The Importance Of Set-Up....

[spongebob]

My 2009 JG came to me with a factory set-up.

Good as it was, by the time it came to the UK, and six months of gigging, the action was a little 'out'.

After searching for a good luthier, I found one close to home who does the custom work for Fender and Gibson, and other stuff for Dave Gilmour, Bono, and many others. He is also the maker of the 'Enfield' brand of custom basses.

I never knew my Ric could sound so good.....the action has been lowered to an amazingly playable level, and the tone is pure what I would call 'classic Ric' (Geddy, Squire....and even Hook's copy...) - it's the tone I always wanted...bags of 'clang', and yet deep bass at the same time.

I'm totally going to get my other Ric set-up the same. It just goes to show what a tweak can do in the right hands!

[jps]

I met Martin at NAMM in January, very nice guy. His Enfield basses are no slouch, either.

[ram]

Iain you speak true. A good setup is worth its weight in snow. You might want to learn to do it yourself - there is a bond there with your instrument.

[spongebob]

Totally right - I'd love to learn how to DIY.

Also Jeff - Martin's place is about 7 miles from me. I had him suggested by someone - I didn't have much idea what he did (knew the custom stuff, but didn't know if he did set-up), and actually asked him "if he'd touched a Ric before, as I wanted someone who knew what they were doing..."

I know better next time....

[ram]

Totally right - I'd love to learn how to DIY.

Try looking through Joey's web site... and checking the archives here - some real good info as to how and why:

http://www.joeysbassnotes.com/

[jps]

For those who do not know who we are talking about:

http://www.enfieldguitars.com/

[badeggs]

Maybe I'm stupid or something, but I just never picked up all that much about set-ups. Even after reading many great threads on the subject here, I got no clue...

Other than changing the action a bit, I've never messed with truss rods, never had intonation problems, as far as I can tell my basses don't go "out of whack" due to seasonal changes or temperature, humidity, or weather (and I live a few miles from the ocean). Whenever I check things (open string, 12th-fret harmonic, etc.) everything is even, the neck is straight, and so on. They sound and play great, all the time.

But from what I hear, the set-up often needs to be checked and tweaked. I sometimes feel like I must have been missing something all these years...I know there are players on here who speak about feeling the need to make a tiny adjustment and suddenly the bass sounds or plays way better, or those who check the rods in the summer or winter. But I don't know what those adjustments are or even how to spot the need for them. I've been playing bass, among other things, for 23 years and honestly I'm really damn good at it, so I'd hope by now I could tell if something was way off. But like reading music, set-up is just a mystery to me. I think things are fine, they sound fine, so I just go with it...

[doctorwho]

... they sound fine, so I just go with it...

That's a good approach, akin to the "if it's not broken, don't fix it" school of thought.

Personally, I like tweaking my basses and guitars. If something gets way out of kilter (for whatever the reason) then I know how to approach the problem to resolve it.

[aceonbass]

Intonating your bass by using 12th fret harmonics is the WRONG way to do it. Harmonics are okay for tuning on the fly at a gig or whatever, but when you set up a bass or guitar, you set the harmonics at the 12th fret with a FRETTED note. I'm assuming most players play fretted notes more often than harmonics during a song. If you set the intonation by 12th fret harmonics, by the time you've pulled the string down to fret, it's gone sharp. If you like high action, it's even worse.

[rickenbrother]

I never use harmonics to intonate or to tune an instrument. It's really not a good way to do either.

[whojamfan]

+1 on Joeys Bass Notes for how to do a set up. He's not just a friend, but someone who really knows what he's talking about. I was able to remove the bridge cover and modify some things('cos I'm a nut), and having the pictures and advice really turned what could have been a big pain in the shorts in to a quick and enjoyable experience. I followed his simple directions, and was quite happy with the results as far as playability and such. I never had a Rick bass before, so I wasn't sure if I had done it "right", even though it felt and sounded good(but what do I know? I play guitar )
So I finally get to meet the guy after years of friendship here on the forum, and I have the bass with me-great-get to ask someone who knows where my 4003AFG sits in the world of RIC 4000 series basses. He first says, "Wow, I like the set up, who did that?" and I said "You did"
My point is this, if someone who has no idea how to set up or adjust a RIC bass can set one up where a seasoned professional can positively comment, it's worth a look and a try.
Having an instrument properly set up is absolutely the single best way to get the most out of it, IMHO
Thanks Joey.

[rickenbrother]

Mikey, you are too kind, my friend!

As far as intonation goes, if there any one single reason why to learn set up a bass yourself, that's it!
In emails, I always get asked, "How hard should I press down on the string at the 12th fret when playing the note when intonating?" I tell them, just like how you play your bass. You should be holding the bass or guitar just like you are actually playing, when you play notes to intonate it. Everyone plays differently. Some people are heavy handed when fretting notes, others have a lighter touch. Most good guitar techs know to use a moderate touch when fretting the 12th fret to do intonation. But there's nothing like your own feel for your own playing.

[superdick2112]

It never ceases to amaze me just how many seasoned bassists there are who never learned the art of setting up their own basses. Not that there is anything wrong with having a pro do it, its just that I have better things to spend my money on. For me, all it took was coughing up 25 bucks (per bass) every few months for the first 3 years I was playing, and when I actually saw what the tech was doing & how quickly he did it, I knew I had to learn how to do it myself. I figure I've saved over $2k in set-up charges over the past 25 years, basically paying for my 4003. Hey, now theres some motivation to learn to DIY! That, & you will never again have to struggle at a gig with a less-than-perfect set-up.

[ram]

I, for one, have had good and bad set ups preformed by others… even with the good ones I still like to fine tune the set up to the way I like it. Plus you are just that little bit more ‘in’ with your bass. Once I have mine where I like it, just a little seasonal tweaking keeps it right in the groove. Each of my three Rics respond differently to seasonal changes… but a little touch here and there brings it up to full performance.