I came across this setup guide and it’s free from Jerzy Drozd.
The Ultimate Guide to the Perfect Bass Guitar Setup
It’s really well done and I got more out of it than any of the videos I’ve watched. Let me take that back, I probably got so much out of it because of all the videos I’ve watched.
Coupling this guide with any number of bass setup videos on youtube makes for a pretty comprehensive tutorial.
This one from Guns and Guitars…
Or these two from from Marcelo Feldman…
YouTube bass setup video from Roger Sadowsky.
Hi I had my bass set up at a guitar shop and I dont think it has been set up low enough, it looks a bit high compared to what Josh showed on his bass… I talked to the guy who did the set up he wasnt a bass player he also said basses were hard to set up which is a different impression than im getting from you guys. I have ordered a ruler to see what height its set at and I have been looking to see what heights they should be just for a guide…on the Fender site (i have a squire I presume they are similar) it was talking about neck radius and bass and treble side and had measurements and im not really sure what all that means… I presume a bass would be the bass side how would I know what the neck raduis is… I feel a bit dumb asking lol but I just want to get this right… Thanks
https://support.fender.com/hc/en-us/articles/214343843-How-do-I-set-up-my-bass-guitar-properly-
That is the fender support page
Recommend watching the Marcelo videos in post 108 above.
That’s all you need.
No, don’t go there. We all started out not knowing this stuff till we learned it.
Bass side is the side with the E string and the bassier tones.
Treble side is the side with the G string and the treblier tones.
If you can’t find the neck radius, let us know what model Squier you have and I’m sure one of us can help you find it.
You may find this topic useful:
Thanks guys thats really helpful that should sort me out thanks
What a revelation!
I just finished my first bass setup and who would have thought that playing bass could be done with a such a light touch. Ha! I’d always wondered why my playing looked and felt like such hard work while other player’s fingers seemed to dance across the strings. And of course I’d noticed that people were doing some adjustments to their instruments but I thought that is some kind of nerdy pro stuff I don’t need to concern myself with as a beginner. Why has nobody mentioned this to me before?! 
I even dated a guitar player for a while who always picked up my bass to show off, but never said a word about these magical screws that would make life so much easier and the sound so much better.
So to all the newbies out there: Go for it! This is really not rocket science. I probably didn’t do it to perfection but it is such an improvement nonetheless.
And to @JoshFossgreen and all of you nice people: Thank you for pointing this out in lesson 1 and all the advice you’ve given in this forum! 
Awesome - congrats!
I need to do some small adjustments on two of my basses later today as well… too warm/dry here in the house lately and that affects these beasts a little!
Hehe, maybe better to date a drummer next time 
I’ll bear that in mind! 
What a godsend this thread is!
I have just ordered some new strings as the ones that came with the bass just don’t sound great.
So this will be my first attempt at a setup. All feels right-ish with the bass atm apart from fret buzz on the E string. Quite noticable on the 7th and pretty bad on the 17th with a sprinkling in between.
Let’s hope I don’t make things worse ,like the time I “just needed to tighten this valve” and flooded the hallway!
I decided it was time to invest in the few proper setup tools every bass player should need, along with all the cleaning bits to keep my investments in great shape.
I watched a zillion videos on setup technique and then decided to start with my Squire J bass and change strings to flats and reset it up vs. paying the $80 the local tech charges.
Let me tell you I learned 3 things…
When I went to the Labella flats on the Squire, the truss rod certainly needed adjustment, so I just went for it. Although there are a lot of different ways to do setups, they are all basically trying to do the same thing, so I selected the techniques that made more sense and ended up with what I feel are the best results for me. The nice thing is once you are comfortable doing it, you can try different things and see the results.
The one thing i noticed across 2 of my basses that were set up by my tech was that the pickup height was WAY wrong. So, of course I decided I didn’t know what I was doing and he did…but what i found was this isn’t true.
On one bass, the foam underneath was compressed to the point where I couldn’t raise it up to where it should be. I would have preferred he told me this and replaced the foam and did it right. Instead, it appears he made it as good as he could and that was that.
On my TRBX305, one pickup screw hole was drilled on an angle at the factory, causing it to bind in the hole and against the pickup before allowing the foam to engage and ‘float’. Seemed he just got it to this point and left it vs. fixing it. This took me ~2 minutes to fix, most of which was me walking to get my drill.
Net/net, take the time and control your own destiny on setups/string changes. Or at least know how to keep your tech honest.
The next purchase will be nut files, but since they are all set at the moment on my basses I don’t see a need until I change strings that are larger/too small and need mods etc.
I started with Bill’s techniques but found there are some better ways to do some things.
String height I like to do at the last fret vs. the 12th fret. Why? Seems more people spec it at last fret, so easier to translate other specs.
Relief he looks from 1st fret capo to fret at neck/body connection vs. last fret, and he uses .015 vs. .014 at 7th fret. Is there a difference? Not much, but depending on construction of bass it might. And again, more references to last fret out there.
I think one thing you’ll find is that there’s really no point in measuring the neck relief with the feeler gauges because what you personally like and the specced relief are likely to be different. I set my neck relief by feel more than anything else. I find I need more than usual right now due to heavy pick playing, for example.
Nut files would be nice though. Both times I have filed a nut I used some thin diamond files I had and it worked fine but real ones would be nice to own, just spendy.
The Yamaha nut is plastic, not sure how well it will file for you. I have a graphtec on mine right now, that took substantial filing and sanding. I have a coupel spare Yamaha nuts now that I will probably go back to eventually, they are just nicely tapered and angled.
Those graphtec nuts are insanely tough.
I’ve go one sat next to my zero fret kit which is making about as much installation progress as that 
Indeed they are. It took a lot of effort and sanding to get mine trimmed down to the right size when I installed my zero fret. Fortunately I have an orbital sander in my wood shop and that did the trick.
I’ve got one too underneath the bike tools which are under a gazebo after I’ve been evicted from my shed ! Daughters and relationship breakdowns have a lot to answer for but as I am constantly reminded, I did offer. 
Re: nut files, just bought these on Amazon for less than half the price of the Stewmacs-- Holmer Bass Guitar Nut Files
I tried to use a needle file, drill bits + sandpaper and even old roundwound strings but wasn’t making much progress (nor was I confident in the quality of my work) on a new graphtech tusqXL nut, so decided to spring for the real thing. Will update when I get them and see how well they work.
Thanks, I added that to my wish list.
They seem to have good reviews. I think a lot of the cheaper ones get bad reviews because luthiers need quality over many uses. I only need these every so often but do want them (the last piece of the ‘setup myself entirely’ puzzle.
Please do let us know how accurate they are.