Why be your own tech?

[Rayman]

You might think, that if there’s adjustments to be made to your bass (and let’s face it, there usually is), or there’s an issue that needs fixing, you need to find someone to do the work for you. That means time, money, trust, and that also means you’re letting someone else understand your instrument.

 

I’d strongly urge you to try doing your own work. It’s incredibly satisfying and fulfilling, and there’s absolutely no better way to understand and bond with your bass. It’s taken lots of hours, mistakes and triumphs, but I pretty much know how all of my basses tick. I know what’s going on ‘under the hood’ so to speak, and I understand the little faults and foibles that each bass has. Almost like learning the personality of your bass, because they all have one. 
 

There’s nothing to fear as long as you take your time, watch lots of YouTube videos, and just enjoy the process. Truss rods are a piece of pi$$, changing a pot is also very straightforward, nothing to fear at all.

 

Make servicing your bass part of the experience of playing it. It’s a brilliant feeling to know that you can make your own bass awesome and solve your own problems without having to pay someone else to do it.

[Oopsdabassist]

Yup...half the fun of owning my basses is pulling em apart to see how they work!  Or buying some old beater and tarting it up to my own particular ideas.

[itu]

I don't have tools to file frets, or change them, but I know someone who has the tools, and the ability. Otherwise most of the tech of a bass is pretty simple.

[Beedster]

1 hour ago, Rayman said:

You might think, that if there’s adjustments to be made to your bass (and let’s face it, there usually is), or there’s an issue that needs fixing, you need to find someone to do the work for you. That means time, money, trust, and that also means you’re letting someone else understand your instrument.

 

I’d strongly urge you to try doing your own work. It’s incredibly satisfying and fulfilling, and there’s absolutely no better way to understand and bond with your bass. It’s taken lots of hours, mistakes and triumphs, but I pretty much know how all of my basses tick. I know what’s going on ‘under the hood’ so to speak, and I understand the little faults and foibles that each bass has. Almost like learning the personality of your bass, because they all have one. 
 

There’s nothing to fear as long as you take your time, watch lots of YouTube videos, and just enjoy the process. Truss rods are a piece of pi$$, changing a pot is also very straightforward, nothing to fear at all.

 

Make servicing your bass part of the experience of playing it. It’s a brilliant feeling to know that you can make your own bass awesome and solve your own problems without having to pay someone else to do it.

100% this ^
 

I’d go so far as to say that with the possible exception of a refret I’d not let a tech near any of my basses. Every time a tech has ‘setup’ a bass for me I’ve had to reset it, the worse example being the guy who installed a new nut on a fretless with explicit instructions to replicate the exact depths of each slot of the nut that had broken, but who set it up to be almost unplayable below the third position the slots were so far off the board. ‘That’s how most people have it’ said he in his jaunty workmanlike tone…..

[ossyrocks]

Yup. I do all my own work, setup, maintenance, pickups, wiring etc. Being confident at it means you can tweak things when they need doing, and basses are made of wood, and they do move and change.

 

I've swapped some strings tonight and tweaked the truss rod accordingly to account for the change in tension. 

 

I would also draw the line at a refret too. There are artists, like John Shuker for instance, who I would much rather let them refret my instrument than have a go myself.

 

Rob

[chris_b]

I did everything on my bass, changed pickups, bridges, setups etc etc. I was much younger.

 

These days I just want to play them, and I can afford to pay someone else to roll their sleeves up.

[Jackroadkill]

I draw the line at cutting nuts and dressing frets, but other than that I've never had any tech work done at all.  This stems from having an enquiring mind as a youngster and being broke as an adult.  I really enjoy the hands-on approach to my instruments and have always been happy with my own work on them.

[tauzero]

Since assembling my first bass almost 50 years ago from a load of Hayman parts (all, fortuitously, from a 40/40) I've had sufficient confidence to adjust a truss rod, shim a neck, set action, and do intonation. Refretting I've left to an expert, but I'm just about to do my first fret level and hopefully build my first bass from scratch (it'll be a fretless though).

[Rodders]

I do my best, I can manage, truss rod adjustment, action and intonation, changing strings (most of the time) but most other more involved or finer tasks I struggle with, I have large hands with reduced function in one of them, plus having inherited low patience and a short fuse is not ideal. 

 

Take for example, fitting new strings to my Dingwall - with the bridge that doesn't hold the ball end until they're up to tension and recessed machine heads, this meant lots of frustration and swearing/sweating in the moment, with hindsight, gaffa tape over the bridge to hold the ball ends and a electric string winder may well have solved the issue, I'll know for next time..

[BassAgent]

12 hours ago, itu said:

I don't have tools to file frets, or change them, but I know someone who has the tools, and the ability. Otherwise most of the tech of a bass is pretty simple.

Exactly this.

[christhammer666]

the vm squier jazzes i had i put duncans in them and had never done any soldering before. very nervous but got through it and quite enjoyed it 

[knirirr]

Luckily, I was taught soldering at school, so such things as replacing a pickup selector are fine.

Strings, intonation, truss rod etc. are all easy enough as well.

I wouldn't want to do anything involving cutting or filing in case I cock it up, though, so nut and fret adjustments are out, as is any DB work.
Recently, I bought a cheap HB guitar thinking that this might be a good opportunity to practice a bit of fret adjustment without concern but it turned out that all the frets needed was a polish, and with a small turn of the truss rod it had perfect low action.

[neepheid]

100%, this.

[smithy]

Getting older my basses took over the part of my motorbikes. It's not just about driving/playing. It' s about tinkering and waffling about as well.

[BassAdder60]

I’ve done setups on my own guitars and basses for 20yrs  or more after having Martin Booth ( ex Yamaha fame ) set up my PRS and talk me through it !

 

Its very satisfying and a must have skill if you play a stringed instrument.

 

Very rare a bass arrives set up correctly or to your liking. A good setup can make a good bass a great bass and it’s very rewarding to do it for yourself!

Edited September 20 by BassAdder60

[JapanAxe]

I’ve always done my own guitar and bass setups. The key is having the right tools, especially for truss rods. A set of proper nut files isn’t cheap but once you know how to use them it’s a game changer. I had one guitar that needed a fret dress but I entrusted that to a professional.

[Lozz196]

I do regular set ups on my basses but fret dressing, nut-reshaping & installation, and soldering I leave to those with the knowledge & tools. 

[meterman]

I would love to be my own tech, but my bipolar lithium medication causes hand tremors, and so I’d be too scared / clumsy to use a soldering iron, or use nut files, etc. Also I don’t own any tools, other than a few truss rod allen keys.

 

I would love it if I could find a tech anywhere near me, but if there are any they’re very secretive about it! I haven’t found one in four years and none of the local musicians I know have anyone to go to either. 

[diskwave]

Very much enjoy tinkering with my instruments.

 

The whole instrument Tech thing is totally unregulated and in my opinion inhabited by cowboys and chancers. In the past had several jobs done by "techs" and for the money I could have done a better job myself ... it really was shocking, and probably why I happily play el cheapo P basses, they are just so simple to fix or modify.

 

Having said all that proper stringed instrument Luthiers go through a long and rigorous training programme at a number of colleges throughout the UK Europe and are highly skilled artisans.

[Rayman]

I have to add, I’m no expert, and I’ve made many errors along the way, but after straightening a warped neck recently (actually really pretty easy, maybe I got lucky), and having built many of the (passive) control plates on many of my basses from scratch, I can honestly say I love doing it. A full refret is not something I’ve had to do yet, but certainly dressing and polishing them is pretty relaxing exercise with headphones and a decent podcast on.

 

Slow and easy is the key, patience is a virtue when it comes to this stuff. Making it a slow methodical, almost zen type exercise is really fulfilling. Small adjustments, nice and steady. This from someone who normally has absolutely no patience at all 😒.

 

The idea of the OP was as a result of a conversation with a guitarist friend, who paid a tech to do some work for him. He’d literally never touched a truss rod, and wondered why his action sucked.

 

Not everyone is technically minded of course, no shame in that at all, but it’s so gratifying when you can solve some of these issues for yourself without having to rely on a paid professional.

[rushbo]

Maintenance is one of my favourite parts of being a muso...

 

The great thing about passive P and J basses is that they're fairly simple to fettle. The electrics can be daunting at first, but if you go slow and steady and can follow instructions, you should be OK. I've refinished basses, defretted necks, put new frets in, shimmed and straightened necks, replaced pickups and hardware and can do a reasonable set up. It's a lot of fun.

 

Full disclosure: I've never done any active electronics and the vast majority of my instruments tend to be cheap 'n' cheerful bitsas, so there's not a huge amount of potential financial jeopardy involved!

Edited September 20 by rushbo

[tauzero]

5 hours ago, Rodders said:

I do my best, I can manage, truss rod adjustment, action and intonation, changing strings (most of the time) but most other more involved or finer tasks I struggle with, I have large hands with reduced function in one of them, plus having inherited low patience and a short fuse is not ideal. 

 

Take for example, fitting new strings to my Dingwall - with the bridge that doesn't hold the ball end until they're up to tension and recessed machine heads, this meant lots of frustration and swearing/sweating in the moment, with hindsight, gaffa tape over the bridge to hold the ball ends and a electric string winder may well have solved the issue, I'll know for next time..

 

Something someone suggested with my JTV59 guitar with a similar issue is to use a capo to hold the strings in place. Putting it on near the nut works well.

[Bassfinger]

Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull looks after all his own instruments and doesn't use a guitar tech.  When asked why he made a reply to the effect of "whatever next, someone to pass me the soap in the shower?"

 

None of it is difficult to learn or master, pro techs put their trousers on one leg at a time like the rest of us.

[meterman]

11 minutes ago, Bassfinger said:

Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull looks after all his own instruments and doesn't use a guitar tech.  When asked why he made a reply to the effect of "whatever next, someone to pass me the soap in the shower?"

 

None of it is difficult to learn or master, pro techs put their trousers on one leg at a time like the rest of us.

Maybe Ian Anderson’s the fellow to ask if he would fancy a South of France tech holiday? 😂

 

I still think “17” is one of the greatest late 60’s tracks, and it was only a B-side. JT have some really underrated but brilliant tunes 👍 

[Skybone]

One of the best things I learned many years ago, after having been over-charged (IMO) for a set-up on a guitar, where they didn't appear to have done anything other than change the strings.

 

I do like tinkering with stuff, and what's more satisfying than working on your own guitar?