How To Set Up Your Bass

Roger Sadowsky Gives Video Tutorial on How to Prepare Your Bass (Watch)

Legendary bass builder Roger Sadowsky gives yous stride-by-step instructions on how to properly gear up and intendance for your bass

Legendary bass builder Roger Sadowsky gives you step-by-step instructions on how to properly fix and care for your bass

Bass Setup Instructions

"I'd like to take this opportunity to share with you my approach to setting upwards a bass. I've always felt that bass players should be able to do basic maintenance on their own instruments. It'due south not rocket science! I'm going to get over the basic tools, and the basic society in which to approach things with the goal of yous being able to maintain your basses for routine maintenance."

Bones Tools Needed for Setup:

Soft, level, clean work surface with a towel, mat, or any other soft layer that won't scratch the instrument'southward stop.
Some sort of cervix support to hold the neck steady and protect the instrument and surface when the musical instrument is confront down.
Phillips caput screwdriver.
Tuner: any tuner is fine for regular tuning. To suit intonation, it'south best to use a strobe tuner. There are many options available including an Peterson strobe tuner app for your telephone.
Action estimate or six-inch ruler.
Allen wrenches for the bridge (and for the truss rod if you lot have a headstock truss rod).

Basic Setup Steps and the Order in Which to Do Them

Pace One: tightening the neck bolts/strap buttons: "If you take a commodities-on musical instrument, you need to tighten the neck bolts. This is one footstep that everybody overlooks, including myself. Merely information technology is the first thing that y'all should do. They come loose over fourth dimension and information technology's important to stability and sound that they exist tight."

Rest the musical instrument face down and employ your phillips screwdriver to tighten the bolts.
Tip: whenever y'all are using a screwdriver on an instrument, put your fingers effectually the head of the screwdriver to hold it in place. That way, if the screwdriver slips out of the tiptop of the screw, yous won't scratch the finish or dent the wood.
Tighten the neck bolts to "finger tightness." Don't employ an electric drill or screwdriver as that much force can lead to over tightening and damage the wood.
While yous are at it, tighten the strap buttons. They tend to come loose over time as well.

Stride Two: tune upwards: "It's important that the musical instrument exist at pitch when you adjust the truss rod. Currently, I utilise a Peterson clip-on strobe tuner for basic tuning, but you lot tin can utilize whatever tuner you have. For regular tuning, any tuner is fine, I'm just fussy near a strobe tuner for adjusting intonation."

Step 3: adjusting the truss rod: "I know from experience that a lot of yous are terrified of adjusting truss rods. Relax! Information technology's very difficult to break a truss rod. The hardest thing to acquire is when to know that your cervix is properly adjusted."

Why you need to adjust the truss rod 1-2 times a year: "The neck moves as a office, primarily, of humidity changes. It'southward less about temperature and more than near humidity. In temperate climates, when the oestrus goes on towards the end of the year, the neck has a tendency to motion i manner or another. Likewise, when the estrus and humidity of the summer occurs, your neck may motion. So, information technology'southward totally normal to adjust your neck at least twice a year as a result of seasonal changes."

How you lot know that you need to loosen your truss rod: "One of the ways yous'll know that you need to adjust your truss rod: you'll become buzzing in the beginning position/first few frets and non further up the neck. This indicates that the cervix is backbowed a scrap (upside downwardly U shape) and needs to be loosened."

How you know that you need to tighten your truss rod: "If your intonation is really off in the first position/first few frets, that may mean that it is upbowed (regular U shape) and in that location'south too much relief/bend which is raising the height of the strings to a higher place the starting time fret likewise much. Also, if you lot start getting buzzing in the vii-12th fret range, it's an indication that y'all have developed a high spot relative to the 12-15th fret area and at that place'southward too much curve in the neck. The solution for both issues is to tighten the truss rod."

Overall goal: "While some instruments play better when the cervix is slightly back bowed, I have had the all-time success with the neck essentially dead flat."

How to cheque and adjust the truss rod:

- Rest the bottom end of the instrument on your padded workspace and put the headstock over your shoulder and so that you can conspicuously see downwardly the neck from nut to bridge via the lower outer string (B or E).
- Utilize this outer string as your straightedge to see the current curvature of the neck and judge if it'due south back bowed (upside down U shape), upbowed (regular U shape), or apartment (even forth the length of the string) so that you can decide a form of activeness.
- To use the cord equally a straightedge, yous'll "create" a direct line forth the neck by holding the string downwardly at the 1st and 12th fret. This creates a straight edge relative to the neck that allows you to see curve in the neck.
- When doing this, focus your eye to see the curve/gap right around the 7th fret (around the center signal of the curve of the neck). You can see the curve, merely you can also "feel" and better encounter it by lightly tapping on the seventh fret (with the same paw that is holding down 12th fret) to see how much the string moves.
- Y'all'll be able to tell what kind of curve you're working with and how large it is by tapping at the 7th fret. You simply want a touch of low-cal to come through—you lot really don't demand a big gap at that place at all. If y'all can slip a thick business concern card in this space, yous probably take a little too much relief.
- Depending on brightness and position of the low-cal in your workspace, shadows, and the physical awkwardness of holding the bass in this position, it can exist hard to see the curve. We often have to move the neck around to manipulate the light/look at the string from dissimilar angles to actually see the space there.
- A lot of space volition betoken a dorsum bow, no space is probable an upbow, and an even amount across the cord straight edge volition indicate a flat cervix.
- Now, you'll want to tighten or loosen the truss rod depending on your findings. All truss rods work in the same management: If y'all have too much bow and need to tighten the truss rod, you'll want to turn the truss rod clockwise, towards the Yard string/bottom horn of the instrument. If your neck is back bowed and you want to loosen the truss rod, yous'll want to turn the truss rod counterclockwise, towards the lower E or B strings/top horn of the instrument.
- Sadowsky basses have a spoke wheel for adjustments at the base of the fretboard. Apply our truss rod adjustment tool, or any similar, smooth metal object. Insert it through both ends of the spoke wheel and then turn it either clockwise or counterclockwise.
- Other basses may have a truss rod at the headstock. You lot'll need to observe the advisable hex wrench that fits, simply otherwise, the steps are the same.
- Only plough the truss rod ⅛"-¼" of an inch at a time earlier retuning and looking back downwards the neck to assess motion. You may have to do this a few times to get things where you want them.
- If, after you accept adapted the neck, you detect that yous become buzzing on the first, second, or 3rd fret, that is a sign that you may accept overtightened the rod and you just want to loosen it up a little bit—just to the betoken where it clears up the buzzing. If you have buzzing in the seven-12th fret surface area, the truss rod may exist too loose and need tightening.
- Remember that the forest in your neck will need time to accommodate to the new adjustments. Later on a day or so, you'll desire to bank check the neck curve once more to run across how the wood has settled and may demand to make further adjustments. This is completely normal. Be patient with the process.

Pace Four: adjusting the action: "Whenever I measure action, I always hold down the string at the first fret and then mensurate the distance between the acme of the fret and the bottom of the cord at the 12th fret. I hold it down at the 1st fret to eliminate any consequence the nut has on the peak of the string."

Notation: See full setup specs at the lesser of the page.
Most basses have a unlike height adjustment for each saddle. Some basses are more similar a melody o'matic way with one adjustment for the bass and treble side with a fixed curve. But most bridges allow you to adjust each string individually, non just for summit but to maintain a curvature that matches the bend of the fingerboard.
I by and large kickoff by setting the Chiliad to ii/32" and B or Due east to 3/32". I do this by raising or lowering the allen screws in the bridge. Use your ruler to measure the gap nether the 12th fret while still holding downwards the first fret. Just every bit with adjusting the truss rod, you may need to move the bass around to get the right light to encounter the measurement on the ruler.
When you lot adjust the saddles, keep the bottom of the saddle parallel to the bottom of the bridge. Yous don't need to try to adapt the saddle to the bend of the fingerboard. Just proceed information technology direct and don't have i side loftier and the other depression. They should be even.
Once you punch in those two measurements on the outer strings, you want to make each string a little college than the last. You desire the D string to be just a piffling flake higher than the Chiliad, the A cord to be just a little college than the D, the E string to be merely a trivial college than the A, and the B string just a fiddling bit higher than the E.
The but time I've seen players take action as loftier every bit 4/32" to 3/32" was back in the 80's when the instruments weren't equally high quality or were in need of fretwork and retruing. The activity was very high to recoup and then that they would be able to play cleanly.
The only players that I've institute can get lower than 2-iii have been some of the latin and funk players who play with a very very light right hand touch. For players who demand to clear and play cleanly, I'd say 2-3 at the lowest and the highest y'all'd go is 3-4.

Step Five: adjusting the intonation: "This is an expanse where I really similar to use strobe tuners. You can approximate the intonation with a needle or digital type tuner, just nothing is as accurate equally a strobe tuner. It's a good investment and you tin also get a Peterson Strobe Tuner app for your telephone which is nearly $ten and simply as good."

The first thing you want to exercise is get a reference note, the note that you tune to. You can use the open up string or the twelfth fret harmonic, whatever gives you the clearest reading on your tuner. Play that note and make sure that the string is properly tuned.
And then, compare that reference note to the annotation at the twelfth fret on your neck. Pluck the string at a normal corporeality of playing pressure, the same every bit you would use if you were playing the instrument.
To ensure accurateness, you want to hold the musical instrument equally if you are playing it. If you try to compare the two notes and suit them while the musical instrument is laying downwardly on your work surface, it won't exist every bit authentic.
If your 12th fret note is flat relative to your reference note, bring the saddle front closer to the neck.
If your 12th fret annotation is sharp compared to your reference note, you'll desire to pull your saddle back from the neck.
To conform the intonation, most bridges will utilise a phillips caput screwdriver. Loosen or tighten the screw depending on if you lot need to motility the saddle closer or farther away from the front of the bass.
Likewise, push the screw a bit forward with the screwdriver later on the first adjustment every bit information technology tends to develop some slack. This should convalesce that. Overall, visually assess the adjustment spiral to make certain that it'due south not sticking out from the base of the bridge in whatever way or hung up on the ball terminate of your string. Yous want the spiral to lay as flush as the bridge blueprint allows.
Later on, retune your reference notation and play the octave again to see if the note is sharp or flat. Yous may have to repeat this process a few times to go the intonation prepare correctly. This is normal.
Repeat this process for each string.

Once you're done with intonation, you are all done with your setup.

Go ahead and make some music!

SADOWSKY RECOMMENDED SETUP SPECIFICATIONS

Pickup height
Hold cord downwardly at last fret
Measure from bottom of cord to tiptop of pole piece

NYC Custom Built and Satin 5 strings:
G string:
3/32" (2.38mm)

E or B strings
4/32" (3.17mm)

MetroLine/MetroExpress/Satin 4 strings
2/32" (ane.59mm)
3/32" (ii.38mm)

For P-J basses:
Set the bridge pickup to the suggested height. Then adjust the P until you are happy with the
balance between the ii. The P pickup will always have more output than the J pickup.

Action Specs
Hold cord down at start fret
Measure from lesser of cord to top of 12th fret

LOW:
G 2/32" (1.59mm)
B 3/32" (2.38mm)

MED:
One thousand 5/64" (1.98mm)
B 7/64" (ii.78mm)

HIGH:
Chiliad 3/32" (2.38mm)
B four/32" (iii.17mm)

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