How to setup your bass

[cherns]

Ok, I know some of you would rather be thrown into a pit of hungry crocodiles before you even think about adjusting that truss-rod on your bass... but let me assure you, it's not all that difficult or complicated. Just repeat this golden rule after me; righty tighty, lefty loosey. Got it?

Now for some reading
1. Step-by-step setup process by Gary Willis
2. StewMac shares setup secrets
3. General maintanence and setup tips from Fender
4. Roger Sadowsky speaks on setups

Those articles cover the topic adequately. The rest is up to you to pick up your bass[es] and try. You can only get better with experience.

For the lazy ones who aren't going to read through the links, here's my quick and dirty take on doing setups.

Equipment needed
Allen Key (one to adjust your trussrod and one to adjust your saddles)
Screwdriver (to adjust pickup height)
One pair of hands

Scenario A: Your strings are too far from the fretboard (i.e. strings difficult to press).

Method
1. Press the string down at the 1st and 20th fret
2. Look at the space below the string - the space between the bottom of the string and the fret should be about the thickness of a 20 cent coin
3. If the string is too far away, facing the trussrod access, turn righty tighty with your allen key. Adjust this incrementally with 1/8 turns until you get the desired action you want (hey, I didn't say it wasn't going to be tedious).

Scenario B: Your strings are too close to the fretboard (i.e. strings buzz at certain frets)

B1. If the buzzing is occuring at the lower frets only, you need to loosen your trussrod. Facing the trussrod access, turn lefty loosey. Again, adjust this incrementally with 1/8 turns until you get the desired action you want.

B2. If the buzzing is occuring at the higher frets only, you need to raise the bridge saddles.

B3. If the buzzing is throughout the neck, don't worry. Just raise your bridge saddles.

B4. If there's buzzing at a particular fret after you've done everything you could, it just means you have a high/low fret. Remedy: go look for a guitar tech to help you level your frets.

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Ok, that should be enough info to get you started.

If at the end of the day you still need someone to setup your bass for you... here's a thread just on that topic - The best place to get your bass setup

 

[subversion]

he he... i mess with my truss rod all the time, especially for bass.

 

[kerplunk182]

I gave up halfway... Too tedious. Actually too lazy. Hehehe.

 

[atiao]

Woah Cherns really nice of you to write a guide!

I thought you were kidding when you said you'll write one in the other thread. This could be helpful in the future. Thanks!

 

[subversion]

on matters pertaining to sighting; sometimes after turning our truss rods incrementally, we can't see for sure whether the relief had been rectfied. this is the reaosn why i hook up a tuner just to make sure. so if you turn your truss rod clock-wise in an attempt to cure a bowed neck, after a few minutes, if you pick any string, it'd go sharp which is a sure indication of neck striaghtening

 

[e4t3n]

haha thats a very summarised guide for setups, but great nonetheless. cheers man

 

[e4t3n]

so if you turn your truss rod clock-wise in an attempt to cure a bowed neck, after a few minutes, if you pick any string, it'd go sharp which is a sure indication of neck striaghtening

do you guys loosen your strings before you do truss rod tightening? wouldn't unloosened strings create additional pressure when you tighten the truss rod which i think its bad for it?

 

[subversion]

truss rod adjustments works better with the tuned strings tension in tact. the truss rod need to be working with such a tension.

 

[cherns]

It's best to do it with the strings tensioned as Subversion has mentioned, but this isn't always possible... e.g. on 5 string basses. What I do is to loosen the middle A string only so that I have access to the trussrod. It's a little more tedious, but what to do?

 

[e4t3n]

haha alright. thanks pple!

 

[shinobi]

no effort should go unrewarded! this should be sticky-ed!

 

[liqnitro]

Lots of trial and error before you actually gets to the point where you can setup your bass to your own requirement. Its a tedious yet fun process. Its part of the learning process. Setting up your own bass helps you understand your bass more, it might even help in improving your bass playing.

Nonetheless, like what shinobi said this should be sticky-ed. :twisted:

 

[anonpersona]

Method
1. Press the string down at the 1st and 20th fret
2. Look at the space below the string - the space between the bottom of the string and the fret should be about the thickness of a 20 cent coin
3. If the string is too far away, facing the trussrod access, turn righty tighty with your allen key. Adjust this incrementally with 1/8 turns until you get the desired action you want (hey, I didn't say it wasn't going to be tedious).

Thanks Cherns for your efforts in posting this.

The space between the bottom of the string and the 7th/8th fret of my bass is actually smaller than the thickness of the 20cent coin or a credit card but there were no buzzes on open strings. So do I still need to adjust the trussrod to widen the space?

 

[cherns]

If there's no buzzing, then you should have nice low action to play with No need for any more adjustment if it feels comfortable to you.

 

[anonpersona]

I hope so but I do get occasional buzzes when I fret randomly anywhere and I have to press a bit more to get rid of the buzz. I normally fret at the area just below the fret. Don't know if its due to insufficient fretting pressure or something wrong somewhere.

 

[lexxmexx]

saddle height

Hey bro, what about the saddle height adjustments? How to measure to get the optimum height.

 

[lordie]

i think the issue if u play a downtune D. it always crew up with the action when i start to tude it back to E and vice versa. damn i need 2 basses.

 

[garyreal]

Buzz on fretted string.

B4. If there's buzzing at a particular fret after you've done everything you could, it just means you have a high/low fret. Remedy: go look for a guitar tech to help you level your frets.
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Recently did some set-up on my bass to improve sound quality... then i get this buzz whenever i fret on the 12th string on strings D and G..., i found out that the 13th fret is the culprit, so i lightly hammered it with a rubber mallet... it took care of the sound and now i am playing low strings on my bass.

 

[lordie]

i would suggest every bassist at least attempt to fix and play around with set-up its an amazing cos u get intimate with the bass and u learn a few tricks for some serious set-up a lutheir or guitar tech is the best choice, as it need specialized skills and knowledge, for just the basic set-up muck around with the trus rods, bridges, saddles, etc..

 

[shinobi]

you can have a perfectly straight neck with no dead notes, and perfect nut action, but i feel bridge action is something that is subjective. no point having super low action if you pluck the strings hard like a mofo