This video is a good watch, from the master of setup to bass guitars Roger Sadowsky.
4 Likes
Really good, he explains things clearly.
1 Like
He sure does. I like the nuanced differences between how folks check truss rods.
He has the action set pretty darn low, a bit too low for me (at least for my level of playing).
I go 3mm at E and 2.5mm at G He is 2.38 and 1.59.
Maybe I will try to drop it a bit as I go.
He is also used to pros and very high quality basses that are more forgiving at lower actions on both counts.
3 Likes
I’m 2.25mm at E and feels high to me 
I am sure it is a function of my playing abilities.
One more goal to achieve, clean playing lower.
Crazy how much of a difference such a small measurement makes.
3 Likes
I try to keep my E at 2mm, lower if possible, and my G around 1.5
The neck bolts, Brilliant. One thing I never see people talk about, or show.
I do check my strap buttons, cuz I can feel if they start to come loose, due to my strap locks.
3 Likes
I setup my bass exactly as he described and I’ve found I like the action a bit higher as well. I feel like I lose too much dynamics with the action super low and it’s more prone to buzz.
Thank you, @leonard . . . . . . it really is a good watch.
I’ll save this one for my list.
Cheers
Joe
2 Likes
Good point, @T_dub . . . I never check to see if they get loose, but I will from now on . . . 
Cheers
Joe
1 Like
Its funny, he is a MASTER in his field, and highly regarded and respected, yet he seems to have a ULTRA CASUAL approach. it makes me think I take it too serious, and I am really lax with my set ups.
It really goes to show, the end result is what you are after, many ways to get there.
3 Likes
Thanks to everyone’s advice here. My Schecter has some fret buzz in the first few frets, and the neck looks bowed to me so need to do a setup. I may try the truss rod tomorrow.
Not sure how often I will need to do this because my weather is steady. Winters are generally in the 40s, summers in the 60s, and 0% humidity year round. Which I don’t understand as I live on the Pacific and get rain over 250 days a year.
2 Likes
That seems unlikely because even the desert is not 0% normally
As a random PNW pacific example up that way, Port Angeles is currently 72% humidity. Olympia is 92%, Portland 72%.
I live in Port Angeles, and here is what I went by. It could be wrong.
Either way, it’s steady, doesn’t shift a lot, doesn’t get muggy.
1 Like
Yeah looks like it is simply missing the data.
50-70% is usually pretty comfortable, for me anyway. Until it gets hot.
Update, I loosened the truss rod and the fret buzz is gone. I know this sounds basic but messing with the truss rod is new territory to me.
4 Likes
Amazing how simple it is eh 
One of the things that always bugged me about setups is that most music stores will not allow you to be with the technician when he is doing a setup which brings up the question, for me at least, of how does he know how much neck relief and action is going to work for me?
When I ran into this many years ago I refused to pay good money for someone to set up my instrument to his liking and therefore I taught myself how to do it and have saved myself a fortune over the last 50+ years.
I have seen my local store charge $80 or so dollars for a setup and the customer complained afterwards that it was worse than before he took it in.
And, don’t get me going about intonation.
I have even overheard store employees joking about how much they charge for what they do when it comes to setups.
Makes we wonder about the poor soul that takes his acoustic guitar in to this store to have the intonation adjusted. Intonating an ACOUSTIC that is out of whack cannot be done in 10 minutes as far as I am concerned but I have seen them do just that and charge the customer $40. To me this smells of fraud.
1 Like
Yep. One of the biggest reasons to do it yourself, chuck the gauges and rulers back in the toolbox, and just learn how to dial in what specific feel you like by hand and visually. It’s not hard. Allen wrenches, screwdriver, tuner, done. Capo can help but not required.
2 Likes
I agree, except that I wouldn’t chuck the gauges and rulers just yet.
After I get everything dialed in exactly the way I want it, then I get out the gauges and rulers, measure everything and record the results.
Then, if something should feel or sound out of whack down the road, I can quickly determine what has changed, and if I’m changing strings (or whatever) I have a starting point that’s probably much closer to what I want than the factory specs.
6 Likes
Good job. I bet that felt good to get over with.
In that video showing Sadowski do the set up, he says “I know many of you are scared to death of touching the truss rod, but they are really durable, and it takes a lot to break one”. or something to that effect.
I am sure there are times where the truss rod breaks from a small turn, but I would bet it was maxed out, AND probably already fatigued from stress, and possibly showing cracks already.
I can understand, and I was a little nervous the first time I did it, but now, its like a no brainer.
On Stingrays, you get the AWESOME feature where the truss rod is adjusted at the body side of the neck (as are Yamaha’s that I have messed with, and some others), but it is not an opening for you to fit a hex wrench into, it is a wheel, and you just put a straight bar / rod into it, and use it to turn the wheel either way, so it is super convenient, you don’t need anything but a small enough stick to get into the hole and apply pressure to.
IDK why everybody doesn’t do something like that, I wonder if there is a patent. i would bet so, since MM patents everything.
1 Like