I caught the same info in some YT tutorial and wonder if the mineral oil I bought at Ikea for sealing wooden cooking utensils would work… I’d think so 
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@Krescht to make it the full Ikea experience, you need to rebuild your bass with one screw missing then use the oil 
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In hindsight I’m amused by my Ikea experience trying to be an honest person.
Me going to Ikea to pick up a part that wasn’t missing but that I’ve broken. I’ve looked it up - the part was not available by itself. Okay - going to the support desk:
“Hi! I bought this here and I’ve broken the screw with exactly this model number - shows picture - but I can’t buy the single screw anywhere but don’t want to buy a full shelve for just one screw”
“You sure it wasn’t just missing?”
Me not picking up on the hint
“No. As I said I broke it and am trying to buy a replacement.”
Guy behind the counter rolling his eyes and grumbling
“yeah, alright” turns around, picks out the screw and hands me the screw “now go away.”
“Oh thanks!” Me still being dense and still not connectind the dots “How much do I owe you?”
“nothing - go! away!”
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Another thing on topic: I noticed that my used bass has scratchmarks on the neck. It seems the previous owner liked to bend the A-string on the 7th fret. It’s not very noticeable but when examining the neck closer you can see it. Shall I just leave it and take care of the neck the way you describe or would you try to fix it?
I think it’s just a minimal visual/aesthetic issue but it would be good to know what to do when deciding to give the bass an overhaul/spring cleaning.
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Neck or fretboard??? 
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Sorry - fretboard of course. My bad.
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Just leave it and treat the fretboard with some oil (unless it is a sealed/lacquered fretboard)… this is just wear and tear; and if the bass gets really old and used, you might have to even replace the frets 
But not just yet…
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Hey all, I wanted to ask a setup related question:
I have already adjusted the truss rod and action of the strings, so that the strings are closer to the frets than they were out of the box. But now I have a set of feeler gauges and proper rulers arriving so I can set the strings more accurately.
My question is that do I have to raise the action from the bridge saddles (I hope that is what they are called) before I set the truss rod? Because I figured that if you set the action super low then how are you going to adjust the truss rod properly (with the strings already being very low)? Or does it not matter?
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You should generally adjust the truss rod before the action. You’ll need to adjust the action after the truss rod anyway.
You adjust the truss rod while fretting both the first and last fret. Action height is not related because the string is pressed flat against the fretboard at both ends, so bridge action does not matter for the truss rod adjustment.
Another thing I would recommend - if it feels better to you but is “wrong” according to the gauges, ignore the gauges 
Gauges will get you to factory spec. Personal feel is much more important than factory spec.
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Thanks for the tips! The bit about the truss rod adjustment not being dependent on the action height was just what I was looking for.
So now I don’t have to re-do all my adjustments so far… and I get what you are saying about personal feel over factory specs, but since I’m so new to the instrument, I figured it would be good to get a starting point and adjust from there.
I saw a video review of the player series basses on YT and the guy was complimenting how well the bass was adjusted straight out of the box. You know, perfectly in tune, intonation set right… my experience was the total opposite. Not in tune, intonation all over the place, action very high, pickups slanted weirdly, etc.
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It would be very weird to me to have a bass arrive “in tune” unless you bought it from a shop and carried it home yourself. Generally guitars are detuned for shipping to prevent tension damage to the neck if it gets dropped.
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While this is true I want to mention that the strings should be on there for a truss rod adjustment as they add tension that might change the form of the neck. It’s also often needed to readjust after the wood has set a little after a day or two.
What howard said - usually for transport the tension is taken out of the instrument but at the same time I think it can depend on the shop you order - I think shops like Thomann do a setup to a degree that’s possible with delivery. Like set up the intonation correctly but as howard said it’s impossible to deliver a perfectly setup instrument. In fact depending on the weather conditions even howards “taking it home from the shop” might need fine adjustments at home.
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Yep for sure.
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Oh ya, no problem that I had to set my bass up and had to tweak a bunch of different settings. It’s a great place to learn more about your instrument! I had the courage to do it myself since I did have an electric guitar before and therefore I’m not totally new to guitars in general.
By the way, what do you think is the correct way to set the truss rod? Fender guides say that you should fret the 1st and last and take the measurement from the 8th fret. But a YT video showed fretting the 1st and the place where the neck joins the body. Is there a difference in outcome? What would you recommend?
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Either is fine. I usually do it where it joins the body because I don’t use a capo and it’s hard to reach otherwise
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I use a capo but still where the neck joins the body.
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Quick question (maybe stupid):
When you mesure the height of the strings, to set up the action by exampe, where dou you mesure the heights? Is it the space between the string and the fingerboard OR the string and the fretwire?
Thanks!
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It’s covered in one of John Carruthers videos. This is the first of 4 in which he covers everything including string height @Dani
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Thank you! It’s a huge help
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