I'd love some feedback on a video I made (amateur bass setup content inside!)

[Jellyfish]

Hi everyone,

I recently decided that I really needed to learn how to setup bass guitars as I've owned several over the last 10 years and have always been in awe of how much nicer they are to play after a professional setup. My aim is to turn this into a long-term project and move onto more advanced things like repairs and building - but I've got to start somewhere  so I made use of the downtime I've had in isolation and made a video, and I'd love some pointers from people who are more experienced as I'm fairly sure I didn't get it 'all right' on the first go.

 

I know that there are some tools I could probably do with (wire wool, fret dressing tools, nut files etc.) but I'm already looking online for what I need!

 

Please enjoy and again, please let me know if you saw anything that I could improve on - I really want to get good at this!

 

[nilebodgers]

Naphtha (lighter fuel/Coleman stove fuel) shifts the fretboard gunk much quicker.

A capo (On the first fret) and a set of feeler gauges will allow the neck relief to be set accurately.
The crimson guitars abrasive fret rubbers are brilliant for polishing frets (the SF grade if they are just a bit dirty/tarnished). A metal fret protector will stop the fretboard getting scuffed. (I much prefer the abrasive rubbers to wire wool as you don’t end up with little metal particles everywhere)

To be thorough you could have shown checking and setting intonation and at least checking first fret string clearance even if you weren’t doing anything with the nut. Proper nut files are expensive and it is easy to screw up deepening the slots by over cutting, although not so much on a bass as on a guitar. 
 

A good first video though. I had an attempt ages ago at recording myself doing a setup and  I was awful on camera - you are much better!

[Jellyfish]

On 14/05/2020 at 09:09, nilebodgers said:

Naphtha (lighter fuel/Coleman stove fuel) shifts the fretboard gunk much quicker.

A capo (On the first fret) and a set of feeler gauges will allow the neck relief to be set accurately.
The crimson guitars abrasive fret rubbers are brilliant for polishing frets (the SF grade if they are just a bit dirty/tarnished). A metal fret protector will stop the fretboard getting scuffed. (I much prefer the abrasive rubbers to wire wool as you don’t end up with little metal particles everywhere)

To be thorough you could have shown checking and setting intonation and at least checking first fret string clearance even if you weren’t doing anything with the nut. Proper nut files are expensive and it is easy to screw up deepening the slots by over cutting, although not so much on a bass as on a guitar. 
 

A good first video though. I had an attempt ages ago at recording myself doing a setup and  I was awful on camera - you are much better!

Thanks so much for the feedback.

 

Regarding naphtha, is it also safe to use on Maple? Or everything but?

 

I've since discovered the 'trick' of fretting at either end of the neck to measure neck-straightness and have incorporated it into my second video already.

I wasn't sure whether to include intonation adjustment or not as I just feel like it's one of those obvious things that's hard to mess up, but maybe I should include it if I'm going to mention it!

 

And thanks for the tip on the fret rubbers - I'll add them to the list (especially as I don't like the idea of wire wool either).

[nilebodgers]

Naphtha is a pretty mild solvent, loads of techs use it for cleaning and de-greasing (check out “Daves world of fun stuff” on YouTube for an example - he uses lighter fuel). 
I’d check carefully before slathering it on a vintage guitar or something with a nitro finish, but modern poly finishes are tough.

[Jellyfish]

Thanks again for the feedback. Recorded and uploaded my 2nd video, taking on some of your feedback.