Setting up your bass

[Left Foot]

Theres a lot of talk about basses being playable after a good set up, well, what is that and how should you go about it?

[Muppet]

It generally refers to optimising the playability (i.e.how good does the guitar feel to you to play) by making small adjustments to the neck relief, string height, pickup height, string spacing, amongst others. manufacturers often publish default specs but there's no real definite measurements - it can vary by person.

YouTube does have some good videos on how to do these things - just search on 'setup' and whatever bass you have. You don't need a huge amount of special tools and it's hard to do any real damage.

it's all actually very simple to do yourself and you get to know what minor tweaks to do to suit your own playing style. If you're nervous about doing this, your local guitar shop should be able to advise you on someone local who can help.

[Naetharu]

There is a really nice video guide done by Adrian Maruszczyk here:

Part One: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qrTNzFjXMHE

Part Two: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8Dqy6SIeKAY

[Lozz196]

I found that by getting my bass set up properly by a good luthier I was able to practice on my backup bass, with the good set-up as a guide. I`ll never be anywhere near as good as a professional as I don`t have all the right tools, but I can get a bass set pretty much how I like it now. Always good to have a point of reference though - I just literally copied it by eye, and it worked. Now having those pointers I know how much relief I like in the neck, from there I find it fairly easy. Like I said though, compared to how the luthier gets it, well I`m strictly an amateur.

[JTUK]

I always re-adjust a set-up anyway.
You set iot up to suit you...and no one knows that better than you do.
All you have to do is learn what to adjust.

For me, it is string spacing, string height and choke..and be familiar with
truss-rod work. Depending on the neck..I find I might have to review this thru the seasons
like spring and autumn. My basses might choke if I play in a very laid back position...i,e not
sitiing/standing upright.

[lowhand_mike]

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1442494842' post='2867345']
I always re-adjust a set-up anyway.
You set iot up to suit you...and no one knows that better than you do.
All you have to do is learn what to adjust.

For me, it is string spacing, string height and choke..and be familiar with
truss-rod work. Depending on the neck..I find I might have to review this thru the seasons
like spring and autumn. My basses might choke if I play in a very laid back position...i,e not
sitiing/standing upright.
[/quote]
'scuse my ignorance but whats choke?

[HowieBass]

[quote name='lowhand_mike' timestamp='1442495829' post='2867354']
'scuse my ignorance but whats choke?
[/quote]

Not quite full on fret buzz but some loss of vibration from a string due to unwanted contact with frets.

[lowhand_mike]

thanks muchly

[Thunderpaws]

I get a bit of choke at the moment and I like low action. If I want to get rid of this choke phonenon a little tweak of the truss rod could sort it out, but so too could raising string height at the bridge. What is the most appropriate one to go for?

[JTUK]

It depends where it is choking..
If I do have to play with the neck...which I might want to do if the bass is new to me, then
you have to allow settling down time..and I leave a tweak for 24 hrs before I consider it successful or not.

But as for deciding a tweak or raising the action, I'd advise attending to the saddles...and see if that worked for you..
If it did, you've saved yourself a lot of work, possibly. If it doesn't you are going to have to work on the relief and truss rod.

If you do this... don't go mad with the amount you do. no more than half a turn in a session in my thinking. Let it settle and see where you are over night.

[cytania]

It's good to be able to setup your bass yourself. The time to get a professional in is when you find yourself lost and retreading the same tweaks that didn't really do it last time. Sometimes you need someone else's dispassionate expertise.