The Session Bassist : Episode 1 - Setting up your bass

[HealingHorizon]

I got a problem, My bass is a long scale (34") with angled back headstock with fat tuning posts strung with EB hybrid slinkies. Recently, I thought about replacing the strings with a new set of EB Hybrid slinkies. But, I cut the E string to short and theres only 1 wrap around the fat tuning posts It buzzes like hell when I play open E string but no buzz at all when playing any fretted E. Can you please help me and help me figure out whats the problem here?

[MultiTechnicss]

This is your way to do but not the right way to do

[letmegivetheworld2u]

did I hear nut sauce??

[gspotr69]

Is that neck relief a typo? (at 0:36)

You have 0.03 to .40" .40" is almost 1/2 Inch

Did you mean 0.03 to 0.04" maybe?

[ramirezchad]

You got a pretty sweet voice man.. No homo Haha

Do you know where I can find some help with my Epiphone Viola?

Maybe you can do a setup on this bass???

Everyones having trouble with those darn viola basses.. Really!

And I can't find anything anywhere that can help me out the setup

is a little different...

Thanks Again :)

[DMTfabric]

I meant that youre saying youre turning to the right but actually turning to the left

[DMTfabric]

your saying that youre turning to the left in the video but it seems your actually turning to the left... im i retarder or something?

[RotnRoll77]

1:36

[Basstard22]

im getting a bit confused with measuring the gap between the E string and the neck. i've learned that i should press down the string at the first fret and at the fret where the body and neck come together (so let's say the 15th fret for my bass). then i would measure around 0.3 mm, but isn't that way too small?

[TheRealLucasLee]

your mom loved my nut sauce.

[ForgottenToilet]

Thanks man, you just saved someone 50-60 dollars

[Mitraeltheprophet]

well it's best to test intonation and generally the tuning at playing position and not while lying down on a table or whatever you use... gravity and even the forces that are applied to the head of the instrument when it is on lying position would bend the neck and then change a little bit the length of the string.. so everything you do best to be tested in playing position after all only the that position matters...

[crazybadcuber]

this video is great. THANKS MAN!!!

[ridingroy]

"Nut sauce" to raise the nut height ? That's a lubricant. There are only three ways I know of to raise the nut: 1) CYA(crazy glue applied to the nut slots and allowed to cure, StewMac makes excellent glues for this) 2) Remove the nut and insert a shim below it 3) Install a new nut. Any of these options are best performed by an experienced luthier. Nut sauce mentioned here might confuse people.

[AngeluaCristaia398]

hehë_í_fÊèl_sò_l0ñÈlý_tòDÂy

[6Star6Scream6]

I have a Spector Professional Legend 4 Classic (Made in Korea). It was well set-up from the factory, but due to my itchy trial-&-error hands, I made the bass totally f*cked up. Thanks to your video, I've re-set up my Spector and now it pop/slaps brilliantly, almost as good as a Spector ReBop DLX (Made in Czech Rep). Damn.

Thanks Session Bassist.

[thedarksun8891]

ok, well i've played a stinger sbx and when i replaced the strings a few months back i noticed they were kinda high and i figured that would go away after a while of playing and they still havent, what do i do? I have some kind of ernie ball strings i just cant remember what

[Galaxie5OO]

I'm really not the kind of person to criticize youtube videos, but really? Different sized credit cards? How do you know how thick they are? Why don't you just use the tool you used to measure the cards to measure the gaps? If it only has to be close, why not just eyeball it without the card? How much are a set of feeler gauges? Like, 5 bucks? If you need to measure something an inch thick do you just stack about 25 credit cards together? A precision job requires a little more precise "how-to".

[sawsome123]

How hard are you pressing at the end of the last fret for relieving tension, the video makes it hard to tell whether you are lightly touching the string or pushing it down

[faisalfarissi]

its cort a4 first edition

[MetalElf]

Thanks for the info!!! Looks like the kiddies got a huge kick out of the nut sauce comment.

[wasitthat]

you should never tune or intonate with the instrumnent laying down, always perform adjustments in playing position as the instruments tuning will vary slightly from playing to horizontal position. dont believe me? try it yourself. plug it in to the tuner, pluck an open string, and rotate the instrument from playing to horizontal position or vice versa, and watch the tuners readout change yourself. interesting setup video, yet far from all encompassing, or precise.

[sneha1965]

Good information. It would be nice to have the audio balanced at the beginning and end to match the volume of the narrator so those listening with headphones aren't blowing their ears out, but otherwise great vid.

[16coreprocessor23]

im sorry but what do u mean by bass (###) treble (###)?

[mikeb37167]

Great video, thanks for the help.

[NukeGenious]

This is pure gold!!

Thank you so much!!

People forward this to every bassist you know.

We don't need to spend our money on the bass set up.

[djbadsector]

"nut sauce"? wow.

[cysublime]

after trying some adjustments I now get a sitar sounding type of sound when I hit an open D and a little bit as well on an open A. On fretted notes this does not sound, just on the two open strings....help!!!

[Frostystraidlazed]

1:37 "Nut sauce" ;P

[HammerSmashedFace92]

can i use the credit card thing on a guitar?

\,,/Priest ov Sodom\,,/ S.I.N.

[faisalfarissi]

omg i want that bass,it a cort firs artisan A4,it has a nice sound

[imacf90]

holy crap i didnt know it went this much into detail. great video.

[Hasselnorris]

You're a hero. Go raibh míle maith agat!

[yolchie]

Seriously bro... THANK YOU for taking the time to post this for all of us. You just saved me the $82.50 that Guitar Center was trying to rob me for a same-day set-up. Chuckleheads! My bass is now flawless after 20 minutes of work.

[micagas]

thank you for this video it helped me a lot! thnks!

[perzaval]

your video was really helpful

[kidrocker1996]

umm how he says "the width of a credit card", does he mean between the string and the fret, or the string and the fretboard?

[ScannerPortugal]

The fret, i believe

[flcn92]

Just a tip but when setting your intonation, you need to have you bass or guitar in playing position. Not laying on the work bench, reason being the neck and headstock does not need to be resting on anything because it will relieve the tension on the string needed for it to play in tune in the first place. Just a rule of thumb. Thanks a lot for your video post!

[andretoyo]

Great video, do u know how I do this job on the Epiphone Viola?

[EasyEndorement94]

lolz nut sauce. but great video, useful information helped me out.

[mikalmaiden]

lmao!! nut sauce!!

[Ranger11413]

He said " Nut Sauce " !

[ReDhAvEn1993]

Can I do this without removing the strings?

[ReDhAvEn1993]

What size allen keys do I need for this? Does it depend on the bass?

[Drblooter99]

"What we're doing is shifting the position of the saddle to achieve the proper scale length, in this case 34 inches"

But a properly set up bass has saddles in different positions -- they can't all be 34inches from the nut. Please explain.

[VesterNissan]

great info!!

[LazinessPaysOffNow]

Can someone help me? I'm having fret buzz on the higher frets. Theoricly, the action is well adjusted and the truss rod too. Can someone tell me what I'm doing wrong?

[paco777david]

@LazinessPaysOffNow

Good rule of thumb: If you're strings buzz above the 12 fret then you have too much bow in the neck. If they buzz around the first five frets then the neck is too straight. If you have a buzz on all frets... you're action is just too low. lol

[elavate7]

this really helped man, thanks

[Bassists92]

can anyone help me???

i setup my bass as he said: the gauge of 7th fret should be a credit card..

my fret buzz now, after done all his four steps...

[Nick5379]

I would say to just loosen it a little more. Always be careful though. But just because it worked for him doesn't exactly mean it will work for you.

[RG17o]

If you've got new strings, they'll buzz for 3-4 days or so, but it should be fine after a while.

If your still getting buzz you might need to bring the action up slightly, or adjust your truss rod

[1hadagayname]

dude the buzz has nothing to do with new strings, its to do with the intonation (adjustment of bridge) and the adjustment of the neck. if you do not get your facts right you will end up costing people a lot of time and money due to your incompetence.

[1hadagayname]

check and adjust the height of the saddle (not adjust how close the saddle is to the back pickup for intonation). there should be some small allen key holes on top of the saddles for you to adjust the height of the strings in relation to the finger board. this should be done before you intonate. And unfortunately the person whom has made this video is teaching you the wrong way to do it. Hope this helps you.

[adriangstereo]

does anyone knows what is the allen size key to adjust an ibanez sr305 bass guitar?

[gghak]

some nut sauce lol.

[DameStaley]

what kind of bass are you setting up here in this video? i love the wood color. looks like a neck thru body? i tried finding the bass when i saw the "e" decal on the headstock. couldn't find it tho. thanx man...

[taviswardlaw]

I think that's actually the stylized 'c' of a cort. I may be mistaken though. Looks like one of the older ones. Great quality basses for the price, used to have bartollini pickups in them too.

[namuxtree]

elrick basses

[nicoptw]

realy amazing video, it encouraged me to set up my bass myself. question: in the first step, is it the 7th or the 8th fret?

[rockandsalvation]

this is the best setup video I've seen on Youtube.

[nicoptw]

hey man, incredible video! i´m having somre troubl ewith fret buzz in the 1st fret, i measured everythin and seems o be ok, what should i do?

[akalkive]

Great vid! We want episode 2!

[robertboucher92]

1:37

[michiganmadman]

Wow, my bass was all wrong!

Strings used to be all guess work for me!

I was always afraid to mess with the truss rod!

Big help, Thanx  thesessionbassist!!

[sm0ka352]

what about step three (again) with the sting height at the 24 fret? I have a fender that just goes to the 21 fret sound it be the same height as his?

[MassMurderrer]

when i play F, the string sort of rattles, a lot. how do i get rid of that?

[C33Four]

Your neck is too tight or your string saddles are too low.

[MassMurderrer]

thanks. i had adjusted the neck a while ago and it reduced the rattling, but it was still there and made it sound like crap when i played without an amp.

[thebassmaster13]

Something I've learnt recently:

Intonation - I took my bass into the shop to get a setup and he said the best way to do the intonation is not the 12 fret/harmonic, like I (now) used to, but to do say 5th D string, open G, then 17th D (one octave) open g and finally harmonic 12th on the D open G (interval of a 5th). Repeat for the rest. 7th fret G open D and 19th G open D for the G string. Then you're intonation is according to the strings together, not just by themselves.

[thesessionbassist]

Very true this is an excellent way to check your intonation. However the thing I was doing at the 12 fret was not relative intonation but making a minor adjustment to the scale length (I was actually pressing down at the 12th fret). Your bass may be in tune for your open string (eg. E String) but can be slightly out of tune at the 12th fret on the E string. This is due to the scale length either being slightly shorter or longer than OEM specification (eg. 34). Hope this helps to clarify.

[inkey2]

when you do the intonation adjustment make absolutely sure the head stock is "not" touching or resting against your work bench. Just touching the surface of the bench can make your settings off. The ideal way to set intonation on any electric guitar is to hold the guitar in the "playing position" on your lap, like you are sitting down to play. Since you play in this position....it only makes sense to "set the intonation in this position"

[thesessionbassist]

I do it this way so it's easier to make the adjustments. Provided that your bass isn't resting on your tuners it won't be a problem for your intonation. If you have a neck with a step and not a headstock angle, I would recommend stuffing a T-shirt or something soft to prop-up the neck so the tuners aren't resting on the table.

[cookiedoekeith]

Dude thank you SO MUCH for this vid. It's helped me set up my shitty Rockbass and now it actually plays relatively well. Thanks again!

[robytata21]

oh! i still need to make a bank account so im gonna have a credit card, and then im gonna fix my bass. haha! jokin

[joejohnstonjoe]

did he say nut sauce?

[latterlort]

how do you pres both in the top and the bottom of the string and insert the criditcard at the same time? i only have two hands... :P

[iloverush123]

I'm still confused about adjusting a Stingray neck. Can anyone post a vid of that?

[Pablogogo]

Thank you very much. Looking forward to video two.

[Gooders45]

cool, thanks, make another!!

[melhakim]

Does the same apply on a fretless bass ? Wouldn't a credit card be too thin for that ?

[bigtoine45]

Very helpful.  Thanks

[bl5528]

Ok, based on this forum post it looks like I need a Yamaha wrench to adjust the truss rod...Would you happen to know what that is? Thank you so much for all of your help!

[1Frustr8dMusician]

THanks much for the valuable information.

[bl5528]

Hi, I've got a Yamaha BB300 where the truss rod access is at the bottom - I removed the back plate to get access but it looks like there's a screw that needs to be turned. Help :)

[thesessionbassist]

Any chance you could post a link to a photo of it?

[wannabeemarlowdk]

Thanks so much for posting...this helped out a lot - 5 stars!

[nbw86]

Am I the only immature SOB who laughed when he said "nut sauce" ?

Great info, can't wait for future videos. :)

[HaitchP2008]

Naah lol your not alone =)

[MCLOVIN50]

How do you change string height??

[thesessionbassist]

String height is adjusted at the bridge (see the end of the video). As mentioned if you are having problems with the string height at the first fret you can potentially file down or to raise purchase a product called "Nut Sauce".

[MCLOVIN50]

I have a different bridge.

It's an S-Tek bridge, and I'm not sure how to raise the string height.

Are you familiar with S-Tek bridges?

[thesessionbassist]

S-Tek uses the same method for adjusting the string height (allen key), it just looks a bit different.

[polishpirate123]

what do you do when you have 2 truss rods

[thesessionbassist]

Do your measurement and adjustment on both sides of your board. Start with your B-string and do a 1/4 turn either which way, then switch over to the treble side and measure and adjust accordingly using the G or C string.

[polishpirate123]

yeah thats what i did

[thesessionbassist]

Awesome. How did it work?

[polishpirate123]

well you were about right the second truss rod had more effect on my B E and A string and the first had more effect on my D and G strings

[halloweenfiend666]

Very good info! I already knew all this, however u made it simple and to the point. Great for amateur bassists who may be afraid to mess w/ these types of things. Please please please make episode 2 soon! Thanks.

[xxxjun]

i did about everything that u did on this vid, however my bass starts to have fret buzz starting from 8th fret on the e string...how can i fix this???

[thesessionbassist]

Sorry for the delayed reponse... Is the buzz from the 8th fret - 24th fret, 8th fret down to 1st fret, or just at the 8th fret?

[lachmister]

i just put new pickups fender pickups in my non fender bass and now the presission pickups hum something shoken when i dont have my hand on the strings, active bass ofcause. what should i do? do i need shielding or is there something bigger wrong here?

[thesessionbassist]

Did you change out the pots as well? Before you start adding shielding all over the place make sure that your wiring is correct. What type of pickup did you have? What type of preamp is in your bass? And what is the make / model of the one your replacing it with?

[lachmister]

yeah yeah im in the process of rewiring and i got bartolini pots in it, my electrition frind solved the humming problen there was a flipin short on one of the circuit boards now all i need to do is get the action a tiny bit lower =] cheers bro have a good one

[vewsong]

good video! what's the music at the beginning by the way?

[aJazzcat]

sorry, also when i go to adjust the intonation the note at the 12th fret is always sharper than the open string no matter how i set it

[thesessionbassist]

Try detuning your string so there is no tension on the saddle. Make sure your saddle is moving away from the fretboard as you're sharp at the 12th fret. If it looks like your saddle isn't moving try putting a bit of WD40 in the threads (make sure to wipe up any residue). Give it a good couple of turns, tune back up and check it. And remember if you're making small adjustments, make sure that you tune the open string before checking the intonation @ 12th fret. Let me know how it goes.

[aJazzcat]

for bridges with two adjacent slots for adjusting height what should you do to just lower the string?

[thesessionbassist]

What kind of bass (or model of bridge) do you have?

[aJazzcat]

warwick 5 string bridge for corvette standard

[thesessionbassist]

Use an allen key (turn to the left)in both the slots to decrease the height of the saddle.

[Funkyb4ssist]

Very helpful

[jovisha69]

Thanks mate this is great

[thesessionbassist]

I am glad you found it of use!