Yeah of course there’s absolutely nothing wrong with measuring if you want to; I just feel it’s harmful to imply that additional tools and measuring are necessary, or for that matter, for basic setups, even particularly helpful.
I think that the idea of doing your own setup for the first time is intimidating enough as it is. Implying that a bunch of tools and gauges are needed, when they in fact aren’t, seems unfortunate to me. That’s what I have a problem with, not the act of measuring itself if you want to.
I guess my point is that, for me, the fact that I’m measuring what I’m doing actually makes it less intimidating. But I get your point as well. In fact, last time I set up my Cort Action, I essentially lowered all strings almost all the way, and then raised each one again until it stopped buzzing. Worked great. Of course, after that I did measure the resulting string height
That’s actually my method - as a first step, first set the truss rod, then lower all the saddles until the strings buzz with normal plucking at the 7th-9th fret, and then raise them until they stop buzzing.
This now has two nice characteristics: you have a nice low action, and the strings follow the fretboard radius (modulo string width - but for me it’s absolutely close enough).
From here, I then either leave it (for fingerstyle - I like a low action) or raise the strings by the same amount until picking at a normal pressure doesn’t buzz at the 7th-9th. This gives a slightly higher action, still following the radius.
From that point if I want to I fine tune the strings - this may get them off the “correct” radius, but sometimes can feel better.
Totally in agreement with everything @howard said in his last couple of responses . …
At first, I was a real stickler about measuring, but it is definitely not necessary. You can do it if you want to, of course, but I just go by “feel” when it comes to string height (action) now. I like my action low, but not enough to cause any buzzing.
I do make an attempt to follow a bit of curvature so that the A and D strings are slightly higher than the E and the G, but again, that is just personal taste.
Measuring and knowing where you are when you like it allows you to get back there at any time.
As for newbies not ‘being able’, I think all are able, but many are not confident enough. people are afraid they will screw something up (which we know is very hard to do) but not to a newbie. I get it, I was there too.
The measuring exercise has taught me a lot too. Having a lot of basses, I now know some need differing setups due to manly factors, I like understanding this.
In the end I do totally get the ‘feel’ piece. I did not a few months ago, it was not comfortable to me, so using a ruler was key. Even with the ruler, and a few standard measurements, i do tweak strings (mostly E strings).
+1 on this sentiment. This makes sense to me when you’re first starting out. Measure, adjust, don’t like what you hear/feel, return to the original setting. Repeat
While not necessarily about measuring etc. I was super impressed when @JoshFossgreen discussed string action height very early on in B2B. I purchased by bass back in early August and spent about 4-6 weeks in the free trial for Fender Play. I worked my way up to level 3 and at no point in that period of time did any of the Fender instructors mention or reference string action height or the possible need for a setup.
I had spent the first two weeks trying to play my brand new bass right out of the box with extremely high string height. So much so that I almost became discouraged right out of the gate. After watching a few YT videos, I realized the setup was wrong and I took it back to GC and they lowered it. I’ve since watched more videos and feel comfortable doing it myself and I have it just about where I think it needs to be based on what I’ve seen and read here on the B2B forums and of course for my own tastes (at least at the point where I am in my journey).
You know that the tools to do proper adjustments and set-ups are their own style of rabbit hole to spend money on. I think I have just about every Music Nomad product their is just to keep mine in tip-top shape. GAS is a disease with no cure. You see a cool toolset with truss rod tools, then a set of fret files, nut files, polishes, waxes, work mats, etc…it never ends.
Yup!! @EddieJones Fun rabbit hole tho
I was pretty proud of myself having made it out of GC yesterday virtually unscathed.
But then I had to hit up Home Depot for a new set of hex keys & ya can’t buy just 1 individual 3 mm hex, besides… what fun would that be?
… might as well get a set of each, Metric & SAE, just because
… and some fretboard conditioner, since they have it
… and might as well grab a precision screwdriver set while I’m there
I bought a $94.00 Music Nomad Tool kit just to get the .050 hex I needed! (I think that was the size or maybe .50.) It was so tiny but I needed it to adjust the saddles on my Warmoth P/J with the HipShot bridge. My justification to my wife was, “Well, you just never know when they might come in handy”.
The best part, though, is you really don’t need any of the tools, and after a couple setups, they don’t really even make things easier. Well, a capo does, but even that is optional, even with small hands. All you really need are the allen wrenches and a phillips screwdriver, and maybe the long T-handle truss rod wrench if your bass is one of the few that needs one. Rulers can be useful but not mandatory. No need for guages at all.
Even for filing the nut - I have found sandpaper and cheap diamond files I already had worked perfectly; buying them new would be under $10 total.
I would recommend a real fret dressing file for dressing fret ends though. StewMac sells a nice and inexpensive one. However for polishing the frets, high grit nail buffers worked perfectly or me. again sub-$10.
I have a $15 set of allen keys from Walmart because of my large collection of tools that came with my basses, I’m always missing the one that I need I have a cheap height gage and feeler gages that I got from amazon and I generally only use them for an initial setup and then I tweak it to taste just by how it plays.
@howard I’ve been looking at the cheap files i have in my junk drawer wondering if they’d work, happy to see that in your post. I have no issue spending money on tools, my GAS isn’t limited to bass gear
But if these will do the job, i could try that baking soda super glue trick tonight, without a trip to the hardware store, or wait on an online order, to fill & re-file a deep nut slot
Another solution for a nut that is too low is to shim under it and file the other slots to match. I did this with some business card stock and it worked perfectly. Seems nicer than filling with goop and then having the string sit in the dried goop.
I’d buy a few nut replacements from Graphtec or something, they aren’t very expensive and are useful to have.
I never tried it because I wasn’t sure how well it would work with synthetic nut material
The nice thing about buying replacement blanks, especially pre-cut, is usually all you need is a sanding block. Sand the edges if needed until flush, sand the bottom until the height is right. Usually with the ones I have tried the pre-cut slots are then fine.
Just sand in small increments by rubbing the nut on a fixed block on the table. Easy and quick. Pop it in, check, sand more if needed, etc.
I have a cheap height gage and feeler gages that I got from amazon and I generally only use them for an initial setup and then I tweak it to taste just by how it plays.