theyellowcar Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 My new Fender arrived yesterday - yay! The action out of the box is pretty high - boo! There also appears to be quite a bit of relief in the neck at 10th fret. To the nub of my question - if you were greeted with this bass would you tackle the truss rod or the bridge adjustment first? My instinct would be to take some of the relief out of the neck (quarter turn?) to 'flatten' things a little, and then look at the bridge if it still felt a little high, but I could be going at it all wrong! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SubsonicSimpleton Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 I always start with getting the neck relief sorted then adjust the height/intonation at the bridge. Just remember to slacken the strings when you tweak the trussrod if you want to avoid risking damage to the threads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowieBass Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 Neck relief first (I check by holding down the E at the 1st and 12th frets and check the gap from the 4th through to the 8th); then check the nut slot heights (fret at the 3rd then check for slight gap at the 1st); then adjust the saddles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrismuzz Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 I'd go for relief first also, about a 1/4 turn on the truss rod.. Then temporarily set the saddles just so that I can have a play. Adjust it every day or two until its just right! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horizontalste Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 This is where a nice bass can become an excellent bass. Buy an engineers ruler and some radius gauge's and measure things. It doesn't take long to do and gives a nice uniform feel across the strings, far better than "eyeballing" in my opinion. Oh and always relief first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grangur Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 ditto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theyellowcar Posted May 28, 2014 Author Share Posted May 28, 2014 Thanks folks! I'm glad I wasn't too far off track with my original thinking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 Nut slot height can also make a big difference to playability from open string to 5th fret. I've filed the nut on my Jazz bass and it makes it a lot easier to play. This video shows how a MIM standard bass leaves the factory with a nut that really needs a good seeing too (not sure about USA standards). http://youtu.be/cI9Y9MsmnEc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirszmarsz Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Ok but what value do you use guys for neck relief ... assuming capo on 1st and 12ve fret ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoo Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 [quote name='mirszmarsz' timestamp='1401387298' post='2463167'] Ok but what value do you use guys for neck relief ... assuming capo on 1st and 12ve fret ? [/quote] I've never seen any benefit in measuring neck relief - I just get it so that it's almost straight, then file the nut so the base of the slot is in line with the tops of the first few frets. Then gradually lower bridge saddles until buzz starts to appear. If it's mostly apparent at the lower frets, then a little more relief is required. If mostly at the higher frets, then try a little less relief. If it's fairly even along the neck then I figure the relief is about right Then I raise the bridge saddles a little again to get rid of the buzz. Not sure if that's the best way to do it, but it seems to work OK for me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 I've got a really good PDF for getting the ultimate bass set up - PM me your email address and I'll fire it over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horizontalste Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 [quote name='mirszmarsz' timestamp='1401387298' post='2463167'] Ok but what value do you use guys for neck relief ... assuming capo on 1st and 12ve fret ? [/quote] .012 feeler gauge under frets 7,8 &9 with the bass fretted at the first and body joint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael J Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Chucking "fender bass setup guide" into a well-known search engine yielded [url=http://www.fender.com/en-GB/support/articles/bass-guitar-setup-guide/]this[/url] as first result. Might as well see what's coming from the horse's mouth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Search YouTube for Lakland bass setup. Their guy gives a fantastic tutorial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowieBass Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 [quote name='Horizontalste' timestamp='1401391959' post='2463254'] .012 feeler gauge under frets 7,8 &9 with the bass fretted at the first and body joint. [/quote] ... and if you don't have a feeler gauge then a business card is usually 12pt thickness (0.012" thick). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 Relief first - it can make a massive difference to the action. I don't measure the gap - as long as there is a just-perceptible gap at the 8th when you are holding down at the 1st and 16th. No gap is no good and big gap is no good. It wants to be just the right side of straight... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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