I clicked this to see a bass setup video, instead I got a free life coach session. You could literally apply his work ethic to any job, goal, or activity. It's like the Art of War for the modern day man.
Yeah, I love this guy's voice. It took me 3 attempts to get through the whole video because I kept falling asleep. Its bass ASMR. Ive put this on about a dozen times now when I can't fall asleep. The content is great too.
Andy is as passionate about guitars and basses as you can be. Amazing technician, and his resume tells it all. I started in the business with Andy back in 1979 and he taught me so much. Thanks Andy .. and keep on keeping on!
That's so cool to hear!! Thanks for letting us know!! I'm editing another video he's in that should be out within the next week. This guy is hilarious 🤣🤣🤣
I have seen a lot of videos. THIS HANDS DOWN IS BETTER THAN THEM ALL. HE REALLY BROKE DOWN EVERYTHING and was "IN CONTROL," THANK YOU SO MUCH BROTHER FOR THIS
I'm a beginner but I've watched many videos on setup and this is the first one I have seen address pickup height in this fashion. It makes a lot of sense and I am going to watch this video many times again. Never ignore when a Master speaks.
Wow this is the best setup video I have ever seen. Andy is so articulate almost poetic in the way explains what he is trying to achieve with every step. No wonder all the best best players go to him.
This vid is a treasure, no question. Just to watch Andy is a pure art form. Just to be able to live in an age when we can watch the masters at work is a blessing. I'm a self taught tech, and I was amazed to see Andy doing almost the identical things I do to set up properly. There are just no short cuts. Tone and resonance don't happen by accident.
This man needs to have a daily tv-show. Just 30 minutes or so and let him babble a bit about stuff that has his interest. It would be great. Better than Dr. Phil anyway. I would watch!
I agree! I've been trying to get Andy to do his own videos but he's not technical savvy so I'll have him featured in a bunch of upcoming episodes. Be sure to subscribe!
How's THIS for a premiere episode of that show: Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick brings in one of his trademark multinecks for a full restoration and setup!!
Settle down. He said if it was finished, it would need to be buffed out. You can't fix things magically through a finish. 1 min of buffing with a light compound, and those "scratches" will disappear. Or play it for a few hours. Same result.
I loved the pickup adjustments for more balanced sound. It was cool watching Andy dial in the sound. I've always loved playing my electric bass acoustically.
I'm attempting to set - up & clean my bass this week, after 6 years of it sitting in the corner, with the help of this video. So, many thanks. Andy's great; he's like Mick to your Rocky!
Awesome, great to hear Toni! I'm hearing the Rocky theme in my head now LOL. Its a great time to dust off that bass and make some magic 🎶 Please let me know how it turns out and if you have any questions during the process.
@8:52 "...keep your area clear of distractions and everything in its place so you know where everything is to continue working even if blinded or during an outage..." wow this guy is fun to listen to! I think I would rather wait until you could see to focus on the work. Maybe he means if when backstage doing a quick repair in the dark, during a gig? Even then, I don't think you could take that comment seriously. Overall I really did find this to be incredibly great source of detailed knowledge for those inclined to perform these skills.
RU-vid gold right here! Thank you for sharing this experience with such a wonderful human being. You can tell this man is a music instrument tech legend and really enjoys understanding what makes a guitar sing. Bravo!
@everready19373 not at all. I showed in another video 6 months later how there was no sign of the blade scratching the surface and it was perfectly smooth.
The time that passed between me watching this for the first time and me watching it now seemed like an eternity. And just like four years ago I still couldn’t setup myself, but the guy is GOAT
Wow that blade on the back of the neck😰 did he get those huge scratches out before he gave it back to you. Some of that fret work seemed quite fierce to me too. I don't think I could have watched him do one of mine 👍
Yeah some of his techniques seemed a little rushed which I guess makes sense on the road. Frets were still diveted after he sanded them and didn't even get the tape residue off. Also his comment about wood veneer affecting pickup sound... Wood / plastic is effectively transparent to magnetic fields. I would assume Bartoloni know what they are doing. None the less he clearly knows his stuff.
He seems like a nut job. Tweeker for sure. All that good coke in the 80s is hard to come by, meth will have to do. He's like "don't rush", proceeds to rush.
This man is not only an excellent guitar/bass tech but also an great teacher. So much value in this video. I will watch it again next time my bass needs adjusting!
Love the way this man works. I was having trouble measuring my truss rod relief. This was the easiest way and it works. Thanks for the video. Also a very beautiful bass you have.
10:40 It’s nice to see the proper use of the file ( any file actually) ; always file forward, not forward and backward. Backward movement of the file will dull it much faster. Great tutorial. Thanks
I've always thought that while using a metal file (as opposed to a wood file), one should always file in one direction only, and that it's not critical if that one direction is forward or backwards, so long as the strokes are consistently in one direction only. I believe what happens with filing in both directions is that the file gets "clogged" with metal filings and quickly losses it's effectiveness. This is something that I seem to recall learning in high school shop classes, so I may not be 100% correct, as my memory isn't as great as it once was....
Wasn't so sure about this when I started watching, but he had some really great tips in there. Awesome dude. And your breakdowns on some of the things was helpful, too. Subscribed.
A real passionate technician and generous of his knowledge. Thank you for sharing. Words to live by: @14:05: Always show respect, for everything you do. This is my motto in 2024! Rock on!
Amazing! I had buzzes in my new bass all 4 strings, and I did not learn how to set up my new bass as to how to raise the strings, shortened them, adjust the trussed, or the saddle. A waist of my time!!🥴🥴
I love doing setups on guitars. I find the perfect neck relief on a Les paul is at 8/1000s of an inch. With string action of 5/64th on bass side at 12th fret and 3/64th on treble side. Perfection…..
Absolutely, no doubt! I'm very blessed to have this experience. Make sure to subscribe because I have a whole bunch of content of him guiding me through fixing a few of my basses. He will make another appearance in the next episode, but a little more candid this time.
When I send my Kubicki Factor to get set up at the Kubicki facility... they do the same thing .. if you play professionally your bass neck gets gummy ... if you get everything done . They completely remove the clear cut soft sand it .. they replace the clear coat... the also remove any scratch that are not gouges too ..
He specifically states at 24:27 "And of course if there is a finish on the instrument, you'll need to buff it out afterwards". This applies to clear coated, painted, or oil treated necks. In which the finish (whatever it may be of) should be redone.
Great video! The Pickup part in this video is where some magic is happening. I'm not sure what he is listening for. I think he is looking to minimise warble for the neck pickup adjustment, but the difference is hard to hear for my untrained ear. I don't understand what is done for the bridge pickup. For the next video, maybe you can ask him to explain a little bit more what exactly to listen to? Thanks!
That's a really great request and I am planning to answer that question with a new bass that has a perfect example where this can be heard very clearly! Be sure to subscribe, it's going to be done with a 7 String Conklin.
That's a really great request and I am planning to answer that question with a new bass that has a perfect example where this can be heard very clearly! Be sure to subscribe, it's going to be done with a 7 String Conklin. And thank you!
To organize your desk so that you know where everything is with closed eyes, is what I learned when doing darkroom photography. I still use this technique in what ever I do and it works so much faster and intuitive. Also you'll learn to put on the desk what you really need and prevent losing or scratching things.
All musicians should learn as much as much as possible about working on their own instruments. It’s not rocket science and it all can be learned, if you invest the time. Be self sufficient. Don’t depend on anyone. You’ll be very glad you acquired repair skills, somewhere down the road. I worked as a bass player aboard cruise ships, for many years. When you’re crossing the Atlantic Ocean and something in your Bass goes south, you’d better have your shit together as a guitar tech, because there will be ‘no one’ to help you. When you’re on the road, land or ocean, Murphy’s Law rules all. Depend on yourself, always...
I consider some procedures from this video to be too invasive. Luthiers usually do not use fret flies to clean frets, because they might take off too much fret material. Steel wool or ultra fine grit sandpaper works very well. Also, scratching the back of the neck with a razor blade, I would have done this with ultra fine grit sandpaper. Not the way I would do it for sure!
@@ExtremeBassGuitar There are a million ways to skin a cat, I would bet most long time luthiers have practices that work fine for them, that others may cringe over. IMO, In the end, if it looks right plays right, and the customer is happy, it's all good.
I hear that. Another invasive technique example is using the razor blade on the back of the neck to make the wood even. I've done this on another bass of mine that really needed it after I bought it, and it turned out great. But apparently there's a better blade to do this with than your normal razor. I appreciate you guys chiming in so we can become better at maintaining our instruments.
I’m late to the party, but have to say I couldn’t find something wrong! With the fret crowning file he recrowned the frets just a touch after that soft levelling. If you noticed, he did not apply pressure. By the sound of it I can tell it was a very fine file or pretty worn out. He just called it „cleaning“, he did not ment an actual cleaning… (I use that term myself for slight touch ups or fine work). If you have materials of different hardness close together (like the skunk stripe out of purple heart and maple), using a blade is the best tool to even it out. That’s what he’s dine, he scraped along both edges of the skunk stripe. Sandpaper would take more off from the softer material, letting the harder material sticking out even more. Those milky scratches are easily gone with some hand palm grease. Dragging slightly a round smooth metal along the fret ends and wood, will flatten the edges giving a more worn in fell. (I could not hear the tipical scratching noise of file teeth…). He‘s a pro and wouldn‘t use a sharp file to scratch the edges… I do that too with a screwdriver and not much pressure. So, I think he did a fine job!
Fantastic! I've watched so many bass setup videos over the years, and this one is the best by far. Real world advice and so many little nuggets of info, such as the easy way to check/deal with warbling when setting pickup height (something I was trying to sort out on a bass of mine). So simple it made me slap myself in the head for not thinking of it, but that's the great thing about this vid. All the little "simple" things that are only simple if someone with experience has shown you them, and they all add up to make a big difference. Cheers!
Thank you for the amazing comment!!! I'm going to be making a whole series of videos going in depth to some of the points that he talked about and or missed. Be sure to subscribe and let us know if you have questions!
Zen and the Art of Bass Maintenance. I do IT, and his words about taking your time sooooo apply to what we do: mistakes can take forever to find and fix, so slow down and do it right the first time!
I taught myself to mod, rebuild, fret, and set up work by buying a lot of inexpensive guitars then selling them to performing guitarist. Most of them don’t believe an inexpensive guitar can play and sound amazing until it’s in their hands. Having purchased my first 2 bass guitars I was interested in learning more about bass setups and this video shows that from A to Z. Thanks Michael for this great video!
@@ExtremeBassGuitar thanks very much I will sure check it out. I love learning new stuff that helps me be better at my passion. Every time I do another fret job I realize there’s something else I can do to make it better than the last one. Thanks for the shout out. Have a great New Year and stay safe. 👍🏻
@@ExtremeBassGuitar very cool video Michael! Most of the maintenance stuff I currently know. The one thing that you brought up was how the frets looked to be working their way out of fret board. I’ve also noticed that on a number of guitars I’ve worked on. Having never done any re-fretting, I just left the as they were and leveled them in place. But from now on I’ll be using that method to reseat the frets before any leveling takes place. Thanks for that. I also like the idea of using the oil with steel wool. Myself I tend to stay away from steel wool because it can get so messy. One thing I’ve found is that cleaning fretboard wood is I don’t like to sand across the grain because it can leave marks that show, so I try to sand with the grain if I sand at all. I use a cool thing called a “Headband Magnifier Double Lens” (Amazon) for fine work especially fret work. This magnifier helps to see the in large detail to remove or smooth areas without removing to much. Another thing I do is from the 12th fret to 22nd etc… I take additional surface off the frets to make those last frets lower because they always seem to cause additional problems when playing from 10 and up. I have an acquaintance who’s a bassist. Plays upright and electric. He loves to modify and build. Mostly with inexpensive parts, but he’s amazing what he can do. He has built fully adjustable bass bridges from just raw brass. No power tools just saws and files. If I can find the pics I’ve take of his stuff I would like to send you those pics. Do you have an email address available? Peace.
*Chants* Buff-ing Wheel! Buff-ing Wheel! Dremel Tool works nicely for those unable to afford the beloved buffing wheel. Otherwise I'll put in the elbow grease with a fret eraser. Steel Wool just too messy. Edit: I had forgotten because it's been a while since I used it last, but the Music Nomad Frine fret polishing kit is awesome too!
Thank you! I now enjoy my bass. My action was so high that when I tightened the rod where it needed to be, my truss saddle for low E wouldn’t go back far enough for intonation. There was enough room for it to go back but I actually had to shorten the adjustment screw to get it back there.
That's a good question. This really comes down to the player's preference. I personally want the action almost as low as possible for ease of playing fast and complicated parts. Some people who play very heavy or with a pic like a higher action to make room for lots of string movement. This is why I'm a big proponent of knowing how to set up a bass yourself so you can tinker with different setups.
This was great. I've watched several videos like this and everyone does it a little different. It clearly is as much an art as it is a science. What happened with the low fret you had taped? Did the fret work even it out or did it still need the tape?
Yeah it wasn't easy to hear this with that demonstration. I ask him about this in a conversation we had last week and explains it further. Be sure to subscribe and notify, it'll be out soon!
Also: that bass sounds fantastic. I imagine it could only sound even better with uncovered pickups and a non-tremolo bridge (would the bridge make an audible difference? I don't know).
Yeah the bridge definitely makes a difference in the sound, if you're looking for the pure tone I think it does sound better without it. But I have to do that wacky crazy stuff lol
I dig humans in their element in any facet. Being a bass player, I can see (and hear) Andy is sitting firmly in that Zen mix; mechanically and philosophically. Great vid, thanks!
