Since I’ve only ever been a beginner, I never really felt justified in spending money on a bass setup. But since I’ve gotten back into practice thanks to Bassbuzz, I decided to finally splurge and treat my bass to a spa day.
I found a master luthier in a nearby town via Google and made an appointment to see him. He ended up doing all the work right in front of me while I waited. It was a joy to watch a master craftsman at work.
More importantly, my bass has never felt, sounded, or looked better. I notice a big difference in the action, tone, and overall feel.
If you’ve never visited one, I highly recommend it.
Everyone should get their bass setup. Especially beginners because if it comes out of the box or off the rack with a bad setup, a newbie might not realize and think they just don’t like playing bass.
I’ve learned how to do basic setups myself which has been really handy and I want to get more comfortable working with and changing out electronics. It would be a really cool experience to watch someone do a full setup on my bass so I can learn more and ask questions along the way
Had a call from an interested buyer for my Jazz Bass today. He currently has a Yamaha RBX260 with some fret buzz. He’s a newbie player looking for a better bass.
We talked for awhile and while I admitted that mine might be a slightly better bass what made it so as much as anything is that the frets have been leveled and crowned and it’s been set up to play with the lowest action possible without any issues with fret buzz. It may solve his problem but so might a good setup on his.
I’d love to sell my bass but suggested to him that he may want to take his to a good tech or luthier and spend $60 on a pro set up because as far as a basic instrument goes there’s really nothing wrong with his bass. Mine would definitely be an upgrade given all of the customization I’ve done but if all he wants is for his current bass to play better he should get it professionally set up. That was my honest answer.
100% agreed! I had a similar experience with my first visit to a luthier. He did the whole setup, explained everything he did and we talked about love and life for a few hours.
It was great!
Now I have another - punky-funky - luthier for more complicated stuff, but I visit him on a regular basis for no reason at all, watch him do his magic and talk about love, life & and how much the internet s#cks
That said: for a setup I will never go to a luthier again.
Not because they are bad or expensive … just because setups get easier every time you do it, and I have to agree with @faydout: it’s calming and therapeutic. Also you make the bass more your own, every time you do it.
Last but not least, nobody knows, what setup is best for you, except yourself.
And you will find out quickly, what works and what doesn’t work for you as you grow…
I learned about setups early on. It didn’t seem terribly difficult to me. (But I’m also the sort of person who does most of their own car maintenance.)
Is it worth taking a bass to a pro luthier once, just to watch how they work, get some ideas, and have a point of reference of how good it can be? Or really not that complicated?
What else could I tell him? The buzz he’s experiencing could be his set up. It could be his technique. Or it could be some of both. I suggested the setup as part of a process of elimination. If it still buzzes after a proper setup he needs some lessons and practice more than he needs a different bass. I do give lessons too but he’s a bit too far away from me for that.
He called asking for my advice and I gave it. Apparently the way I speak through my listings tell buyers that I’m no rookie…LOL. Many years as a consultant have conditioned me to answer honestly. A great rep isn’t easily bought but it can be easily lost. I will always want people to recognize what I say is the honest truth to the best of my ability to provide it. If I’m offering something for sale here I want other members to know that the same.
If you want to set up your own bass in the future, now is the time to take all the measurements like Action on all strings, neck relief, PU height so you can replicate it yourself and have a great starting point for your owm setups
Great advice - if you set up the RBX well enough, it could serve you a lifetime. It’s not the most well balanced bass, but I’ve been playing mine for years and years, and it’s still a-ok.
That depends on each person. When I got my bass, I watched some videos and read some tutorials about how to do setups. I did a rudimentary setup on mine, to the point where the luthier said the bass wasn’t really too bad before he started.
But he did a much better and more thorough job than I could probably ever do, so for me it was absolutely worth it. Those like you who are do-it-yourselfers may not find it worth it. As the kids say these days, YMMV.
There ya’ go. The only real tonal advantage the basic CV Jazz Bass could offer were the dual single coil pickups and I explained that to him. He didn’t want my customized version so IMHO as a raw beginner he wasn’t gonna gain all that much vs his Yahama if it was properly set up.
Anyway, he should do that first then consider his options. That’s how I would do it.
A basic setup isn’t really that complicated. I think most people can handle it on their own after watching a tutorial or two in YouTube.
The most complicated parts are taking measurements (string to fret distance, string to pickup distance) and intonation.
For the first you just need a good ruler and, ideally, a set of feeler gauges (if you want to know precisely how many mm your action is).
For the second you just need a good tuner.
Both require some patience. But if you’re patient and have attention to detail, you can do just as good a setup on your own as anyone else could do. Better in some ways, as others have said, because you can learn exactly how you like your bass set up and do it that way every time.
Although knowing how to make a basic setup is a good skill to get, beginners tend to buy cheapo basses that might have a few issues either with the wood or the fretwork and only a luthier can help them on that front.
(Note: Some not so cheapo guitars and basses tend to have also issues that need to be adressed to a luthier. I’m looking at you Fender Player and American Pro series. And don’t get me started on Gibson/Epiphone either… )
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