Setting up a bass - what's different?

[Ancient Mariner]

Hi guys - my first thread here.

I'm about to acquire my first bass in nearly 30 years (had an Avon EB0 copy as a teenager) and I'm pretty sure it'll need setting up, judging by the video demo the current owner made. I'm quite happy working on guitars, doing everything from fret leveling to pickup replacement, and although a bass is superficially the same, I'm sure there's subtle tricks specific to bass for getting it right.

So this is a request for knowledge - what should I do that's different from a guitar. Please share your tips to make a bass play and sound great.

Thanks gents.

[derrenleepoole]

First of all, welcome

I guess there isn't much difference between the two instruments, but I would say that if you're unsure about bass setup, then get a pro to do it. The cost of a setup maybe considerably cheaper than repairing any damage you may do through 'well intended' tinkering

[RayFW]

Check out Jerzy Drozd's setup guide here:
[url="http://www.jerzydrozdbasses.com/akcndfr54jdhrei567/Ultimate_Guide_ver100.pdf"]http://www.jerzydrozdbasses.com/akcndfr54j...uide_ver100.pdf[/url]

There's loads of really useful information in there.

[Grand Wazoo]

First of all play it, try to accertain in your views what's what if there is anything wrong and what it is, action too low / too high, fret buzz? saddle distance intonation? saddle heigth, there's a lot that can be wrong with it and most of it can be tweaked easily by yourself once you read how to do it first. If you can afford £35-£40 average for a luthier to fix it for you then do so but I strongly advise at some point to learn how to maintain your own basses, because when you get to have 6 or 8 of them it can become very expensive to have them all setup by a workshop.

What bass is it anyway?

[The Burpster]

Greetings ancient mariner. Interesting subject and there is a wealth of info and experience on here to help.

I found this a help when I first started [url="http://www.tunemybass.com/"]http://www.tunemybass.com/[/url] but I have moved on a bit since then.

I'm going to move your post to the repairs and tech section as the folks that browse there will answer pretty much anything you care to ask!

[mrcrow]

[quote name='Ancient Mariner' post='694581' date='Dec 27 2009, 10:53 PM']Hi guys - my first thread here.

I'm about to acquire my first bass in nearly 30 years (had an Avon EB0 copy as a teenager) and I'm pretty sure it'll need setting up, judging by the video demo the current owner made. I'm quite happy working on guitars, doing everything from fret leveling to pickup replacement, and although a bass is superficially the same, I'm sure there's subtle tricks specific to bass for getting it right.

So this is a request for knowledge - what should I do that's different from a guitar. Please share your tips to make a bass play and sound great.

Thanks gents.[/quote]

hi and welcome
if you are a player and have done the hard stuff already
then you will see the bass is just a piece of wood..longer ...with strings...longer
which needs bow...slightly more...and set up..i guess slightly more
all than guitar

setting the pups height and intonation are last and you have probably done this many times

the concepts are the same...the parameters vary

[Ancient Mariner]

Thanks guys, both for advice and links. And sorry if I posted in the wrong place.

So there's nothing special to it compared with conventional guitar, allowing for greater string oscillation of course? That's handy.

This afternoon I collected 2 basses: an Encore precision type that I got in trade for a pedal, and gafbass002's Johnny Brooke jazz type. The Johnny Brooke seems fine just like the man said (and is a nice looking instrument too) but the encore needs action, intonation and neck relief (not in that order!) sorting. At this stage I've no idea which style of bass will work best, and since they were available trying both seems a good idea.

I plan to follow the G&L manual for bass set up. [url="http://www.glguitars.com/faq/GLmanual.pdf"]http://www.glguitars.com/faq/GLmanual.pdf[/url]

Now for the fun of trying to wean myself off using a pick. At least bass fingerstyle is nothing like conventional guitar, so I can start from scratch instead of trying to adapt existing techniques with all the bad habits that brings.

Edited December 28, 2009 by Ancient Mariner