BaggyMan Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 So there are many and sometimes quite heated discussions about music theory read/not read/tab ..whatever. But here's a thing, I work hard at actually having my basses set up right, action at a decent level, neck relief and intonation set. Three very basic settings on a bass and crucial to tuning and play-ability. Yet I have traded a few basses in the last year for some of my cupboard queens and blimey the basses i have traded for, big names, basses you'd pay over say £600 for.. The tradees (is that a thing?) say said bass is a daily player and they gig regularly with it. An example of which was decent name £1000+ 5 string i traded a few months back, the action was scary high the neck relief was 'banana-esque' and the intonation was about 5mm out on each saddle AND the neck needed a shim as all the saddles were on the deck. I could see the diamond in the rough and post setup its awesome, but really? it was un-tunable and difficult to play. It amazes me that there are some simple to understand videos on you tube (Daves world of fun stuff is also quite funny) yet i know many fellow bass players who just don't understand the simple mechanics of their instrument. One guy doesn't even change his strings, he pays someone else to do that. This seems to be pretty common, some of the basses that Dave (from Daves world..) aren't even strung correctly. Weird.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicko Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 I'll own up to never having adjusted a truss rod in 30 odd years of playing guitar and bass. I'll do intonation and action from the bridge but thats about the limit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_c2 Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 I remember being in a guitar shop for around an hour (I was chatting etc) and unsurprisingly, the most popular thing sold is strings. But I was surprised at the number of people (who seem to be regular/decent players) who brought the guitar in, for the shop to change the strings for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FDC484950 Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 Learn to play jazz. You’ll then have no money and will have to learn to change the strings and set the bass up yourself 😃 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimothey Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 (edited) I completely agree with the fact the set up is the most important thing you can do to a bass as I have a really cheap bitsa P Bass that cost me the pricey sum of £25 which I refinished, put a new £30 eBay special neck on it and strung it with flats then spent a good few hours tweaking everything so it was set up to exactly how I like it and it’s probably my favourite bass to play, I’ve got another couple of basses that I need to take the time and set up but haven’t had the chance? Amd paying for someone to change your strings to me is ludicrous it’s really not difficult!!........ Edited July 21, 2019 by Jimothey 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delberthot Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 I've never ever received a bass that was perfectly set up for me and in my early years the few times I did take my bass to be set up, they didn't get it the way I wanted it either so the only option left was to learn to do it myself. Considering the number of basses I've had, I've had very few cases of anything being badly needing a set up. I can recall one high fret which I filed down myself and a bass with a dead pickup and that's about it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaggyMan Posted July 21, 2019 Author Share Posted July 21, 2019 I really enjoy saving a bass from bad setup hell but am amazed that fellow low enders gig with them like that. Sure some setting are subjective based on how it feels like action .., but intonation being so far out the the thing is out of tune above the 12th fret....odd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casapete Posted July 22, 2019 Share Posted July 22, 2019 1 hour ago, BaggyMan said: I really enjoy saving a bass from bad setup hell but am amazed that fellow low enders gig with them like that. Sure some setting are subjective based on how it feels like action .., but intonation being so far out the the thing is out of tune above the 12th fret....odd Agreed, although I bet a lot of bassists (me included) rarely venture up there so maybe aren’t bothered? I quite enjoy routine check ups on intonation and action etc - always do this every 6-8 weeks when restringing. I remember getting an electronic tuner for the first time in the late 70’s which made the job so much more accurate and easy. Think it was quite a significant era for people to start doing their own set ups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markdavid Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 (edited) On 21/07/2019 at 14:54, BaggyMan said: So there are many and sometimes quite heated discussions about music theory read/not read/tab ..whatever. But here's a thing, I work hard at actually having my basses set up right, action at a decent level, neck relief and intonation set. Three very basic settings on a bass and crucial to tuning and play-ability. Yet I have traded a few basses in the last year for some of my cupboard queens and blimey the basses i have traded for, big names, basses you'd pay over say £600 for.. The tradees (is that a thing?) say said bass is a daily player and they gig regularly with it. An example of which was decent name £1000+ 5 string i traded a few months back, the action was scary high the neck relief was 'banana-esque' and the intonation was about 5mm out on each saddle AND the neck needed a shim as all the saddles were on the deck. I could see the diamond in the rough and post setup its awesome, but really? it was un-tunable and difficult to play. It amazes me that there are some simple to understand videos on you tube (Daves world of fun stuff is also quite funny) yet i know many fellow bass players who just don't understand the simple mechanics of their instrument. One guy doesn't even change his strings, he pays someone else to do that. This seems to be pretty common, some of the basses that Dave (from Daves world..) aren't even strung correctly. Weird.... Im not quite that bad, I will change my own strings lol , seriously though im not that big on the mechanics of the instrument, if intonation is in the ballpark I will call it close enough and leave it as is, I have adjusted truss rods but i dont think I have actually ever measured neck relief I just put the strings on and check for buzz, if if buzzes at the dusty end I will tighten the truss rod slightly to get rid of the buzz , if it buzzes on the first few frets I will loosen it slightly Edited July 23, 2019 by markdavid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 I play with a pro bassist and he really is a brilliant player, but he won't do anything himself. I offer to do it for him but he always says he'd prefer to take it to a tech and pay. He bought a new bass the other day, brought it to rehearsal and the intonation was miles out, but he just kept playing it and looking a bit confused when some notes sounded way out of tune. I could have done it right then in 5 minutes! Weird Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBus Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 It's not just guitars. I was sitting in our local tyre centre having the tyres on the car changed and a bloke I know came in and asked them to check his tyre pressures. He's a retired teacher as well so not stupid. I took the opportunity to learn from the aforementioned YouTube videos and now I find a real sense of achievement when I've set a bass up and it feels just right. There are a lot of people who just don't feel that confident at touching a bass and that's fine. The problem is that some 'techs' can't really produce a good result either and I'm sure a lot of us have had experience of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 Just now, BassBus said: It's not just guitars. I was sitting in our local tyre centre having the tyres on the car changed and a bloke I know came in and asked them to check his tyre pressures. He's a retired teacher as well so not stupid. I took the opportunity to learn from the aforementioned YouTube videos and now I find a real sense of achievement when I've set a bass up and it feels just right. There are a lot of people who just don't feel that confident at touching a bass and that's fine. The problem is that some 'techs' can't really produce a good result either and I'm sure a lot of us have had experience of that. Indeed. There's a tech local to me who seems to set up all guitars with an action so low you can't play without fret buzz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Bay Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 On 21/07/2019 at 15:17, paul_c2 said: I remember being in a guitar shop for around an hour (I was chatting etc) and unsurprisingly, the most popular thing sold is strings. But I was surprised at the number of people (who seem to be regular/decent players) who brought the guitar in, for the shop to change the strings for them. A bandmate of mine has been playing 20 years, I taught him to change strings last year. I asked him what he did if he broke a string mid gig or rehearsal - he brings a spare guitar in case of that happening! Whilst I wouldn’t stop a set to swap a string, I would do it at the break. I don’t think I need to say that he had no idea regarding truss rods etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 I think it's a shame that people don't get involved with their instruments by doing their own set-ups and so on, but I don't think it's a requirement. If they're happy just sticking to to playing side then that's fine. Some folks don't ever open the bonnet of their cars and yet still enjoy driving them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorks5stringer Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 3 hours ago, BassBus said: It's not just guitars. I was sitting in our local tyre centre having the tyres on the car changed and a bloke I know came in and asked them to check his tyre pressures. He's a retired teacher as well so not stupid. I took the opportunity to learn from the aforementioned YouTube videos and now I find a real sense of achievement when I've set a bass up and it feels just right. There are a lot of people who just don't feel that confident at touching a bass and that's fine. The problem is that some 'techs' can't really produce a good result either and I'm sure a lot of us have had experience of that. So what pressure would you set a Dunlop strap to😉? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 (edited) 23 minutes ago, ahpook said: I think it's a shame that people don't get involved with their instruments by doing their own set-ups and so on, but I don't think it's a requirement. If they're happy just sticking to to playing side then that's fine. Some folks don't ever open the bonnet of their cars and yet still enjoy driving them. Fair enough but if the intonation is badly out, it'll be out of tune and you'll sound like an incompetent player Edited July 23, 2019 by cheddatom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey Steve Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 I think we have to appreciate that what seems simple and obvious to us isn't necessarily simple and obvious to everybody. A mate of mine recently dropped off a selection of his guitars to store in my loft while he is (possibly) temporarily living in a much smaller flat (long story, not worth the telling). Despite having a large selection of guitars, he has absolutely no musical ability, but he likes to make out that he is in fact an experienced guitarist and loves joining in and holding his own when other guitarists are discussing instruments, amps, effects, etc. This is usually received as well as a certain Trump offspring at the recent G20 summit... Anyhow, he'd clearly read something about guitars being easier to play if the action is low. So he'd lowered the action on all of his guitars to the point where half of them were unplayable, and where you could get a note out of them all the way up the neck the intonation was way off. He has heard of intonation but isn't really sure what it means, so has dismissed it completely. He understood that the guitars he's left at my place didn't play as well as the ones that he was taking with him, but didn't understand why because he's lowered the action and that's something that improves the guitar, isn't it? He's an IT project manager, so not stupid, although he does vastly overrate his practical abilities (like, he thinks he can play the guitar - he can't) Half an hour with a set of hex keys and all the guitars were significantly more playable and not nearly as terrible as I'd always thought they were when I'd played them before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 On 21/07/2019 at 15:17, paul_c2 said: But I was surprised at the number of people (who seem to be regular/decent players) who brought the guitar in, for the shop to change the strings for them. Basses and most guitars are pretty simple. But I'd quite happily pay for someone to change the strings and do the set up on any guitar with a Floyd Rose style trem/locking nut. It can be a right tedious PITA . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jus Lukin Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 (edited) - Edited March 3, 2022 by Jus Lukin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4000 Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 25 minutes ago, Jus Lukin said: I've been tweaking the things which can be altered back-and-forth, for years, such as the rod, action, and intonation. What I don't do is anything which requires filing away material which can't be put back, like levelling frets or cutting the nut. I have proved that I don't have the skills or mindset in the past, and also didn't enjoy the experience. I've been lucky though, as I lived around the corner from @KiOgon for years, and he's a dab hand, who will remain my go-to-guy for any future purchases. Gets them slinky as hell! I don’t generally touch nuts or frets either, but that’s all, and it’s an area I’m happy to move into eventually. Hasn’t helped that most of my main basses the past couple of decades have been worth a LOT of money, which has tended to put me off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deedee Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 3 hours ago, ahpook said: I think it's a shame that people don't get involved with their instruments by doing their own set-ups and so on, but I don't think it's a requirement. I agree. I must admit when I buy a bass (invariably used) the stripping down, cleaning, restringing and setting up is part of the bonding process for me. It doesn't feel 'mine' until I've done it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BreadBin Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 2 minutes ago, Deedee said: I agree. I must admit when I buy a bass (invariably used) the stripping down, cleaning, restringing and setting up is part of the bonding process for me. It doesn't feel 'mine' until I've done it. I'm the same, I don't think any of my many purchases have been setup right for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Dare Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 Things such as appalling set-up, rusty strings, etc, etc can be handy devices for haggling the price down. It does depend on your viewing/trying the instrument before purchase, of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 (edited) 3 hours ago, cheddatom said: Fair enough but if the intonation is badly out, it'll be out of tune and you'll sound like an incompetent player True, but that's about not trying the bass before the rehearsal ! Edited July 23, 2019 by ahpook Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casapete Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 6 hours ago, Monkey Steve said: I think we have to appreciate that what seems simple and obvious to us isn't necessarily simple and obvious to everybody. A mate of mine recently dropped off a selection of his guitars to store in my loft while he is (possibly) temporarily living in a much smaller flat (long story, not worth the telling). Despite having a large selection of guitars, he has absolutely no musical ability, but he likes to make out that he is in fact an experienced guitarist and loves joining in and holding his own when other guitarists are discussing instruments, amps, effects, etc. This is usually received as well as a certain Trump offspring at the recent G20 summit... Anyhow, he'd clearly read something about guitars being easier to play if the action is low. So he'd lowered the action on all of his guitars to the point where half of them were unplayable, and where you could get a note out of them all the way up the neck the intonation was way off. He has heard of intonation but isn't really sure what it means, so has dismissed it completely. He understood that the guitars he's left at my place didn't play as well as the ones that he was taking with him, but didn't understand why because he's lowered the action and that's something that improves the guitar, isn't it? He's an IT project manager, so not stupid, although he does vastly overrate his practical abilities (like, he thinks he can play the guitar - he can't) Half an hour with a set of hex keys and all the guitars were significantly more playable and not nearly as terrible as I'd always thought they were when I'd played them before. Be careful putting guitars in lofts, especially at the moment with the current heatwave - you’ll need more than a set of hex keys to sort them out 😟 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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