Apologies in advance if this has been covered before!
After a setup from a local music store that I wasn’t quite happy with, I’ve decided to get into doing my own setups. I’ve watched the Bass Buzz video on setups and feel ready to go, but have a potentially obvious question that I want to iron out first.
The video uses the E string as a reference point for truss rod adjustment (capo on 1st fret, hold down 13th and check clearance on the 7th), but the bass I’m using as a first attempt at my own setup is likely going to be a 5 string. My question is, can I just use the same reference points that the video uses for the E string on the low B of a 5 string, or do I need to handle things differently?
Thanks in advance for any advice people can offer!
Hi @AliceB , there should be no problem with this at all. It might help to understand exactly what’s going on with this process:
With the capo on the 1st fret, and holding down the 13th, you are basically using the string - whether the E string or the B in your case - as a straightedge between the 1st fretwire and the 13th. Note that they are having you measure right about the middle of that span. Given the relief, or upward curvature of the neck, you are measuring where it should be the greatest distance - right in the middle of your straight edge. So it doesn’t matter how thick the string is, you’re basically using the bottom edge of the string as your reference point. The flatter the neck is, the smaller the distance will be at that 7th fret. And conversely, the more relief that the neck has, the greater that distance will be.
Thank you for your response! That has reassured me a lot
I’ve been trying my best so far but I’ve been doing a lot of back and forth with it. I feel that I get the business card to fit perfectly, but then I get buzzing on the higher frets, but tightening the truss rod doesn’t seem to help much and just introduced more buzzing elsewhere rather than solving the higher frets.
On top of that, whenever I think I may have cracked it, the strings are way higher than recommended and the action is uncomfortable to play on. Bringing the bridge saddles down seems to just reintroduce the fret buzz problems so I feel like whatever I do goes wrong . I’m trying to emulate general advice from the Bass Buzz video + others (2mm for the E string, aiming for about 2.5mm on the B string for now). Most of my problems seem to be with the E string right now around the 12th-14th frets.
I’m not sure if there’s any advice for this or if it’s just a matter of practise / some other aspect that I haven’t considered, but any advice that you could offer would be greatly appreciated. The bass in question is an Ibanez SR405.
. I’m trying to emulate general advice from the Bass Buzz video + others (2mm for the E string, aiming for about 2.5mm on the B string for now). Most of my problems seem to be with the E string right now around the 12th-14th frets.