If you or someone you know prefers articles to videos, this is the one-stop setup article to rule them all and in the darkness bind them.
If it seems familiar it’s because it’s Josh’s video in word-form.
If you want a visual/scrollable reference for all things setup, here it is!
My dream:
Bad tone - down 56%
Super high action - down 95%
Bad intonation - down 73%
People loving the way their bass plays - up 87%
Nice article, @Gio.
Free Kickstart Course? Has that always been a thing? That’s a great idea.
Due to bad eyesight and glasses, I find it too hard to read the small markings on a ruler, especially when they’re between a string and a pickup. So to adjust my action, I built a custom tool. I figured out the height of the strings above the last 2 frets on a bass with action I liked, and then glued together two slim Dunlop pickups which matched that height. Now I just put the picks across the last 2 frets, under the string, and adjust the saddles up or down until the string is hovering just above the picks. 
How much neck relief do people usually actually play with? Obviously you want a bit of forward bow but not a ton.
I’ve been aiming to have the neck just forward bowed of straight. I can tap on the 7th fret, and hear a click, but I would not have clearance to fit a business card.
Is that too little front bow?
I’m probably not the best person to answer you, but I’m going to anyway. 
I try to keep my necks as straight as I can, with as little action as I can, without causing buzz or clanks. So I adjust to straight, set the action, and then fiddle until it’s clean. Usually that winds up with a slight forward bow, but pretty darn close to straight.
That’s ideal, assuming no radical string buzzes. The action can then be fine-tuned first at the saddles.
Of course, the nut can be adjusted by removing or adding material from/to it if there is string buzz at the first few frets, assuming higher up the neck is good to go.
I know i should probably check the setup on both my basses. They were fine last time i looked, but i am freaked out that they may need adjusting now.
Because despite the fact that everyone here has said numerous times that if you go slowly and don’t act like an idiot you can’t mess anything up, I am still paranoid about breaking something.
I have watched that video from Josh (and some others) a few times but i am just overly paranoid.
Spaceballs - The Article!
That’s normal. It takes a few times going through it to get comfortable with doing all that. Fall is right around the corner though, and you’ll absolutely need to break out the tools and make some adjustments as the weather starts to turn (unless you live in Hawaii, SoCal, or south FL). Not a bad time to figure out if you’re going to need new strings and having those on hand too.
Relax. Take is slow. You can pause for as long as you need at any time.
The only thing that could offer the chance to cause damage is adjusting your truss rod. Just limit how much you adjust it between each time you check it. Usually access only lets you rotate 1/6 turn before you need to pull the key out and replace it. Set a limit for yourself like, no more than 2.5 twists (1/2 turn) at a time. Then tune it back up and check it. At that limit, you might go too far and get back bow instead of front bow, but you’re not going to break it.
One caveat - I have damaged my strings when adjusting the truss rod at the neck. I didn’t loosen them, so I pushed the allen key into them while they were under tension and put a small bend in them once. Oops. Worst case scenario, I learned a $25 lesson.
I do initial truss rod tweaks at 1/8-inch turns, at most. If I need a scosh more, I’ll give it an additional 1/16th-inch turn and that’s the ticket 99.9% of the time.
After I bought my first I watched some YT vids then went to town. The only thing you could really screw up is the truss rod, just go slow. Actually, grab a bass and start playing with it; lower the action, raise it, play with the intonation, R&R strings, etc. That way you’ll have a good grasp of what everything does. It’s all quite simple 
Like everyone else said “take your time”. There are several really good videos and with basic knowledge on how to use the tools you should be fine. The truss rod, make sure you use the right size wrench and don’t muscle it. The right tools and knowing how to use them is the key to doing any work. This video on acoustic guitar setup was an eye opener for me doing my own setups. Listen to what the tech says about the truss rod. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2stbT3enl9k
Again, another great article @Gio.
How are your articles navigated to on the bassbuzz website, if not following a link from the forum? I’m feeling like I’m missing something.
Agreed. This actually leads me to a small request:
I’d really like a sticky link to these articles. Something in the menu at the top or a dropdown or something.
These are great. I’ve found myself sharing the bass-buying guide with people, but have had to hunt through the forum to find the link to it. I’d like to be able to navigate to it quickly to share.
Thanks @JustTim - I think the free Kickstart Course is on the newer side? This year, I believe, maybe around the same time as the course revamp.
If you click on “all lessons” from the BassBuzz home page you end up in a giant pot boiling over with my articles:
This… could happen? It just makes me think of sticky bombs, and then sticky buns, and then monkey bread in that order.
Never mind. I guess these are all under “Lessons”. Which is right there and exactly what I’m looking for.
I was just getting thrown off because I think of these as “articles” not “lessons”. But that distinction isn’t a big deal, and I think it would just crowd things or mess up the flow of the UI for the site to add more options for people to click on.
The 7-day kickstart existed back in November. I did it before I bought B2B.
Well, shit! I had no idea. Great idea, though!