HowieBass

This is going to look so good when it's finished!

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.

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 name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1470333283' post='3105260'] There used to be a guy that made replica 2 band circuits, they were only about £40 on ebay too. [/quote] It's this one isn't it? http://www.retrovibe.co.uk/stinger.html

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.

Though I understand why you might imagine a 35" scale is better for a low B, I've seen enough threads on here that indicate a well-made 34" scale bass will give you a great low B - it often seems that build quality is a better indicator than scale length regarding how good it sounds. Have you tried a through neck Stingray?

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.

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: http://intl.fender.com/en-GB/support/articles/bass-guitar-setup-guide/

As an indication, my Squier Jazz has a gap between the 20th fret and the E of about 2.8mm (measured from the top of the fret to the underside of the string. You should always measure relief and action this way. A shim can be as thick (or thin, however you choose to view it) as a piece of card (say a business card). When you place one at the back of the neck pocket it acts as a micro-tilt adjustment and angles the neck back (which in your case would reduce the action at the body end of the neck). A shim at the front of the neck pocket will tilt the neck forwards (which will increase the action). A full neck pocket shim raises the whole neck and reduces the action when you've run out of adjustment on the saddles (I had to do this with a Cort Curbow I bought via eBay). I've already told you what kind of gaps to aim for with string to pickup (and thus pickup height) and how to measure it. My Jazz has gaps of 4mm for both pickups when I fret the E at the 20th.

@Grangur - TimCook says he checked the relief and it was insufficient (.008") even after slackening off the truss rod by a complete turn.

Way too high! Is this a new instrument or one bought from a previous owner? If it's new I'd take it back to the shop and get them to sort out the setup. Regarding the string to pickup gaps; with the strings held down at the highest fret you usually aim for a gap of about 1/8". Does that bridge pickup yield if you push down on it (rather than trying to lower it using the screws)? That'll tell you if there's any travel available. I'd expect both pickups to have about the same thickness so unless the body routing isn't deep enough (for the bridge pickup) then you ought to be able to lower it. The neck might need a shim at the back of the neck pocket in order to angle it back if you can't get the bass setup correctly.

You can slacken the strings off a little and move them up out of the nut slots to give yourself more room to make adjustments, then tune back up to pitch and check the relief again. I've got a five string where the A string runs right across where I need to get the hex key in so that's what I have to do.

Ohhh that's nice. What's the wood used for the top?

It could be a double whammy of exchange rate changes and increased costs incurred by the manufacturers themselves. I believe a similar increase is affecting Sony camera equipment. Then the shop itself might need to up their markup to cover increased costs such as the new higher minimum wage for over 25s that came into effect in April.

The set of five videos with (presumably) experienced synth players (eg Neil Davidge) all seemed to indicate it sounded fantastic with comments such as it sounding like a cross between a Juno and an Oberheim. Another clip here: http://youtu.be/UBL7rfOMyDU

Do I really have to say this? Pics or it didn't happen!

And when you do start adjusting the truss rod, even a quarter of a turn can change the relief a fair bit when the neck is close to being right. It's not uncommon to have the bridge pickup closer to the strings than the neck pickup because the strings vibrate with a reduced amplitude the nearer you get to the bridge and hence produce lower output/volume - therefore to even out the volume from neck to bridge pickup you will often find them at different heights. However some basses will indeed have both pickups at a similar height when the bridge pickup has been designed to be hotter (have a higher output) than that used in the neck position.

Loosening the truss rod by a turn or so allowing the neck to develop more relief is safer than tightening it to straighten it out. Checking the relief in the manner you describe has told you correctly that there isn't enough relief. AFAIK you can't damage the truss rod even if you unscrew the adjustment nut completely. The fact that there's fret buzz/rattling near the nut also suggests insufficient relief to me (fret buzz at the dusty end indicates too much relief and buzz along the whole fretboard indicates the action is too low).

For those of you into synths, Behringer have a new toy due out soon. I stumbled across this on YouTube, a discussion with the developers Midas - part of the Music Group business (and oddly enough, they're based in Manchester in an office block that's opposite to where I once worked): http://youtu.be/caMT4BYFCCk The first look reactions of various musicians is interesting too. First part of 5 clips is this one: https://youtu.be/7_KYEtspRa0 What I didn't realise (until I looked up what Music Group is) is that TC Electronic is part of the same conglomerate.

Do Wal necks vary much in construction (number of laminates and wood used)? I think that the way a neck responds to string vibration (seeing as it's more flexible than a bass body) ought to have more impact on tone than the body itself.

I gave up after Marc Almond's first appearance. I expected more from this; I really like Philip Glass's 'Low Symphony' so I'm not averse to Bowie's material being reworked but this Prom just seemed to lack the melodic power of the originals. I'd hoped for something joyful but it didn't work for me.

I could follow threads like this every day of the week! Looking forward to seeing it progress to completion

I don't see too many personalised plates on cars in my neighbourhood but one that stood out (on a black Bentley Continental) was K1CKR - I assumed it'd be some wealthy footballer or rugby player. Fast forward a few months and I heard a car coming up the road behind me... and you know from an engine note that it's something different... turned out to be a black McLaren (a 12C I think) and now that's got K1CKR on it! I later spotted it in the car park of a small MMA and fitness gym that's just round the corner from my house... so I'm now wondering if the owner is actually a well-off kick boxer?

The main difference is the quality of the timbers used and the hardware and the electrics and possibly how many quality control steps are involved. Expensive Fenders have graphite rods in the neck to aid stability and help eliminate dead spots. This does not guarantee that the USA is always better than the Mexican nor a Mexican better than a Squier which is why it's always best to play the instrument before you buy if at all possible. If it's well put together and has a decent setup there's no reason why you can't happily gig with a Squier.