ok here goes . I got my new Squire Jazz Bass and, following Josh’s advice and your tube video, regarding the neck relief. I couldn’t get the business card under without forcing the E string up a bit. This is using the holding down of fret one and thirteen and putting the business card at fret seven. I have loosened the rod 3 quarter turns and it still moves the string slightly when using this method. Now, the silly newbie bit: do I need to loosen it again so the business card can freely move under the string without resistance?
I have a new set of strings of higher quality coming next week to ill wait and do a set up with better strings. I’m used to a high action, as that was on the second-hand bass I had.
Once you have the process down, you’ll make little adjustments as the weather changes. It’s no big deal anymore - it took me a little bit to get to that point though.
Fantastic information in his videos. My only issue with them is I think he overcomplicates it a bit. For example, I don’t think buying feeler gauges for neck relief is a good idea - the bounce/feel method works fine, leads to excellent results (and frankly probably better than picking an arbitrary spec), and is very fast.
I think videos like Josh or Marcelo’s make better “how to” setup videos, especially for beginners. Then videos like Carruthers’ are good for reference if there’s something tricky or weird.
In general when I make adjustments I don’t do lowest or any kind of -est on any bass. I’d give a mil or 2 so I don’t have to keep adjusting. Low setup is pretty terrible to play in general. I usually go for low-ish,
