13's will take standard tuning just fine thank you. I even tuned them EADGCF for a while.
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Worst bass setup f-ups / Confessions of the technically challenged players
- Thread starter Oluolugbenga
- Start date
13's will take standard tuning just fine thank you. I even tuned them EADGCF for a while.
I don't have any stories of totally gooched bass adjustments, but I do have an embarrassing confession: I played this instrument for almost four decades before I learned how it all worked. I wrote up the whole sad story - plus the happy ending where I learned what's what, right here.
I'll tweak truss rods, intonation, bridge height and do neck shims.... but I'll let a pro do any fret work and nut work. I'd like to learn and do them myself but the cost of the tools required means I'd have to do quite a few basses before I even got close to breaking even compared to what the luthier charges me.... and I'd probably have to make a few mistakes before I got anywhere near good at it.
As for mistakes I've actually made, only one stands out. I needed a string winder that had a longer shaft to do the octave strings on my 8-string. When it arrived I was stoked to find that the main part was able to be removed from the winder and used with a cordless drill. I'd used it many a time changing strings without issue until I bought a used Ibanez SR1200. The roundwound strings on it were WAY too bright for me so I put on some ground-wound strings I had at home. I didn't cut them to size as I wasn't sure if they'd stay on there. After one jam with them I liked the sound so decided to cut them to size. I went to loosen the strings but had the drill going the wrong way and in less than a second of pulling the trigger the string snapped. That was a $60 mistake!
I only had a set of flats at home so I put them on and they've been on there since and sound great.
As for mistakes I've actually made, only one stands out. I needed a string winder that had a longer shaft to do the octave strings on my 8-string. When it arrived I was stoked to find that the main part was able to be removed from the winder and used with a cordless drill. I'd used it many a time changing strings without issue until I bought a used Ibanez SR1200. The roundwound strings on it were WAY too bright for me so I put on some ground-wound strings I had at home. I didn't cut them to size as I wasn't sure if they'd stay on there. After one jam with them I liked the sound so decided to cut them to size. I went to loosen the strings but had the drill going the wrong way and in less than a second of pulling the trigger the string snapped. That was a $60 mistake!
I only had a set of flats at home so I put them on and they've been on there since and sound great.
Now you only need to buy a new bass with reverse headstock, then you save a string!
Ric5
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- Jan 29, 2008
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Yep, daves the man! You wouldn’t believe the money I’ve made by doing little side gigs setting up peoples bass/guitars just using the knowledge I’ve picked up from his 20 minute videos.
Gooched!
My GF and I both love watching Dave. She says I’m grumpy/surly the same way he is. I take that as a compliment.
Dave (of DWOFS) is basically my retirement plan. Fix guitars and complain about stuff. I smell a gooch! (We don't know what they did...)
NEVER judge fret buzz or "rasp" as the bass guitar sounds unplugged.
Always -- through a DI and headphones if possible -- judge it plugged in and amplified. It's called an electric bass guitar for a reason.
I'm a "tweaker" by nature -- I like to mess with things, learn how they work at their atomic level, if possible -- and was doing my own bass guitar adjustments as soon as I was playing one as a teenager.
Fortunately, absent something totally extreme or crazy, there is little you can do in terms of setup or adjustment that will genuinely harm a bass guitar.
It simply requires patience, and a willingness to accept that a second (or third, or fourth) tweak, here or there, may be necessary to get it "just right."
Always -- through a DI and headphones if possible -- judge it plugged in and amplified. It's called an electric bass guitar for a reason.
I'm a "tweaker" by nature -- I like to mess with things, learn how they work at their atomic level, if possible -- and was doing my own bass guitar adjustments as soon as I was playing one as a teenager.
Fortunately, absent something totally extreme or crazy, there is little you can do in terms of setup or adjustment that will genuinely harm a bass guitar.
It simply requires patience, and a willingness to accept that a second (or third, or fourth) tweak, here or there, may be necessary to get it "just right."
I think the most important thing you need to learn when doing setups and want the BEST out of your instrument is that all guitars/basses are different. Top quality instruments can often get away with a straighter neck and lower action then the "standard" measurements you find online (if that's what you want). Lower quality guitars/basses may need higher than normal action to be buzz free, even with perfectly levelled frets. It's all about how the guitar resonates. And guess what: Like it or not, the wood matters! You can't get around physics.
Playing style also matters a LOT. For example a "Floyd Rose shredder" may want the action EXTREMELY low to the point where there's fret buzz everywhere and both the sustain and the tone suffers when playing CLEAN. This won't matter for this type of player because the distortion will provide the sustain and the fret buzz won't be audible through the amp. For this type of player low action for FAST playing has priority. A different player may want a HIGHER than "normal" action because he/she prefers the tone/feel of higher action.
What I'm trying to say is that setting up a guitar/bass "by numbers" will give you a decent setup but not necessarily the BEST setup for THAT particular guitar/bass or THAT particular player. If you want the best possible performance from your instrument you will need to do a setup based on how the guitar actually performs, or do a setup "by feel" if you will. Feeler gauges and other measuring tools can be great for checking stuff or as a reference when starting out but I NEVER set up guitars/basses purely based on numbers. The ONLY measuring tool I always depend on is a notched straight edge to make sure the neck is as straight as possible before levelling the frets. The result won't necessarily be better than doing it by eyesight but it can save me a bit of work because I know I will be removing as little fret material as possible.
Playing style also matters a LOT. For example a "Floyd Rose shredder" may want the action EXTREMELY low to the point where there's fret buzz everywhere and both the sustain and the tone suffers when playing CLEAN. This won't matter for this type of player because the distortion will provide the sustain and the fret buzz won't be audible through the amp. For this type of player low action for FAST playing has priority. A different player may want a HIGHER than "normal" action because he/she prefers the tone/feel of higher action.
What I'm trying to say is that setting up a guitar/bass "by numbers" will give you a decent setup but not necessarily the BEST setup for THAT particular guitar/bass or THAT particular player. If you want the best possible performance from your instrument you will need to do a setup based on how the guitar actually performs, or do a setup "by feel" if you will. Feeler gauges and other measuring tools can be great for checking stuff or as a reference when starting out but I NEVER set up guitars/basses purely based on numbers. The ONLY measuring tool I always depend on is a notched straight edge to make sure the neck is as straight as possible before levelling the frets. The result won't necessarily be better than doing it by eyesight but it can save me a bit of work because I know I will be removing as little fret material as possible.
With my latest bass, I was aiming for low action to get the most mwah out of it because it's fretless. I was tweaking the truss rod and setting the saddles. I noticed some buzzing which made me think the fingerboard wasn't exactly flat. So I took it to my local luthier. He diagnosed that I had actually put a back bow on the neck which led to the buzzing in some areas of the neck. Almost had a 200 euro leveling job done but all I needed to do was get some relief in the neck. I'm happy he was honest about it.
I started nodding a bass I had and I made all my mistakes in it. I learned truss rod adjustment on it (never broke one), finishing work (it had about 12 different finishes on it in the 15 years I had it and some of them even looked good), pulled the frets out of it, learned soldering with it, etc. I made so many mistakes on that bass. But now I do an okay job on my other ones.
buying a set of good nut files is a great investment if you have multiple instruments. I’ve had some great guitars that needed nut slots cut better, including a MIJ telecaster that is otherwise flawless.
buying a set of good nut files is a great investment if you have multiple instruments. I’ve had some great guitars that needed nut slots cut better, including a MIJ telecaster that is otherwise flawless.
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Wait... wait I can't be the only person to read this and go:
"You put a back bow in with a wrench and he charged you 200 euro to remove wood?
Until very recently I misunderstood the instruction on intonating to be checking that the 12th harmonic is in tune with the open string rather than the 12th fretted. For the most part this had more or less no effect other than I didn't really adjust things much when "intonating" because naturally the harmonic is right there with the open string.
That was until I swapped necks on my fretless and hyper-focused on the "intonation" being off. I couldn't get them together and ended up moving the bridge (changing the scale length to 33") in order to "intonate" it. Mind you, I suspected this was wrong all along but I went back and read various instructions and they all contained the words 12th harmonic, so my brain just said yes, this is how it's done.
Anyway, after moving the bridge and "intonating" it I later realized everything was off up and down the board (shocking I know). This time I searched more carefully and tumbled into many conversations of folks misunderstanding in the same way (so at least I'm not alone). Moved the bridge back and intonated properly and she plays like a dream now without needing to squirm around to get my notes in tune.
That was until I swapped necks on my fretless and hyper-focused on the "intonation" being off. I couldn't get them together and ended up moving the bridge (changing the scale length to 33") in order to "intonate" it. Mind you, I suspected this was wrong all along but I went back and read various instructions and they all contained the words 12th harmonic, so my brain just said yes, this is how it's done.
Anyway, after moving the bridge and "intonating" it I later realized everything was off up and down the board (shocking I know). This time I searched more carefully and tumbled into many conversations of folks misunderstanding in the same way (so at least I'm not alone). Moved the bridge back and intonated properly and she plays like a dream now without needing to squirm around to get my notes in tune.
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when i knew nothing about maintenance-----tightening truss rod without loosening strings
Boy did Leo figure out a way to prevent that! (After removing the neck, you can beat his tombstone with it before putting it back on)
No, the leveling job was my idea, which the luthier said wasn't needed because all I needed to do was put some relief in it by loosening the truss rod. He said he could have done the leveling job but was honest about it and just told me how to set it up correctly free of charge.
he has a fixed price for leveling and setup, which was not needed on my bass.
Sure, I have a bass that I can set up with 8 thou neck relief and 4.5-3/64 string heights. Because I like it that way and the bass is high quality and can do it. But that doesn't mean I don't measure it. I initially go for a 12 thou neck relief and 5/64 B-string height, but then I see what I can get away with, according to what I like and what the instrument can or cannot do. But I always measure.
You don't want fret buzz unplugged. If it exists unplugged, it exists plugged in, only amplified. You mean 'string clack' perhaps? That is more evident from harder string attack while unplugged and that is technique related. But at any action height you want to avoid fret buzz while doing a setup. It is one of the primary indicators you need a setup and or need frets, a fret...or a few frets addressed.
I encourage setup knowledge and also feel it is a basic function of instrument ownership and pragmatic for most to do, and it really should be learned early on. Action, truss etc. That said, I have seen plenty of players breaking frozen or stuck rods due to not knowing what to look for. Or damaging reverse or two-way truss rod nuts. Stripping pickup screws trying to lower a maxed-out pickup into wood or using the wrong tools. Damaging finish from DIY soldering or sharp string ends. Making fret buzz worse by not knowing how to sand or file or not having the right tools, damaging neck finish, shorting out pickups using steel wool, frying pots etc.