AinsleyWalker Posted December 10, 2015 Posted December 10, 2015 My bass is currently in a certain guitar shop in Stevenage.. On the phone I was told it would take 1 week to get it set-up, it's now been 2 and I'm getting a bit lost without it in my life. I called at the weekend expressing that it's not a big job and that I'm hoping it won't be much longer, but it has. I'm considering just taking it elsewhere if I don't hear from them today... Anyone have any suggestions of good places to take it? Preferably outside of London for convenience but any suggestions welcome. Quote
neepheid Posted December 10, 2015 Posted December 10, 2015 I'd say learn to do it yourself - you know what you like your bass to feel like better than anyone else and there are heaps of guides out there. Save time and money, get satisfaction from being all self-sufficient. A fortnight for a setup - ridiculous. Quote
AinsleyWalker Posted December 10, 2015 Author Posted December 10, 2015 (edited) [quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1449742243' post='2926359'] I'd say learn to do it yourself - you know what you like your bass to feel like better than anyone else and there are heaps of guides out there. Save time and money, get satisfaction from being all self-sufficient. A fortnight for a setup - ridiculous. [/quote] Others have said this to me but a lot of guides give very varied advice. I'd assume all you need to adjust the neck and bridge would be an allen key and a screwdriver but most guides I've looked at say you need a load of tools.. I've also been warned that doing it wrong and messing up the truss rod can cost £££ to fix... Any truth to this? Edited December 10, 2015 by AinsleyWalker Quote
Rumple Posted December 10, 2015 Posted December 10, 2015 Have you tried [url="http://www.coda-music.com/servicing?oscsid=ddc243f826767d4263de5fe74b893447"]Coda[/url]? I can't vouch for them as I've not used them, just remember the shop from my days working in Luton. Quote
AinsleyWalker Posted December 10, 2015 Author Posted December 10, 2015 [quote name='Rumple' timestamp='1449743409' post='2926373'] Have you tried [url="http://www.coda-music.com/servicing?oscsid=ddc243f826767d4263de5fe74b893447"]Coda[/url]? I can't vouch for them as I've not used them, just remember the shop from my days working in Luton. [/quote] Coda is the shop that it's in haha! The Luton store closed down, so I was forced to drive to the Stevenage store as it's the closest shop that I know of. Quote
Rumple Posted December 10, 2015 Posted December 10, 2015 Oops I didn't know it had closed down, I used to work almost opposite Coda but I left that job over 5 years ago. There used to be a Luthier in Luton that made high end custom basses http://www.luthierdirectory.co.uk/luthier/rim-custom-basses but I'm not sure if he does set-ups, could be worth giving him a call. Quote
AinsleyWalker Posted December 10, 2015 Author Posted December 10, 2015 [quote name='Rumple' timestamp='1449744244' post='2926382'] Oops I didn't know it had closed down, I used to work almost opposite Coda but I left that job over 5 years ago. There used to be a Luthier in Luton that made high end custom basses [url="http://www.luthierdirectory.co.uk/luthier/rim-custom-basses"]http://www.luthierdi...m-custom-basses[/url] but I'm not sure if he does set-ups, could be worth giving him a call. [/quote] Thanks, I'll give him a shout! Quote
gary mac Posted December 10, 2015 Posted December 10, 2015 Here is a good one in Stevenage http://www.tjcguitars.com/ Quote
Twigman Posted December 10, 2015 Posted December 10, 2015 I live in Dunstable and it's not far to this guy: http://www.raycooperguitars.com/ I've used him and I believe Lozz has too Quote
neepheid Posted December 10, 2015 Posted December 10, 2015 [quote name='AinsleyWalker' timestamp='1449743005' post='2926367'] Others have said this to me but a lot of guides give very varied advice. I'd assume all you need to adjust the neck and bridge would be an allen key and a screwdriver but most guides I've looked at say you need a load of tools.. I've also been warned that doing it wrong and messing up the truss rod can cost £££ to fix... Any truth to this? [/quote] I can only speak for myself. I learned how to do it myself, and I'm pretty sure I read it in a book, not got it from any youtube video. Loads of tools? Well sure if you want to set up many different basses but you have a Stingray, so you're right - you can do it with an allen key and an appropriately sized phillips/pozidriv screwdriver. You should double check (some Stingray expert please chip in here) but what I've read is the saddle height grub screws need a 1/16" allen key. The screwdriver is for adjusting the intonation (moving the bridge saddles back/forward). The truss rod on a Stingray has a wheel with holes in it that you can stick anything in (like the allen key or a suitably sized screwdriver) and turn it with that. So for your bass, 2-3 tools tops. A pair of snips for trimming excess string when restringing is useful if you're restringing as well. Regarding the truss rod - "messing up" is a pretty loose term. If you get it "wrong" (as in set incorrectly) then you will have too much or too little relief in the neck, causing buzzing. So set it correctly. Won't cost you a bean unless you actually break the truss rod and you really have to go some to do that and yes, it would be very expensive - like "might be cheaper to replace the neck entirely" expensive. I've never broken one. If it's giving you resistance, don't keep forcing it. Loosen a little first before tightening. Sometimes if they haven't moved in a while they will be sticky and move suddenly with a potentially alarming snap sound, but don't worry. Quote
AinsleyWalker Posted December 10, 2015 Author Posted December 10, 2015 Thanks for the advice everyone! Sent some enquiries out and will be looking into learning to do it myself for in the future Will ring Coda now.. Fingers crossed it'll ready soon and I won't have to bother taking it elsewhere Quote
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