Hey, so I bought a Yamaha TRBX304. I live in France and got it off Thomann. I watched through the set up video on bassbuzz. I feel like my bass might be a little bit off with a few things and trying make sure I did the set up right or if something is off with the instrument.
It seems hard for my base to be able to fit a business card underneath the seventh fret during that section of the video. I have changed the truss rod but I had to do it quite a bit for it to fit. Then it seems like the strings are way too far off the fretboard, a friend tried my bass for a a few min after my setup and felt like the strings were really far off the fretboard so it’s got me in my head about it. Even after adjusting the bridge saddle height as well. Here are a few photos.
I can lower the bridge saddles still okey key so I can try that. If I straighten out the truss much I’m afraid I’ll get plenty of buzz when fretting low on the neck near the head like when I first got it before I did setup
The nut looks fine. The reason I say the truss looks far too loose is there is really visible neck curvature there, though it could be an illusion in the photo.
Ir you put a capo on the first fret and hold down the one on the E string that is closest to the edge of the body, is there any (even barely tappable) clearance at the 7th or 9th fret?
I’m definitely no expert (or even close to it), but I have also worked through Josh’s setup video after I got my Ibanez.
My first thought when looking at the photos was that the neck looked really bowed downward, though that may be a visual illusion? IIRC the setup video says that the first thing to sort out is the truss rod, since it affects everything else. I thought the idea was to start with a straight neck and work from there?
Agree, I’d try tightening the truss rod first until it looks reasonably straight to the eye then lower the action until you get it somewhere in the 2.5 - 3mm range at the 12th fret (doesn’t need to be exact, just till it feels good). That should get you in the ballpark. From there you can tweak and adjust until it’s perfect for you.
When I was doing the truss rod I was using a thick cardstock style card I found. It’s thick AF. So hence my understanding of business card was very different then what is actually called for.
I adjusted the truss rod to be more straight and have been waiting and practicing a bit and it has been much better.
That looks better, but still kind of high. That looks like ~3mm. Action on my bass is set at 1.75mm. The Yamaha manual says 2.7mm.
To measure accurately, you need a more precisely graduated string gauge, and you need to measure from on top of the frets, not the finger board.
The “business card” that Josh recommends, I actually find to be more bend than I like. I like a really straight neck. My test is that I should be able to hold down or capo at frets 1 and 13, I should be able to tap fret 7 and have just enough clearance to get a click.
Action height is subjective to individual players. There is no one-size-fits-all setup.
As one example, for a player who uses a heavy plucking attack, a low setup will result in substantial string noise (clacking). This sound does have its application with certain genres and songs, but not with many others.
Another example of string height preference is when @JoshFossgreen said in a video that he keeps the action on one of his P basses high for playing some Motown tunes a la Jamerson, who had a very strong plucking attack and kept his action high.
Soft touch players often prefer low action for achieving comfort, ease of playing and speed. If that works for the majority of the tunes one plays, all is good.
All to say, the ideal setup is what works best for the specific way an individual plays the songs he/she prefers. Luckily, tweaking a bass’s action is simple.
