for the same reason why I was supposed to be able to dismantle and reassemble my gun blindflolded when I was in the service: it must work well.
I also have sanded frets, filed nuts and inspected electronics.

 

[Delta_Petra]

I do most of the set up myself except for the electronics.

 

[sublime0bass]

what are some good tools to have to set up properly? are the stew-mac relief gauges and straight edges neccessary?

im interested in doing home set up, but not sure if its a good idea my first time. maybe i should have a luthier set it up, and then adjust from there?

 

[Mushroo]

When I was a kid just starting out, one day my teacher showed up with his took kit and said "today we're going to take your bass apart, then put it back together again."

It was one of the best lessons I ever had!

 

[gre107]

I always do my own set ups.
Who else, other than myself, would know what the perfect set up for me is?

Peace!

 

[fourstringdrums]

I personally do everything myself unless the intonation is way out then I take it to a professional. I have no problem changing strings, adjusting bridge saddle height, truss rod adjustments, etc. though.

Just curious, if you know how to adjust your truss rod, why don't you tackle intonation adjustments yourself? If you have a screw driver and a tuner, it's a piece of cake, especially compared to a truss rod adjustment seeing as there is no risk of damaging your bass if you don't know what you're doing.

I do everything except fret leveling and electronics. Two things that I'd like to learn to do on my own some day.

 

[mjolnir]

I do everything except fretwork. I have a friend who can do all that, and he does it for free as long as I do any electronics work that may come up for him.

 

[GianGian]

Like most people, I do everything except fret works, because I am don't have a professional that I trust. I really want to learn how to do it.

 

[dvh]

I've never feared doing it myself and the few times I had a tech do it I quickly learned he didn't do anything I couldn't do so why bother paying for it? I'm talking basic setups here.

Also agree it should be part of your bass/love/tool/continuum.

 

[Mushroo]

Just curious, if you know how to adjust your truss rod, why don't you tackle intonation adjustments yourself? If you have a screw driver and a tuner, it's a piece of cake, especially compared to a truss rod adjustment seeing as there is no risk of damaging your bass if you don't know what you're doing.

+1 it's really easy.

Tune all the strings on the bass.
Play the 12th fret harmonic and make sure it's in tune.
Play the fretted 12th fret note and check it on the tuner.
If it's sharp, tighten the screw (making the string longer).
If it's flat, loosen the screw (making the string shorter).
Retune the string and check it again, adjusting until it is just right.
Repeat for all the strings.

I also check the harmonic at the 19th fret against the fretted 19th fret. I find this can give a little extra "fine tuning" intonation wise.

 

[BillyRay]

I do everything myself for the very simple reason that there's not many people I would trust around here to adjust my bass and those who would be good are way too pricey.

I remember buying my Lakland and having the tech at the shop say to me: "You know what you're doing ? I did this set-up myself, it's ready to go. Anyway turn this no more than 1/4 a turn and bring it to us if it's not enough" To wich I pointed out that the bass wasn't intonated properly and that the bridge saddles were all crooked. Plus that he would probably adjust the truss rod more if 1/4 a turn didn't suffice, something I'm able to do myself...

Hack. Give me the damn tool and let me do it myself without patronizing me will ya ? It was almost embarassing...

PS: I now charge 30$ for each repair my bandmates ask me to perform on their axes. I mean basic setup and intonation here They are all very happy since the shop charge more and I'm very happy because I can make their guitar sound good, play good and pocket easy money. It ain't rocket science if you take your time. I've always tuned my own skis and rapaired my motorcyle: it's easy unless you think it isn't.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

I'm getting much better at it, and it has made a world of difference in terms of getting the most out of my basses. i encourage any to learn about setups.

 

[deaf pea]

Carlos Carbajal, the luthier who has made the basses I use on stage, does repair work on them to keep them in top condition (including fret filing as needed), but when I'm on tour, I'm the ONLY guy available to do "touch-ups" (like when we're in Texas one day and Minneapolis the next) . . . weather changes and altitude seem to affect the action on my basses . . . I understand that there aren't any of these problems when using Moses-type composite necks, but I like the sound that I get with the Carvin BN-5 necks that I use (maple neck/ebony fingerboard with graphite reinforcement).


I DO have the skills to do a complete set-up (except fret leveling/shaping), but I usually only need to adjust the neck relief.

 

[dbcandle]

I do! As a teenager (in the 70s...), I did strip a truss-rod nut once, so I would suggest reading posts on how NOT to "torque-down" on that truss-rod. I later learned that replacing the truss-nut (old bullet style) would have cost about $5 if I did it myself...

Personally, I now loosen the strings before I adjust the truss-rod. It's a pain with all that re-tuning, but "best practice" if I understand correctly.

Assuming you don't plan on taking a file to your frets...
...about the only thing you could do "wrong" would be to overtighten the truss-rod. Read-up on that ("adjusting relief"), and everything else is "safe".

With some basses where the necks react strongly to humidity changes (one-piece unreinforced MIM Fender Jazz comes to mind), adjusting your own relief is virtually REQUIRED, unless you can live with keeping your strings very (too) high off the fretboard.

 

[Bardley]

I do most of the work on my basses myself. (i.e. truss rod adjustments, bridge adjustments, pickup height, electronics, etc.) The only things I don't do are fret work (yet), drastic wood working, and cutting a new nut. (though I would like to get the tools and give it a go)

 

[BillyRay]

I do! As a teenager (in the 70s...), I did strip a truss-rod nut once, so I would suggest reading posts on how NOT to "torque-down" on that truss-rod. I later learned that replacing the truss-nut (old bullet style) would have cost about $5 if I did it myself...

Personally, I now loosen the strings before I adjust the truss-rod. It's a pain with all that re-tuning, but "best practice" if I understand correctly.

Assuming you don't plan on taking a file to your frets...
...about the only thing you could do "wrong" would be to overtighten the truss-rod. Read-up on that ("adjusting relief"), and everything else is "safe".

With some basses where the necks react strongly to humidity changes (one-piece unreinforced MIM Fender Jazz comes to mind), adjusting your own relief is virtually REQUIRED, unless you can live with keeping your strings very (too) high off the fretboard.

Stripping the russ-rod you only do once, if youe ver do it But it's never happened to me since anytime I hear squeeling or feel resistance, I'll usually try another method of making the bass playable before returning to the truss-rod (putting lighter gauge strings if bow is too severe, for example). You have to know the limits of your instrument, especially if you play cheap stuff like I did for many years.

Adding washers is also an option if you don't have any "action" left in the rod.

 

[Brent's Groove]

I do my own setup.
At this point, I'm almost used to playing a bass with the action as high as 6 inches off the fretboard.

 

[EddieN]

what are some good tools to have to set up properly? are the stew-mac relief gauges and straight edges neccessary?

im interested in doing home set up, but not sure if its a good idea my first time. maybe i should have a luthier set it up, and then adjust from there?

Most frequently used tools & what I paid:

Allen wrenches - $1 for a set
Screwdriver - $1
Set of feeler gauges from an auto parts store - $4 or $5
Capo - $15 or so (but it's a good one that I use on a g#%tar for actual playing, cheaper ones oughta do well enough)