Basic Setup Toolkit

[anzoid]

I have three basses that all need little tweaks and adustments beyond just tweaking the truss rod or adjusting intonation. On one (or two, or three...) of them I also would like to do some modding...

I'm quite happy doing a very basic setup - truss rod and intonation as mentioned, wiring stuff up when needed, swapping parts that are basically drop-in replacements (Fender bridges, Gotoh machineheads, that kind of thing), but I would like to do more and I'm seeking advice on putting together a basic toolkit (and maybe some tips...) for doing the following:

• Cleaning up sharp fret ends.
• Levelling frets where there's buzzing going on on just a handful of frets.
• Adjusting the nut - nut files??
• Widening holes for larger pots, without destroying the finish...
• Possibly enlargening pickup holes (without destroying the finish)... but that may fall into "Advanced Setups"

I've looked at eBay and other places that sell guitar related tools, but to be honest, I don't have a clue what I need to buy to get under way, and what kind of quality I should be looking at. I'm not about to turn this into a job, once these three basses are done that may even be me done - GAS is at an all time low So, don't want to spend too much on stuff...

So, advice greatly received (including reliable sources for budget tools) - willing to learn but would also like to minimise damage, so if the answer is "pay someone else to do this stuff" then that's OK. None of the basses in question are that precious to me (apart from maybe my Steinberger Spirit XT2).

Edited February 2, 2019 by anzoid

[Islander]

You'll  need:

A fret levelling file (this can also be used to tidy up sharp fret ends), a levelling beam, a fret rocker, a fret crowning file, some sharp good quality drills or a good quality step drill, some emery cloth (various grades for finishing frets), some autosol for the final polish and some nut files.  

Crimson guitars have some excellent tutorials and sell a fairly inexpensive levelling file and beam - you don't need self adhesive emery, use the masking tape and superglue trick.  Watch the tutorials before you buy anything - don't buy cheap crap.

 

[Islander]

You could also pay someone to do it

 

[Norris]

A reamer would be handy for enlarging pot or tuner holes.

It's not easy to change the pickup hole without needing some degree of touch up to the finish - probably a good very sharp chisel would do the cleanest job (with a good eye and steady hand)

[MoonBassAlpha]

You mean a tapered reamer for opening holes out. ^

[Norris]

On 08/02/2019 at 08:05, MoonBassAlpha said:

You mean a tapered reamer for opening holes out. ^

Yes

...specifically referring to "Widening holes for larger pots, without destroying the finish"

Edited February 9, 2019 by Norris