That was a great explanation Shane. I had Jim Mouradian in Cambridge Ma. work on all of my instruments for 20 years and they sung like a choir of angels. A proper set up from an amazing tech is priceless.
this is very helpful, but shouldn't you check that 12th fret harmonic with the fretted note? the harmonic will be perfectly an octave higher than whatever the string is tuned to, but the fretted note tells you if you need to move the saddle.
Until now the best presentation regarding a Bass Setup after watching several other videos. Thanks for sharing, really help me a lot to setup my new China Made Fender Squier Jaguar Bass - :-)
He is making a guitar multiple guitar an he plays really well to i dont know how to play im a drummer so i know about harmonics an how different wood makes different sounds
Have you had a bass neck that needed a clamp to put back on ?. I have a hard maple neck with small fender short scale screws and I need a clamp to put it on. The truss rod seems tight in both directions. Had some buzzing on the open A, was annoying but if I press the string behind the nut then the buzzing stops. Am taking it to the most reputable tech in the area Thursday, hopefully he will be able to get me set up with the neck put back on, without too much of a hassle.
You know that round knob string retainer on classic Fenders, if the persistent buzzing problem on my A will not quit, I will install this retainer underneath the post and will hold down my A string. The color is a little off but it looks like it's almost meant to be there. It's titanium I would guess, I think it was a clip from a Benchmade pocket knife, I was able to bend it. I was also able to bend the aluminum handrail track on a public escalator by hand with a mallet and a vice, LOL. I knew I could find a piece in my magic bag of junk, something that could work better than a needle bent in half. Another option is a guitar pick could work as well as the string retainer, a coin is a bit too heavy. Fabricating custom parts is where I shine at. This makeshift string retainer is just as functional as the Fender or Gotoh one, plus it does not damage the headstock if you put it on. Now, if I wanted to relocate the retainer there's a mark in the wood from the old retainer where it's been overtightened. I would sand the bottom edge of those retainers, craftsmanship. I learned working with wood that even hard wood is softer than alloy, a felt washer is perfect here to mate these surfaces with tension underneath a tuner, a bridge gasket, this will protect the instrument from damage. Bridge is going to leave a mark, no matter what tuners are going to leave a mark, but strap locks or string retainer should not damage the wood or headstock so much. That's not needed, to hold a string down we need maybe 5 pounds of tension for this screw. Just a mechanical heads up, for luthiers that bass string tension is nothing compared to cables, you don't have to worry a lot about forces of extreme pressure. There's decent tension on strings, it's nothing insane. 6 screws or 8 for a bridge is mega overkill, I can do pull ups with the 4 screws and I'm not light. Want me to do pullups from a bridge ?. A neck plate will hold me suspended in air. Some of those neck bolts, not screws will support a truck, like 3 ton bolts ?...just use 6 of those. If you over engineer something this much, you just add A LOT of unnecessary weight in screws, fasteners since these weigh more than wood. 4 neck screws is plenty, except my holes are too tight so some genius drilled them again. Lighten up with fasteners and drilling etc, it's a guitar not a battleaxe. Pay attention to finer details is my advice in crafting a guitar, use ultralight hardware and don't worry about strength for tuners or bridges, you want them to stay in tune. Vintage style bridges are plenty strong enough. The rest of the hardware is whatever, just watch the holes that we drill and use the right size screws. I wouldn't mind if necks had threaded inserts, we just back screws in or out, they should stay forever. Neck screws should not be super tight or they bind up.
This is very interesting and I feel clueless because I didn't know anything about what you just did. Don't suppose you have any spare amp parts or know what I need to get. I've got a small Peavey Vypyr 15w modelling amp and it works ok for plugging an aux in but when I plug the guitar in I can hear static but no guitar sound. Every lights up and works but no guitar! I've looked online for the new input board assembly but can't find the right one and someone said it's fairly universal and can put other ones from other amps in but I don't know which ones. I was buzzing when I got that amp and my big 90 w bass amp and guitar. Not bass yet but I thought even I would be able to make cool sounds coming from the sound effects but I can't get it going so just keep putting it to the side for another day. The bass amp switches off after a little while and I think it must be full of dust and smoke tar and overheating so can be fixed by hoovering like most other amps I've had that problem with. It's a carlsbro and looks like it's worth a few Bob. I got both for about £30. Any help would be appreciated cheers 👍👌❤️💛💚
Very informative video. Here are my 3 suggestions for a better setup: 1) It takes longer that 10 minutes to properly set up a bass, regardless of it's current condition. 2) The tension on the tuners should be relieved before tightening them. 3) The pickups should be taped over to prevent any metal shavings or dust from attaching themselves. The magnets will attract the shavings or dust as the guitar is picked up from the workbench.
The entire pocket should be taped over with painters masking tape. This will prevent any metal shavings or dust from attaching themselves to the pickups , such as the sides. The factory tape only covers the topside. @@TheBassteban
Cool video. Just got my first bass 25 years into guitar playing. Its a whole new world, but at least the setup is similar to the guitar. I do like using the notched straight edge to help look at neck relief though.
Musicians Friend!! I miss that magazine. Do they still mail out actual magazines or is it just a website now?? I thought I was the coolest when I was like 12 because I would get that magazine in the mail. Getting mail with your name on it as a kid used to be one of the coolest things!!
Good tips! When I work on my frets, I tape the fretboard with blue painter's tape first, then get out the dremel tool with a buffing wheel and polishing compound. Once that is done I remove the tape and apply Dunlop 65 oil to the fretboard. The frets gleam and the fingerboard comes back to life 🙂
I can see the split coil pickup is angled on this bass - ie. the pickup side closer to the headstock sits deeper than the saddle side, is this normal for this type of pickups? I can see lots of photos with both angled and perfectly even pickups so I am just not sure about this.
As you were adjusting the truss rod to decrease any possible buzzing of the G string with the allen key were you turning c/w or cc/w to bow the neck back (outwardly)?
I always think of the truss rod like any other screw, lefty loosy, righty tighty. If you tighten the truss rod (clockwise) you will introduce bow, loosening will introduce relief. Hope this info helps! Of course there are two way truss rods, in which case you'll have to determine if it's already tight or loose, and in which direction.
i've been setting my intonation all wrong, just as you did. A harmonic at the 12th will not set intonation, you have to play the note at the 12th! I found this out the hard way and had to fix all my basses.
Correct….also, flat = forward !! A lot of misinformation here ! I have never seen anybody measure the relief at the twelfth fret….or use “shadows” to measure
Great video! I was curious because I’ve seen so many different opinions on this but when TIGHTENING the truss rod do you leave the strings at tension? Or do you tighten with the strings loose?
It doesn't matter if the strings are tuned to pitch, or no strings at all when adjusting the truss rod. As long as you re-tune after, you'll be good to go.
Setting the pickup height 1'st according to your method then setting the string action will throw the pickup height off. Pickup height should be the last thing. The first thing should be adjusting the neck relief then check for high frets and then nut height.
Great vid, but for intonation the harmonic will always be in tune with the string; it's just the node at half the string. You have to fret the 12th fret to check intonation, not play the harmonic.
I don't have any broken ones (i fixed them all) but any neck with a scarf joint on the neck (below the volute/nut area) are almost always the breaking point when a guitar falls. To be more specific, it's not the joint itself, but the area directly surrounding the glue joint. A good example is Dimbag Darrel's lightning Dean. I've inspected this guitar personally and saw at least two repairs to this section of his famous guitar.
I’m no pro, but I did notice a few things that seem strange. You were tuning the bass with it laying down. Just about every instruction I have ever seen from anyone says to keep it in plain position. Recommending to people that they eyeball neck relief and nut heights as total beginners seems kind of insane. Everyone should use feeler gauges, amateur or pro, in my opinion.
I usually tune the low string (or the A to 440) first, and then rough tune while it's laying down. However, when setting the intonation, yes it's crucial to do your setup in the playing position. When I say to "eyeball" it, i'm also assuming someone doing a setup on their own instrument is somewhat familiar with how a guitar (or bass) should play, and eyeballing really is all that's necessary to rough in your neck relief and the nut height. If it buzzes, you went too far.
Sorry guys , while there are good points here, there are some points which are not sound e.g. setting the pickup height before adjusting the bridge saddle height; changing saddle heights will change the strings distance from the pick up. Cheers, Ross
Ahh no... if the twelfth harmonic is sharp you need to move the saddle back in the bridge direction. Make the string longer. Who will disagree with me?
That was a great explanation Shane. I had Jim Mouradian in Cambridge Ma. work on all of my instruments for 20 years and they sung like a choir of angels. A proper set up from an amazing tech is priceless.
Dude, your showing all the tricks. Pretty dang thorough instruction from a professional. thanks .
Great vid thanks 👍
I love the pup height idea
That was pretty cool, great video!
Hey!
this is very helpful, but shouldn't you check that 12th fret harmonic with the fretted note? the harmonic will be perfectly an octave higher than whatever the string is tuned to, but the fretted note tells you if you need to move the saddle.
Until now the best presentation regarding a Bass Setup after watching several other videos. Thanks for sharing, really help me a lot to setup my new China Made Fender Squier Jaguar Bass - :-)
Thank you so much! I do some setup work on guitars, and this totally helped me convert and set up a friend's bass!
Rock on!
I have no idea what your doing or talking about..but thoroughly enjoyed this video.
He is making a guitar multiple guitar an he plays really well to i dont know how to play im a drummer so i know about harmonics an how different wood makes different sounds
Ok so most vids on this channel now is little adventures he went to new york city check that vid out pretty cool
Well, I just learned something new. If I ever get into playing one, I'll just buy it from you. Your knowledge is impressive.
Didnt you want to turn the truss rod loose 1st before tightening?
Nice walk thru on a basic setup! Keep up the good work! 👍
Very thorough and simple. Excellent explanations. Thanks, Shane!
Have you had a bass neck that needed a clamp to put back on ?. I have a hard maple neck with small fender short scale screws and I need a clamp to put it on. The truss rod seems tight in both directions. Had some buzzing on the open A, was annoying but if I press the string behind the nut then the buzzing stops. Am taking it to the most reputable tech in the area Thursday, hopefully he will be able to get me set up with the neck put back on, without too much of a hassle.
Very very thorough walk through awesome sir great stuff
You know that round knob string retainer on classic Fenders, if the persistent buzzing problem on my A will not quit, I will install this retainer underneath the post and will hold down my A string. The color is a little off but it looks like it's almost meant to be there. It's titanium I would guess, I think it was a clip from a Benchmade pocket knife, I was able to bend it. I was also able to bend the aluminum handrail track on a public escalator by hand with a mallet and a vice, LOL. I knew I could find a piece in my magic bag of junk, something that could work better than a needle bent in half. Another option is a guitar pick could work as well as the string retainer, a coin is a bit too heavy.
Fabricating custom parts is where I shine at. This makeshift string retainer is just as functional as the Fender or Gotoh one, plus it does not damage the headstock if you put it on. Now, if I wanted to relocate the retainer there's a mark in the wood from the old retainer where it's been overtightened. I would sand the bottom edge of those retainers, craftsmanship. I learned working with wood that even hard wood is softer than alloy, a felt washer is perfect here to mate these surfaces with tension underneath a tuner, a bridge gasket, this will protect the instrument from damage.
Bridge is going to leave a mark, no matter what tuners are going to leave a mark, but strap locks or string retainer should not damage the wood or headstock so much. That's not needed, to hold a string down we need maybe 5 pounds of tension for this screw. Just a mechanical heads up, for luthiers that bass string tension is nothing compared to cables, you don't have to worry a lot about forces of extreme pressure. There's decent tension on strings, it's nothing insane. 6 screws or 8 for a bridge is mega overkill, I can do pull ups with the 4 screws and I'm not light. Want me to do pullups from a bridge ?. A neck plate will hold me suspended in air.
Some of those neck bolts, not screws will support a truck, like 3 ton bolts ?...just use 6 of those. If you over engineer something this much, you just add A LOT of unnecessary weight in screws, fasteners since these weigh more than wood. 4 neck screws is plenty, except my holes are too tight so some genius drilled them again. Lighten up with fasteners and drilling etc, it's a guitar not a battleaxe. Pay attention to finer details is my advice in crafting a guitar, use ultralight hardware and don't worry about strength for tuners or bridges, you want them to stay in tune.
Vintage style bridges are plenty strong enough. The rest of the hardware is whatever, just watch the holes that we drill and use the right size screws.
I wouldn't mind if necks had threaded inserts, we just back screws in or out, they should stay forever. Neck screws should not be super tight or they bind up.
Great video. I was hoping you show how you do the string radius if you use a radial tool or another method.
Thank you!
It's all about that bass! Nice schooling Bro! 💚👍🤘
This is very interesting and I feel clueless because I didn't know anything about what you just did. Don't suppose you have any spare amp parts or know what I need to get. I've got a small Peavey Vypyr 15w modelling amp and it works ok for plugging an aux in but when I plug the guitar in I can hear static but no guitar sound. Every lights up and works but no guitar! I've looked online for the new input board assembly but can't find the right one and someone said it's fairly universal and can put other ones from other amps in but I don't know which ones. I was buzzing when I got that amp and my big 90 w bass amp and guitar. Not bass yet but I thought even I would be able to make cool sounds coming from the sound effects but I can't get it going so just keep putting it to the side for another day. The bass amp switches off after a little while and I think it must be full of dust and smoke tar and overheating so can be fixed by hoovering like most other amps I've had that problem with. It's a carlsbro and looks like it's worth a few Bob. I got both for about £30. Any help would be appreciated cheers 👍👌❤️💛💚
Unfortunately I know just about nothing on amps, i'm just a woodworker
The 12th fret harmonic is always in tune. Tune the harmonic to the 12th fret. If they match the bass plays in tune.
Very informative video. Here are my 3 suggestions for a better setup: 1) It takes longer that 10 minutes to properly set up a bass, regardless of it's current condition. 2) The tension on the tuners should be relieved before tightening them. 3) The pickups should be taped over to prevent any metal shavings or dust from attaching themselves. The magnets will attract the shavings or dust as the guitar is picked up from the workbench.
Good points. As for taping the pickups, you can see in the video that they are factory "taped" but it's good to mentiont it.
The entire pocket should be taped over with painters masking tape. This will prevent any metal shavings or dust from attaching themselves to the pickups , such as the sides. The factory tape only covers the topside. @@TheBassteban
@@knowyourenemy66 you're right, didn't consider the sides, only thought of the poles and top casing.
@@TheBassteban I learned the hard way. 😊
Cool video. Just got my first bass 25 years into guitar playing. Its a whole new world, but at least the setup is similar to the guitar. I do like using the notched straight edge to help look at neck relief though.
If the nut is on the bottom do you turn it the same direction like you did?
Musicians Friend!! I miss that magazine. Do they still mail out actual magazines or is it just a website now?? I thought I was the coolest when I was like 12 because I would get that magazine in the mail. Getting mail with your name on it as a kid used to be one of the coolest things!!
I assume they do, she said she ordered from Musicians Friend
Good tips! When I work on my frets, I tape the fretboard with blue painter's tape first, then get out the dremel tool with a buffing wheel and polishing compound. Once that is done I remove the tape and apply Dunlop 65 oil to the fretboard. The frets gleam and the fingerboard comes back to life 🙂
I can see the split coil pickup is angled on this bass - ie. the pickup side closer to the headstock sits deeper than the saddle side, is this normal for this type of pickups? I can see lots of photos with both angled and perfectly even pickups so I am just not sure about this.
Thanks buddy! I played part of the video for him and he hasn't realized it's his yet. LOL. Good yob!
Glad to see this now I can do my wish dot junk 64$ bass. I did buy another heavier badass like bridge and put on it.
Love it man
Is no-one going to mention the dip in the fretboard under the g string at the 11th fret ?
I was wondering when someone else would notice that too ! 👍🏽
As you were adjusting the truss rod to decrease any possible buzzing of the G string with the allen key were you turning c/w or cc/w to bow the neck back (outwardly)?
I always think of the truss rod like any other screw, lefty loosy, righty tighty. If you tighten the truss rod (clockwise) you will introduce bow, loosening will introduce relief. Hope this info helps! Of course there are two way truss rods, in which case you'll have to determine if it's already tight or loose, and in which direction.
Great info. Question - would you need to check the pickup heights after adjusting the saddle?
Yes..always
Thanks for best video.
Many many thanks
What kind of oil?
Can you tell me what oil you used on the fret board thanks.
Dunlop 02 fingerboard oil
i've been setting my intonation all wrong, just as you did. A harmonic at the 12th will not set intonation, you have to play the note at the 12th!
I found this out the hard way and had to fix all my basses.
Correct….also, flat = forward !! A lot of misinformation here !
I have never seen anybody measure the relief at the twelfth fret….or use “shadows” to measure
I wish you would have showed the tuning process maybe next.
Great video! I was curious because I’ve seen so many different opinions on this but when TIGHTENING the truss rod do you leave the strings at tension? Or do you tighten with the strings loose?
It doesn't matter if the strings are tuned to pitch, or no strings at all when adjusting the truss rod. As long as you re-tune after, you'll be good to go.
Setting the pickup height 1'st according to your method then setting the string action will throw the pickup height off. Pickup height should be the last thing. The first thing should be adjusting the neck relief then check for high frets and then nut height.
Yeah I start at the Nut and work my way down to the saddles. The pickup height should be adjusted after the string height correct.
Great vid, but for intonation the harmonic will always be in tune with the string; it's just the node at half the string. You have to fret the 12th fret to check intonation, not play the harmonic.
correct, and I am using a strobemeter for intonation
You need to loosen the strings BEFORE you tighten the neck and THEN bring them back up to pitch again to test the action👍
Show us a scarf joint that has failed please. I was under the understanding that a scarf joint is much stronger than not having one.
I don't have any broken ones (i fixed them all) but any neck with a scarf joint on the neck (below the volute/nut area) are almost always the breaking point when a guitar falls. To be more specific, it's not the joint itself, but the area directly surrounding the glue joint. A good example is Dimbag Darrel's lightning Dean. I've inspected this guitar personally and saw at least two repairs to this section of his famous guitar.
I’m no pro, but I did notice a few things that seem strange. You were tuning the bass with it laying down. Just about every instruction I have ever seen from anyone says to keep it in plain position. Recommending to people that they eyeball neck relief and nut heights as total beginners seems kind of insane. Everyone should use feeler gauges, amateur or pro, in my opinion.
I usually tune the low string (or the A to 440) first, and then rough tune while it's laying down. However, when setting the intonation, yes it's crucial to do your setup in the playing position. When I say to "eyeball" it, i'm also assuming someone doing a setup on their own instrument is somewhat familiar with how a guitar (or bass) should play, and eyeballing really is all that's necessary to rough in your neck relief and the nut height. If it buzzes, you went too far.
Sorry guys , while there are good points here, there are some points which are not sound e.g. setting the pickup height before adjusting the bridge saddle height; changing saddle heights will change the strings distance from the pick up.
Cheers, Ross
Yeah pickup height should be adjusted after string height for sure. Apologies if I missed that
Too bad you didn't check fret height with a rocker while you were working on them.
You can only do so much depending on the quality of the instrument...
great video but please make the intros shorter
this guy doesn't know what he's doing
Ahh no... if the twelfth harmonic is sharp you need to move the saddle back in the bridge direction. Make the string longer. Who will disagree with me?
If the intonation is sharp, you have to make the string longer at the saddle. If it's flat, make the string shorter.
You are correct.
Flat = Forward ! Simple
This is what I hope they don't do when i pay for a professional set up
Please show proof life.
What's proof life?