Bass set up

[fergie_cannon]

hi there, ive got an ibanez iceman bass and i want to get it set up and adjusted etc etc by a pro in the central belt of scotland because it buzzes a fair bit when its unplugged and the action's crap compared to some of the more expensive basses ive had a shot of. Any sugestions?

[backwater]

My usual choice is Jimmy Egypt in Glasgow - I think he is working from the CC Music store on Otago Street out at the west end. The other choice would be Jimmy Moon in Glasgow.

Websites :
[url="http://www.moonguitars.co.uk"]Jimmy Moon[/url]

Jimmy Egypts website is offline currently.

Andy

Edited August 11, 2008 by backwater

[Kev]

have a look at this:

[url="http://www.garywillis.com/pages/bass/bassmanual/setupmanual.html"]http://www.garywillis.com/pages/bass/bassm...etupmanual.html[/url]

totally understand if your nervous about adjusting the truss rod, but this guide breaks it down nicely, and will save you the £££'s

have a read

[kingofthestuntmen]

I went to Jimmy Egypt for the longest time, but more recently have had everything done by the girls at Strung Out in Kings Court in Glasgow. The website is down right now, but here's the link anyway - [url="http://www.strungoutguitars.com/"]http://www.strungoutguitars.com/[/url] -

Even if you just swing by to check them out, you most likely won't be disappointed as they specialise in vintage/second hand.

Never used Jimmy Moon, but I hear good things about their work.


KotS

[Delberthot]

I had my bass at Jimmy Moon's for a fret dress and because some nutter had installed a Warwick JAN III and put it in the wrong place so I had him do this and check the electronics as the same nutter isn't very good at soldering.

Very impressed with his work but it is a bit out of the road if you don't have a car. Its about a 5 minute walk from Crossmyloof train station - yes you read right - Crossmyloof. It looks the type of place to harbour soap dodgers and could be the home of the infamous 'Glasgow Shower'

[crookysax]

Jimmy Moon does all my bass work. Though some friends have used Strung out guitars and they seem to think the work in there was very good!

Chris!

[rjb]

It's all very well getting a luthier to do difficult tasks like neck redressing, but is is really [b]that[/b] hard to do a bass set up for yourself?

Tweak the truss rod for neck relief; set the string height and intonation with the bridge; raise or lower the pick-ups. Why pay good money for that?

Edited August 21, 2008 by rjb

[BassInThePlace]

[quote name='kingofthestuntmen' post='261368' date='Aug 13 2008, 09:00 AM']I went to Jimmy Egypt for the longest time, but more recently have had everything done by the girls at Strung Out in Kings Court in Glasgow.[/quote]

+1

Very, very capable girls in there. I take anything I can't do myself to them and they always do a top notch job. Recently set-up my Martin for me and I couldn't be happier with the results.

[darbs]

[quote name='BassManKev' post='261315' date='Aug 13 2008, 12:09 AM']have a look at this:

[url="http://www.garywillis.com/pages/bass/bassmanual/setupmanual.html"]http://www.garywillis.com/pages/bass/bassm...etupmanual.html[/url]

totally understand if your nervous about adjusting the truss rod, but this guide breaks it down nicely, and will save you the £££'s

have a read [/quote]


ok i read this and it says tp check the set up lower the strings as far as they can go down and if the neck is set up right then every fret should vibrate and then its just a sake of raisin the strings ok i lowered my strings and i have no fret buzz should i lower my bridge (its a warwick double buck) or should i play with my truss rod? ? ?

[Musky]

[quote name='darbs' post='343373' date='Dec 2 2008, 07:07 PM']ok i read this and it says tp check the set up lower the strings as far as they can go down and if the neck is set up right then every fret should vibrate and then its just a sake of raisin the strings ok i lowered my strings and i have no fret buzz should i lower my bridge (its a warwick double buck) or should i play with my truss rod? ? ?[/quote]

There are a few other guides about which might help you to understand what goes into a setup.

[url="http://www.tunemybass.com/bass_setup"]http://www.tunemybass.com/bass_setup[/url]
[url="http://www.fender.co.uk/support/basses.php"]http://www.fender.co.uk/support/basses.php[/url]
[url="http://www.weedhopper.org/Music/Bass_Guitar_Setup.asp"]http://www.weedhopper.org/Music/Bass_Guitar_Setup.asp[/url]

Essentially they all tell you the same thing, but some are better illustrated than others.

Personally I'd start with simply lowering the strings by adjusting the height of the bridge saddles. If you get no fret buzz (though a little buzz is acceptable) keep lowering until you reach the point where they are buzzing excessively or choking the note altogether - then raise it slightly. If you're happy with the action (and everyone has there own preference, depending on their style of playing) you don't need to go any further.

If you're not happy with the action you might want to check the relief (or bow) in the neck. Again this will vary, but if you don't happen to have a handy feeler guage you can use the thickness of a credit card as a guide. You can measure the relief by fretting the first fret on the E string and using your elbow to hold the string down against the last fret (or get someone to help you!). There should be a small gap between the top of the 7th/8th fret and the string.