teen t-shirt Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 My bass real badly needs setting up... now would it be adviseable to spend cash on it and take it to a shop and have them do it... or do i wait till tinman might have the time to do it for me (as he said he would if he had the time lol) or do i search the internet for a guide and do it my self... what do my fellow basschatters suggest? any suggestions welcome... (i feel really silly) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimBobTTD Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 Search the internet and do it yourself. It isn't that hard - I'm sure there is plenty of info in the tech forum here. You'll feel better for it, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamble Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 Start with an old cheap bass if you can, but there's not a great deal you can do (or are likely to with a bit of common sense) that's irreversable. Like JimBob has said, find some guidlines then play around and find out what works for you. It's not rocket surgery, it can just be a bit daunting at first and it takes some patience. Adjust and re-adjust as necessary, I've never found that it all falls into place first time. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teen t-shirt Posted August 24, 2008 Author Share Posted August 24, 2008 the only reason i ask is because i have this awful buzzing from all strings bar the D string on the 1st and 2nd frets, but then the E string buzzes practically on the whole neck bar say the 17 fret onwards... now i just need to find my alan keys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamble Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 Have you got a 24" steel rule or some other sort of straight-edge you can use to see how much relief your neck has? You can do it by eye but it can be a bit hit and miss, or hold down a string at 1st fret and your last fret and see how much space there is between string and frets in the middle. If your neck arches back (bowing into the strings so that they touch all the way along) it needs relieving, if it's fairly straight with a little forward curve (bowing away from the strings) then you might just need to raise your action at the bridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teen t-shirt Posted August 24, 2008 Author Share Posted August 24, 2008 cheer for that gamble i'll have a look... i feel silly for having to ask about this stuff i should know really Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teen t-shirt Posted August 24, 2008 Author Share Posted August 24, 2008 all sorted the neck just needs some relieving because the strings were touching the fret board in the middle when i pushed down on the first and last fret... hold on do i depress both at the same time? or one at a time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah5string Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 Anything other than the truss rod is a pretty simple job. Hell.. even I can do it and I'm a woman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teen t-shirt Posted August 24, 2008 Author Share Posted August 24, 2008 yeah but i'm only a bloke... and when it comes to know the technical language i have no idea... the truss rod is located where? see how embarrasing this is... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah5string Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 [quote name='teen t-shirt' post='269052' date='Aug 24 2008, 07:41 PM']the truss rod is located where?[/quote] In your trousers mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teen t-shirt Posted August 24, 2008 Author Share Posted August 24, 2008 now i just thought that was a growth but in all honesty where is the bludey thing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wizbat Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 Pm,d Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveK Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 They're located either under a cover on the head-stock, or the other end where the neck joins the body. A word of warning: If you decide to adjust the truss rod yourself make sure that you only give it the slightest tweak clockwise or c/clockwise before checking. overdoing it could cause serious problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teen t-shirt Posted August 24, 2008 Author Share Posted August 24, 2008 (edited) i owe you all a beer and a white wine or fruit based beverage for the lady... i made slight adjustments to the truss rod literally only tiny millimeter adjustments and retuned afterwards... checked the spacing check for the buzzing and after repeating the process of de-tuning and re-tuning and checking the buzzing has now stopped and the bass sounds better than ever thankyou all... PM'd by the way... Edited August 24, 2008 by teen t-shirt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah5string Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 [quote name='teen t-shirt' post='269097' date='Aug 24 2008, 08:37 PM']i owe you all a beer and a white wine or fruit based beverage for the lady... i made slight adjustments to the truss rod literally only tiny millimeter adjustments and retuned afterwards... checked the spacing check for the buzzing and after repeating the process of de-tuning and re-tuning and checking the buzzing has now stopped and the bass sounds better than ever thankyou all... PM'd by the way...[/quote] Wine aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall the way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teen t-shirt Posted August 24, 2008 Author Share Posted August 24, 2008 thankyou again everyone i tell ya i'd be lost with out this forum... you guys are great... so glad i joined... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7string Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 If you wanted to know a little more I can recommend this book: Guitar Player Repair Guide: How to Set Up, Maintain and Repair Electrics and Acoustics (Paperback) by Dan Erlewine [url="http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/WEBSITE/WWW/WEBPAGES/search.php?key=guitar+player+repair+guide&by=title"]http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/WEBSITE/WW...de&by=title[/url] Also you can get 2 DVDs . Maintenance & Setup Electric Guitars and Basses Volumes 1 & 2 from [url="http://www.stewmac.com"]www.stewmac.com[/url] really great way to learn all about guitar (and bass) setup StewMac (Stewart Macdonald) also sell all manner of guitar tools & spares. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7string Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 Between his books and DVDs I've managed to set up my guitars and basses as well as those of friends and students. I've seen set-ups in a couple of stores priced at £60 and that's excluding strings!! At those kind of unbelievable prices, (and incredibly low standards of customer service) it was cheaper for me to get some books, a few basic tools and do it myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teen t-shirt Posted August 25, 2008 Author Share Posted August 25, 2008 forget the books and DVD's thanks to you guys i now feel confident in setting up my own basses thankyou very much everyone... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah5string Posted August 25, 2008 Share Posted August 25, 2008 After reading this thread I was inspired to check out the necks on mine... only to find that the neck on my dean is bowed out at the top slightly!! Craaaaaaaaaaaaap! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamble Posted August 25, 2008 Share Posted August 25, 2008 [quote name='dlloyd' post='269201' date='Aug 24 2008, 11:25 PM']A better way to judge how much relief to put in a neck is to listen for buzz (after all, that's what you're trying to prevent)... If it's buzzing at the lower frets, there's not enough, if it buzzes at the higher frets, there's too much.[/quote] Interesting, I was unaware of too much relief causing buzz on higher frets. How does that work? Do you mean when you play the higher frets or that the buzzing occurs at the higher frets? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Burpster Posted August 25, 2008 Share Posted August 25, 2008 Where abouts in Lincs are you? if you can make it to my place, I'll take you through a full set up, explain it to you (if you need it) and do any bits that are beyond you.... Cant say better than that can you? Cost? One beer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teen t-shirt Posted August 25, 2008 Author Share Posted August 25, 2008 i live in RAF Digby... and travelling is a bit difficult as i have no mode of transport except for my parents atm and not the most reliable things eh? how ever thanks for the concern i think i have it all sorted the neck sounds better than ever and theres no buzz... tarr very much though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah5string Posted August 25, 2008 Share Posted August 25, 2008 Just to let you know I set up both my basses tonight, a 5er and a 4er.. and it took me 2 hours start to finish. Only way to learn how is to do it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brummie Posted August 25, 2008 Share Posted August 25, 2008 This is a great thread. cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.