Yes! Same basic process. The measurements will be slightly lower on a guitar and you can usually get away with a straighter neck, but the steps are the same order.
a bass is just a big 4 string electric guitar, all the moving pieces are the same. You'll have to be aware of different bridge types for adjusting height and intonation but the process is great. and yes they did a wonderful job of explaining a setup
Yup, principles are the same, but in some ways more critical as the guitar is played in more areas of the neck generally than a bass. Things that are not noticeable in an acceptable bass setup would possibly be problematic in a guitar setup as guitarists bend strings a lot more than bass players so that 3rd dimension of crossing the radius with the strings comes into play a lot more. Maybe Gene and I can do a guitar setup video one of these days! You can hear the 10 things i know how to play on guitar that I use to test the setup. They are atrocious but effective. :)
Gents, many sincere thanks for this video. I’ve been setting up all my 7 basses to my comfortable very low action playing style. However, I learned a lot of new and very useful tricks from this video! Many thanks and God Bless you both ❤
This being the StewMac channel I believe this is gospel, and I notice you adjust the truss rod and saddles without de tuning. I always de tune to avoid stress on metal parts, but great to see that it’s not necessary. THANK YOU !!!
Thanks for your time putting this video together, this is very informative. Great to see Evan, he’s one of the best Luther’s out here in NY, highly knowledgeable, honest and kind person 🙌
I train techs, and respectfully, you guys left out a very important piece of info, especially for beginners. When you adjust a truss rod, the guitar must be retuned to check the results of your adjustment. For example, if the guitar is at pitch with a significant up-bow, and you tighten the rod to get the perfect relief, you are also sharpening all the strings. So when you retune, the neck will lose that relief and likely have a back-bow. So "ABT" with truss rods too... Otherwise, cheers for another great video.
Hi Rob! Good attention to detail! You are correct! Missed it in the excitement, nervousness of being on camera! With the amount of relief in that neck it probably went up an octave! Keep fighting the good fight with training techs!
@SuperGaia01 I work for a large importing company. As senior technician part of my role is training junior techs. I'm afraid I don't offer private tuition, however there is a video on my channel where I cover the set up of a John Mayer strat in quite a bit of detail. This may get you started. Good luck with it!
Phenomenal video guys... thank you! I usually do my own bass setups and you pointed out some areas where I was making errors in adjustments. Kudos to you!
This is the best bass set up resource out there. Thank you both!!! I’m hoping someone can answer a question about 5 string basses for me. I’m struggling to intonate the B string. I’m having to set the saddle all the way forward (towards neck) and still not in tune at the 12 fret (aka the note is till flat) It should be back behind the e string saddle in theory. All the other strings are right on.
i swear to God the the tuner is set to A= 438. at the end when he is setting the intonation of the G string he hit the G, and it sounded a F#, I have my bass right here!!!!! all tuned up!!!!!!
Great, thanks A LOT. It makes me cautious about doing this as a beginner, but it's good to understand these things. Btw when will you convert to the metric system 😂🎉
Evan is amazing! I used him for many years. In fact he sold me a bass when he worked at Manny's WAY back! Feels like I've known him forever. Geographically, we no longer align, so I need to use someone else now, but I'll always think of him as the very best. This is a great primer video.
Hello. Awesome video.. I have a 4 string sound gear. I can't get my high frets to not sound buzzy. The action it kinda high. Starts from the 12th on . The lower sound good. Any suggestions.. and thanks again
Hi Mike, have you checked the relief in the neck? Is it straight? If it is bowed that may be the issue as when straightened your action at the bridge may simply be too low. You may of course need a little fret work as well.
Thanks so much for this video! I've got a short scale bass that I've been troubleshooting a constantly dead low E string. Maybe the bridge intonation trick (pulling the saddles back before installing new strings) will help remedy my issue. Fingers crossed
Hi Eric, try lowering the pickups as far as you can and see if it is any better. The low tension on short scale basses can sometimes make an E or low B problematic as the magnetism of the pickups can literally grab the string and impact its vibrations. Good luck!!
This is what we can call a public utility video for any musician who wants to learn the basics about adjusting the instrument they use, be it a bass or guitar.
Leo Fender is said to have carried business cards in his pockets everywhere he went. He would use these cards as shims for his bolt-on necks. Perhaps some advice on the use of shims to set the angle of a bolt-on neck would be helpful as well. Thanks for sharing.
Yes, that is a great point! If your saddles are adjusted as low as they will go but your action is still too high, then you need a shim in your neck pocket. We sell precut tapered shims for guitar and bass and you can find videos on our channel about using them, but business cards work too...we've even seen picks in there!
Yup, just not enough time to go into the shims. I do use the Stewmac ones a lot though! Great stuff! I used to make them myself but time is money in the shop!
"I'm using Shadow and Light..." Evan says to perfect the nut height. Now THAT is some Yoda Matser level of expertise if there ever was: "Shadow and Light use you must for the Jedi's action to adjust." What an inexplicable pleasure it was to see Evan do this for us!
Not filing glue. The Nut Rescue Powder was designed by Joe Glaser. For quick fixes it is amazing and I have never seen it fail, bind or really wear out over the years I have been using it for emergency stuff!
excellent video! Some great pointers which i'll be adding to my processes thank you ...and i looove Miracle Cloth! -Its impossible to find here in Australia and in my shop i have an ancient stash of lemon scented Miracle cloths i found on ebay 10 years ago...still getting thru them!
This was really informative, I setup all my basses and have done so for years, but I still learned new things. Great mix of moving back and forth between objective measurements, and developing your own feel to identify your preferences.
Excellent video and also great camera work, nice one! Been doing my own setups for years but I love your tip about moving the saddles back before intonation. Gold.
THANKS FOR THESE TIPS. HOWEVER, IMHO: I CAN'T STAND THE TYPICAL "MODERN" BASS SOUNDS!!!! THEY ALWAYS SOUND LIKE THAT CRAPPY "JERRY SEINFELD" MUSIC!!! RUBBERY, MUFFLED, GARBLED, MUSHY, DEAD!!! WHY CANT SOMEBODY MAKE, AND PLAY A BASS THAT SOUNDS POWERFUL, DYNAMIC, STRONG, LONG DELAY, WITH SOME REVERB,..CRISP CLEAR TONES, LIKE MOST "BARITONE GUITARS, ONLY LOWER???!!!.... WTF??!!!
@@wilviars well stay tuned because we have plans to put out lots more setup videos this year - one specifically focused on acoustic. We really appreciate the feedback!
Thank you guys, this is so very helpful, giving us the confidence to setup our instruments. Following your advise and bought my PU foam, and radius gages from StewMac. Appreciate the wax on the screws tip, as hardwoods are notorious for snapping screws.
I'm a guitarist but recently i bought a cheap bass. I think it had a very good value for money. But it had one major issue, like many cheap instruments, the setup. Thanks to this video i was able to make a very playable instrument. So, thank tou so much to share this type of content, they are very helpful.
HA! Extreme? I use a high speed impact gun. Sure it completely destroys everything but it feels GOOD to me and I wear eye protection so that makes it Okay...except for the ridiculous cost of new tuners.
I am trying to set the intonation, I moved the saddles back about half way, now the screw will not turn at all. I don’t want to strip the screw what would you recommend.
A must watch! Evan is the best and highly respected in our field for good reason. I learned his bass setup in a class, and that’s how I do it now and bassist love it. If this isn’t how you do it, don’t make comments, simply restart the video and take notes!
FAB video, great to get a perspective from a player and non-player and very descriptive as to why you may need to adjust a bass and how to do it, think I have a new hobby.
Any comments on the horrible 60 Hz hum the solitary pickup was producing? Any ways besides adding copper shielding to lower it. I noticed when both pickups were active the hum was gone. That bass as it sounded could not be used for recording with only one pickup active. It also seemed to exhibit excessive hum even when the players hands were on the strings. Is this a discussion for another video. I found this to be an excellent video BTW. NICE!!
@@Egluck1 Is shielding more effective if connected to the grounding wire somehow as I've read somewhere before? Just wondering if it's worth the extra trouble at all to perform that extra work. Thanks again for the Superb tutorial.
I may have missed it but I think you guys kicked into a neck relief analysis and adjustment and never spoke about string tension and setting the bass to concert pitch. Is this an oversight or just not important. You finally mentioned tuning for setting the bridge.
Oversight, as you should be tuning after any adjustment that can affect string tension. We tried our hardest but were pressed for how long the video could be.
Your guest said he wanted it to feel like the nut isn't there. That makes me ask the question, "Why don't more manufacturers use a zero fret?" That method pretty much takes the nut out of the equation. Any thoughts? By the way, he can setup my basses anytime! The dude can PLAY!
There are a lot of benefits to a zero fret! I'm not sure why they aren't used more, but the Zero Glide system is pretty popular so maybe that's changing. Many people prefer the tone you get on the open strings, and they can be a real time saver too!
