wishface

Right, I have just had a very interesting conversation with a guy in Bristol, whom I will not name at this time (I have no idea if he uses these forums anyway). His advice, regarding setups, was NOT to listen to videos, not to do what luthiers say, as many of them don't know how to set up a guitar even if they know the science. His advice was NOT to attempt to do this yourself because it is a task that requires a great deal of skill and knowledge. One cannot simply even adjust action without making proper adjustments elsewhere or, sooner or later, the neck will suffer. This is person who says very few people have the PROPER level of expertise to perform this work. Now I could go on. I don't personally know him. He could be the worlds biggest conm man. I don't have the expertise to tell him apart from someone else in the field. On the other hand I have people here making knowledge clams of their own and Taking great personal offence when questioned.

Yes and I've FOLLOWED those videos. Why are you people hell bent on trolling me like this? Show me where I haven't followed. Show me where i've argued the toss. I can't take the guitar to a luthier at the momenbt because I don't have the money right now. Ok? FFS, what is the point of this? You are laying about me and it NEEDDS TO f***ing STOP!

I'm measuring over the 8th fret, that's what i've been told. I can't measure less than 1/32 of an inch - and even that's difficult with my 70p Wilko tape measure. as far as i can tell it's about 1/16. Very roughly. But I cannot get the E string low enough to not buzz. Its not unplayable by any means, but the action is higher than my previous bass and I would like it lower. The G and D strings I can get away with, but the A and E, the latter in particular, just buzz when comparably lowered.

waitaminute: when you measure relief, do you measure it with the first and last frets pressed down? If so the gap is roughly 1/16 inch

[quote name='Thunderbird' timestamp='1470420998' post='3105932'] Mate could be several things neck could be warped truss rod could be dodgy or maybe you have just ballsed the setup up? no offence I think you need to take it to a tech mate [/quote]The neck is barely bowed at all, did you see the picture?

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1470419167' post='3105918'] The thing that's wrong is that you don't seem to be able to follow instructions in how to set a bass up. You've been given links to two videos and an official Fender guide which you either haven't looked at or don't understand. Either way I'd say you're on your own now. Good luck and goodbye. [/quote] I did everything those guides suggested, what are you talking about? I set the relief, and i set the action. What are you talking about?

[quote name='Thunderbird' timestamp='1470405232' post='3105800'] I agree take it for a set up £30 max is better than f***ing up the bass cos something is seriously out with that set up mate sorry I cant be anymore help [/quote]what do you think is wrong with it?

[quote name='BassBus' timestamp='1470412294' post='3105872'] [color=#1A1A1A][i]"Tell them you're too stupid to own a computer."[/i][/color] [/quote]Take the trolling elsewhere please

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1470398573' post='3105729'] With relief of 3/32" I'd expect the neck to resemble a banana. Either you're not measuring it correctly or there's something badly wrong with the setup. I can't think of any further advice to offer you other than take it to somebody who knows how to set a bass up. [/quote]It doesn't look like a banana. I'm measuring from the 8th fret using a tape measure as best I can so it is not 100% accurate. I don't have any other tools to measure these distances. [attachment=224944:20160805_182016.jpg][attachment=224945:20160805_182053.jpg]

[quote name='Thunderbird' timestamp='1470333760' post='3105267'] If you are near to me l don't know where you are as I'm mobile site pop it round and I will set it up for you [/quote]Probably not, north somerset is where I am. Thanks anyway

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1470320398' post='3105101'] The relief ought to be of the order of 0.012" - that's twelve thousandths of an inch and typically the thickness of a business card (card not plastic). It's like, not much at all... whereas a 1/16th of an inch is 0.0625", five times larger than you ought to have. That's too much relief and I'd expect a fair bit of fret buzz at the higher (body end) frets. Get the relief sorted before you try doing anything else. [/quote]The relief is much greater than that, about 3/32nds of an inch. This seems to have ended the fret buzz on the E string. Not sure what I can do if that's too much. If i set it back then won't i just invite the fret buzz I had before without raising the action onerously again.

[quote name='Manton Customs' timestamp='1470300004' post='3104823'] No you're not going to get any false reading. You've already been given the answer to this on the previous page by Moon Bass Alpha. You fret the string at the first and last fret, this remove the bridge height from the equation. You are literally using the string as a straight edge. This must have been covered in the videos which people have helpfully posted. It may be a very good idea to take the bass to a local tech or luthier. [/quote]Ok that's great, but i'm interested in being able to address this myself. So i have the relief just past 1/16th of an inche over the 8th fret. The action at the lowest I can get away with, and it's not perfect there's still some buzz, is the a string height twice that between 12th fret and string. It still feels high to me. My previous bass isn't setup that high. I can't really work this out. I'm not going to adjust the relief anymore and until I can get to a luthier I'd like to work this out, preferrably without people trolling this thread.

This all seems rather chicken and the egg to me. If you adjust the truss rod without setting the action to a comfortable level (buzz or not) then you are surely going to get a false measurement when measuring the amount of relief because you're measuring it to the string. So the relief surely has to be set in the context of the desired string height.

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1470289381' post='3104719'] Funny he says that it's impossible to damage the truss rod. In a moment of stupidity I managed to do the impossible once. But what do I know? You clearly know everything already. After all you're the Troll. [/quote]What are you talking about? There are two opposing positions put in these videos, both of which are made by experienced technicians, and both have been recommended to me in this very thread. Add to that someone above has just said that loosening the rod will not damage it. Yet here you are claiming that you have damaged yours while interrupting a productive discussion to accuse me of trolling.

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1470262563' post='3104671'] If there's no relief (so the neck is effectively straight or flat) then you need to loosen the truss rod to allow the tension of the strings to pull the neck forward a little - this is what creates the relief. Loosening the truss rod will not damage it. Do not adjust the action to get rid of fret buzz until you have the relief set correctly. [/quote]That's what i've been doing. I've turned it a bit so far, i'd say more than a quarter for sure, and it's not really made any difference. The low E still buzzes. If I subsequently raise the action, which i've had to do in the meantime, it gets higher than i would like before there's any resolution. Maybe the instrument is designed to have a high action, I don't know.

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1470257374' post='3104604'] Here's the first video of a great series that covers how to set up your bass: If you still struggle, may I make a suggestion that you take a look at the thread linked below. Find someone close to you and arrange to take your bass over and get an on-the-spot lesson on setting up. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/277468-bcers-prepared-to-help-fix-a-bass/page__fromsearch__1"]http://basschat.co.u...__fromsearch__1[/url] [/quote]Yeah, I've seen that clip before. I notice that he says that overtweaking the rod can damage it, while the guyd from Fodera says otherwise. It's not so much that I'm struggling, it's that I'm not really seeing any improvement.

[quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1470253072' post='3104549'] No, as per the quote in your post, you fret the string at the first AND last frets to use the string as a straight line. Then you can see the relief properly. [/quote]I have tweaked the rod as much as I feel comfortable. I don't care to break it, obviously I must say i've not noticed any relief. Perhaps it's too minor to notice. BUt i'm not hearing a difference. The buzz is still there on the low E. If I raise the action enough to take it away, the action is too high.

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1470232096' post='3104318'] You should get the relief correct to begin with. Tune to pitch then measure by using the string as a straight edge (capo at the first and fret the string at the end of the neck, check the gap at the 8th fret). Once this is right set the action. Check the pickup heights then check for intonation. I tend to follow the Fender specs/method, detailed here: [url="http://intl.fender.com/en-GB/support/articles/bass-guitar-setup-guide/"]http://intl.fender.c...ar-setup-guide/[/url] [/quote] Doesn't setting the action after the relief not mean you'd have to reset the relief? What if you find the action still too high? Surely measuring relief is as much dependent on the string height (ie action) as it is the shape of the neck?

[quote name='stu_g' timestamp='1470229640' post='3104281'] i normally adjust neck till its quite straight, if there is buzzing on the first 3 frets on any of the strings thats normally a sign the neck is too straight so a little relief is needed. then i lower the saddles until i have an action i like with no fret buzz. [/quote]So the issue I'm having is the buzz on the E. It seems pronounced around the 5/6 frets, but it can be heard, to much smaller degree, further up. The relief, as far as I can measure it, is still a little narrow. Can't quite fit a credit card in without some string resistance. I could twist the truss rod, but I wonder if this is the issue.

[quote name='stu_g' timestamp='1470229406' post='3104275'] yes it worth learning how to do it, i noticed in your other thread you mentioned you had a revelation jazz bass i bought one of those, set it up, added a shim to the neck and i have to say its a great bass for the money [/quote]It's a decent enough bass, it's just very heavy

How do you tell the difference between needing to raise action or add relief?

It would be nice to be able to do this myself.

I have a feeling i could twist the trust rod endlessly (which isn't good, i gather) and make no real difference. I'm not an expert in this. I've made a small adjustment, but I've not yet noticed any huge difference, it's hard to tell objectively.

I'm measuring the fret to the string and I'm getting a similar measurement (again not 100% accurate), about 3mm, possibly 4mm My concen regarding the shim wasn't push the neck nearer the strings, but that the strings already seem high as it is. The saddles seem high already, I'd rather lower the action and add relief, if that's the right option. Does that make sense. That's why i posted the picture of the bridge.

It's new. EDIT: to be clear, i'm measuring the distance from the neck right at the end to the string. This doesn't include the fret (which is about a milimeture or so), and I'm using a ruler. What should it be? I would have thought the last thing it needed was a shim, wouldn't that push the neck further off the body, if slightly? That would necessitate a higher action surely? I've lowered the pickup a bit, but i'm not sure I should do it any further until the relief is set, if ncessary. I'm not sure what I should do. How high should a pickup be?