Haha, it was the last one I used. I like to change them up a bit regularly 
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Oh this would be the way…I would mostly want it for rockabilly (and some Mingus too).
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What are you waiting for then?
I am in awe of all of you with these expansive music rooms and quantities of basses that would make my local Guitar Center green with envy. 
So yesterday I spent an amazing amount of time looking up maintenance manuals for my two “contender” basses, adjusting and re-adjusting action, pickup height, etc., etc., etc. I got them both to within microns of factory recommended settings and spent a long while switching back and forth to help me get to a happy spot in the choice between them. While I love the LB20, I think I’m going to default to the SR500E. It is a more versatile instrument that is lighter and easier to play, and the onboard EQ means that I can tweak the tone as needed better than I could with the LB20’s single tone and individual pickup volume knobs.
So… thanks, everyone, for the feedback.
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The only caveat I’d add to that as a learning experience for others. Is to use the factory setting as a baseline then adjust using your ears.
I set my action super low then increase it until I can tolerate the fret buzz. It’s waaay lower than factory settings.
The same for pickup height. Measure the current height so you can return to it and then turn them up and down until you find a sound you like.
Just my 2cents for anyone encountering this in the future.
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Space.
Breathing room between my other purchases so my wife doesn’t go nuts.
Etc
Agree here. Been lowering and lowering action on basses as I get better at the feel thing. Now if I pick up one I haven’t got to yet I’m shocked at how I ever played it.
It’s a journey.
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Say no more. It’s a delicate situation to be sure.
Good advice, that’s pretty much what I did. The factory settings on the SR500E left me with… not fret buzz, but when I’d pluck the A string above the 12th fret, it would hit the frets. So a… fret “clack”, I guess.
Anyway, I adjusted the action up - ever so slightly - and did a very small truss-rod tweak, and now it’s perfect. At least, for my ears and hands.
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Sounds great. Sr500 ftw
A little clack now and then adds character. Just listen to Geezer
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I wouldn’t even bother measuring at all. Just go by feel and sound.
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So… for those who are interested, here’s a quick update. Which probably won’t be so quick and is really rooted in the fact that’s it’s been a hell-week at work and it’s Friday afternoon and I’m pretty much slacking off for the rest of the day.
Before I’d posted this thread, I’d gone to my local Guitar Center for some new strings, and the guy there sold me on their “Platinum Setup Service”. $80 or so, and supposedly they do everything: intonation, action, truss rod, cleaning, the whole nine. I was told it usually takes 72 hours. So, I left them the SR500E, as it was in need of a setup. Three days later I called them to check up on it, they hadn’t even started it because “for 2 days our guitar tech was off, so that doesn’t count against the 72 hours”. It was a week and a day before they were done.
During that time, I was playing my LB20.
When I got the SR500E back… it just wasn’t right. The D string, first off all, wasn’t even sat in the bridge saddle, but it was tuned to “D”. So I had to deal with that. The action was WAY too low, and there was no relief in the neck. I had to deal with that. The pickups had been raised WAY too high, so I had to deal with that. Pretty much I had to become a guitar tech in a few hours to correct the issues that Guitar Center had introduced to the instrument.
(Interestingly, I discovered that smooth guitar picks can be used in lieu of rulers… 3/32" is 2.381 mm, two stacked 1.14 mm picks is 2.28 mm, which is close enough to 2.381 mm. I wasn’t looking for exact, here, just close enough, and that fit the bill.)
While I was dealing with all that, I was playing my LB20.
By the time I got everything re-setup to how it should have been setup in the first place, I had gotten very “meh” for the SR500E. I’d gotten used to the neck and the sound of the LB20, and the SR500E just wasn’t doing it for me. As each day went by, I wanted to play it less, and my LB20 more.
So basically, my LB20 has become my “main” bass, and I’m perfectly happy with that. It almost seems natural, now, given my life-long crush on Carvin basses.
Well. There it is.
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Just crazy.
I’ve been playing with my Jag, my 6 string, and my GB 4 lately, and haven’t touched my Paranormal for a couple weeks. I was trying to work out a riff on my Jag, wasn’t happening, too boomy, than I tried my P, and really got to fix that setup. Then I picked up my Paranormal, and it just fit. The neck is just perfect.
When you have the right bass, you can come back after a couple weeks and it’s still the right Bass.
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The LB20 came to me a bit worse for wear. It must have had a very… lively life before I got it. I’ve been putting a LOT of TLC into it to get it back up to snuff. You can see the before and after pictures of the fretboard in another thread. Almost every week I’m pulling the strings off, rubbing it down with Maguiars ScratchX, and then giving it a coat of Dunlop 65 cream of carnuba wax. It’s really feeling like… MY bass, you know, with all the work I’m putting into it. Like I have a real connection with it now.
Which sounds silly, I know. But /shrug.
Anyway, yeah, it’s definitely become “the right bass”.
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I’ll say it again.
Going to a tech/luthier and saying “set up my bass” is like going to a doctor and saying “I’m sick” and stopping there.
They all have their idea of how a bass should be set up and if you don’t tell them exactly what you want (advocate for yourself like at a doctor) then you get what they give.
Look online at how every single luthier has a different approach to the same exact job. The odds of he and you being on the same page without opening the book is very very low.
You need to build a rapport with your luthier, and you need to not go to Guitar Center etc to do it. That’s where future luthiers train.
FYI Above is only my $0.02.
I’m not super smart. I know that. But even I, after watching just a couple of YouTube videos taught myself how to set up a guitar/bass. I understand that some people aren’t interested. However pretty much everything is adjustable and the re-adjustable to where it was before.
Fret buzz? Measure the current neck relief using a metal ruler. Adjust the truss rod / adjust the bridge? etc You can do this with an allen wrench set for less than $5 on Amazon.
Does it sound worse? Then adjust it back to where it was and try something else.
@John_E in on the money, my friend once you take the plunge, you’ll never give your Bass to guitar Centre ever again.
It really isn’t rocket surgery. Also once you know how to do a setup. You can take that $80 you spent on a setup and put it towards another bass 
There are lot’s of great online resouces. I like this quick video. It’s simple, he gets to the meat and potatoes of setup without tons of waffle.
Lastly you can always ask on here. Lots of experience to help out if you get stuck.
TL:DR - Don’t pay GC for a setup, DIY and keep the money for another bass / pedal / amp!
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I set up and re set up my first bass over and over to learn. @Barney is right. You can do it
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Hello all! I am in the middle of BassBuzz course and of course enjoying it very much! After taking my 3 basses (2 new and 1 used) to 3 different Luthiers, I now feel like learning to make the basic adjustments myself…
So, I would like to ask if anybody here can recommend a good online course on basic luthiery. Thanks so much in advance!
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It’s much, much easier than you think
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