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My Crap Bass

wishface

By wishface,
in Bass Guitars

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clauster Proficient

clauster

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[quote name='wishface' timestamp='1346859509' post='1794137']
I'm sure I could learn to adjust the truss, but that's heavy duty work. I'd have to take the neck off and, assuming that specialist tools aren't required, monkey around! Bit of a risk. I'd rather have this bass than no bass. :D
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No need to take the neck off - just unscrew the cover plate on the headstock at the end of the fretboard. No specialist tools. just a reasonably long allen key of the right size. Clockwise for less bow, anti-c/wise for more. Don't do much more than 1/8 turn at a time and put a bit of pressure behind the headstock (just a bit) to take some of the strain off the rod before adjusting. Let it settle for a few hours and repeat again (and again) if necessary.

wishface Collaborator

wishface

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[quote name='clauster' timestamp='1346860109' post='1794145']
No need to take the neck off - just unscrew the cover plate on the headstock at the end of the fretboard.  No specialist tools. just a reasonably long allen key of the right size.  Clockwise for less bow, anti-c/wise for more.  Don't do much more than 1/8 turn at a time and put a bit of pressure behind the headstock (just a bit) to take some of the strain off the rod before adjusting.  Let it settle for a few hours and repeat again (and again) if necessary.
[/quote]

ok, so it's a right handed bass that means pulling the screw towards me would be anti clockwise and would increase the bow. What does that do? What am i trying to do here?

lowdowner Community Regular

lowdowner

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[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1346865273' post='1794236']
Who else wished they had this bass, a tuner, a box of tools and a set of new strings in front of them right now? :)
[/quote]

yes, absolutely, it's *screaming* for a bit of fettling :)

wishface Collaborator

wishface

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So if the neck is bowed, is the act of straightening to either lower the sides down or raise the middle of that bow up. If it's the latter, i don't see that helping.

nottswarwick Proficient

nottswarwick

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[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1346865273' post='1794236']
Who else wished they had this bass, a tuner, a box of tools and a set of new strings in front of them right now? :)
[/quote]

This

wishface Collaborator

wishface

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[quote name='Evil Undead' timestamp='1346875465' post='1794436']
If you're anywhere near Gloucester I'd be happy to set your bass up for you.

Being ridiculously fussy has turned me into a pretty decent tech if I say so myself :)
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sorry but unlike dr foster that's nowhere near me. thanks anyway.tbh i think i have the intonation as good as its going to get (without fiddling endlessly). I'm not sure i want to fiddle with the truss rod just yet certainly not now that the intonation is pretty decent. The A and the D are solid, while the e and the g are just a fraction of a couple of cents out, but frankly you wouldn't hear it. i'v lowered the action on the E as far as I reasonably can. Maybe tweaking the truss would sort that, but I don't know. In fact i'd say it's lower than the guy on that video recommends (can't be sure as i don't have those measuring tools, and the action height he recommends seems quite high by comparison).Thanks for the help.

Edited by wishface
Sté Rookie

Sté

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[quote name='Ghost_Bass' timestamp='1346854361' post='1794070']
Read this carefully a couple of times:

[url="http://www.jerzydrozdbasses.com/akcndfr54jdhrei567/Ultimate_Guide_ver100.pdf"]http://www.jerzydroz...uide_ver100.pdf[/url]

You're doing something wrong, the saddle has to move back and forward (closer tothe bridge or the neck) even if it needs to be pushed in place with the screwdriver.
[/quote]

if you didn't yet, try this jerzydrozd thing step by step. Since i did that, no problem to set up my basses.

Edited by Sté
wishface Collaborator

wishface

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screw it. I've had a bit of a tweak. Not sure there's a huge world of difference. It's eased it a bit. I think it's as good as this bass is ever going to get. It's not a world class instrument nor was it ever going to be. But at least it's not in a thousand pieces. The tuning is as intoned as I can get it. A few cents won't make a world of difference, and it's not as if i'm about to step onto wembley arena (thank god, i hate crowds and the sound there is toilet).</p>

Edited by wishface
Sté Rookie

Sté

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Posted (edited)

it's the way to check the good truss set up: fret the first and the last fret, then check the space between strings and frets between the nine and twelve ones. If someone can help you to measure the space when you fret the first and the last with your both hands, no need to capo. :)
That said, if your truss is too stiff, perhaps a better idea to see a professional.

Edited by Sté
GregBass Enthusiast

GregBass

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To measure the neck relief you need to fret the string in two places (first fret then either where the neck joins the body or at the top fret, depending on whose instructions you are following) and measure the clearance at a fret between. This needs three hands - so the capo takes the place of one hand.

GregBass Enthusiast

GregBass

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Oh, and you should adjust the truss rod in small increments - maybe a quarter of a turn, then leave things to settle for a while before measuring the clearance. Don't be tempted to keep turning and turning.

Edited by GregBass
wishface Collaborator

wishface

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[quote name='Ghost_Bass' timestamp='1346854361' post='1794070']
Read this carefully a couple of times:

[url="http://www.jerzydrozdbasses.com/akcndfr54jdhrei567/Ultimate_Guide_ver100.pdf"]http://www.jerzydroz...uide_ver100.pdf[/url]

You're doing something wrong, the saddle has to move back and forward (closer tothe bridge or the neck) even if it needs to be pushed in place with the screwdriver.
[/quote]

That's what I did, only the saddle doesn't move you have to turn the screw them nanpipulate the saddle directly.

wishface Collaborator

wishface

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It's not about giving up. The instrument is intoned pretty well to be honest. What remains is the weird nature of the E string compared to the rest of the strings. IT has always felt a bit odd; flappy too, in a way the other strings aren't. I'd like the pickup to sit a couple of mm lower but I don't know how you'd do that or whether you can.

Sté Rookie

Sté

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Posted

If screws doesn"t work or become hard to turn, that could be the foam under the pickup (if there is foam); just low the thickness.

LukeFRC Grand Master

LukeFRC

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[quote name='wishface' timestamp='1346930789' post='1794901']
It's not about giving up. The instrument is intoned pretty well to be honest. What remains is the weird nature of the E string compared to the rest of the strings. IT has always felt a bit odd; flappy too, in a way the other strings aren't. I'd like the pickup to sit a couple of mm lower but I don't know how you'd do that or whether you can.
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The way I see it you have a number of options....
1) pay someone to set this up properly...
2) learn to do it yourself properly... this will entail doing things in the right order, reading a lot to understand what you're doing and why and taking your time. For example an instrument is either intonated correctly or it's not, "Pretty well" suggests it's not.
Truss rod, possible shim, action, intonation is the order I do things in normally. The way the strings are wound on to the tuners can sometimes affect why they may feel "flappy"- you should read enough to learn what "break angle" is and means.
3) sell the bass as is and get something else. trade it on here even.

wishface Collaborator

wishface

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[quote name='Sté' timestamp='1346931521' post='1794915']
If screws doesn"t work or become hard to turn, that could be the foam under the pickup (if there is foam); just low the thickness.
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it's as low as it's going to get. I'd have to completely unscrew it which means taking the strings off entirely. I can live with it as is.I don't mind tinkering. I just don't want to f@~* things up. But there of course going to be limits. It's not being defeatist to say this; it's a cheap bass that's the fact of the matter. This isn't some £1000 quality instrument!

thebrig Veteran

thebrig

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Posted (edited)

To me, you do appear to be defeatist, most of us on here probably started off with basses far worse than a 'budget' Spector that cost about £300.

I've had basses that I picked up for less than £50 which were virtually unplayable, but I did some research and found out how to service my basses, and made them all perfectly playable.
I'm no expert by any means, and even now I still google or go on youtube to find out how to do things, and for many years I steered clear of adjusting the truss rod, but once I plucked up the courage, I've never looked back.

You are getting some really sound advice on here, why not just give it a go yourself, and experience the pleasure you get, when you have done a good job of setting up your own bass.

If I can do it, then so can you!

Just give it a go.

Edited by thebrig
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