Got My Bass! - Setup Questions

[JammyDodger]

Hey All,

I'm new on the forum. I just received my V63 late yesterday, just in time for rehersal! By the end of the evening I had got to a really nice, balanced tone and my bandmates commented on how the bass cut thru the mix well.

There seem to be a noticable difference in the output levels of the pickups. The horseshoe is considerable louder. I tried pulling the toaster pickup higher but it's as far up as it will go. I thought I had seen somewhere that there are washers under the pickguard that can be removed to give a little more adjustment room. The horseshoe pickup was so low that the strings were hitting against the cover so I had to raise it a little. Any suggestions?

The strings are really high as they go through the nut. I think I'll have to buy some files and take the cuts down a little. Is this common? I have about .060 distance from the string to the first fret with it fretted on the 12th.

Thanks for everyone's help, Mike

[anoukane]

It is possible to remove the horseshoes from the bridge pickup, so that you can lower the pickup as much as you like.

But I'm not the expert here..

[rickaddict]

The strings being really high through the nut is common these days. RIC makes them like that now so that the buyer can choose how high or low he/she wants the action at the nut. Buy some files and do it yourself. You will do a better job than your "guitar tech." I (almost) guarantee it! Be careful not to go to far. I'd say you should be able to bring it down around .020 at the first fret depending on how hard you hammer your strings.

As for the horseshoe pickup...You could turn down the volume on the horseshoe if you prefer the toaster. Or you could remove the pick guard and put thinner spacers on the toaster pickup's mounting screws. Your adjustment will be limited by the thickness of the heads for the pickup cover screws. Some here have removed the pickup cover screws to get the pickup even higher. I'm not sure how they hold the pickup together then. Glue maybe? I haven't found that to be necessary, but then I prefer the bridge pickups to be the louder of the two. Another option is to remove the horseshoes. And another option still is to bend the horseshoes so that they look more like the real 60's horseshoes and follow the radius of the strings/fretboard better.

Good luck.

And welcome!

[jwr2]

Try setting all the knobs to 10 and then rolling back the neck volume to 9-7 range ... somehwere in there fine the sweet spot for tone ...

[teeder]

Try setting all the knobs to 10 and then rolling back the neck volume to 9-7 range ... somehwere in there fine the sweet spot for tone ...

+1 That's what I do with my V63.

Welcome to the club! We need to see pictures, BTW.

[JammyDodger]

Hey All,

Thanks for those suggestions.... Looks like I'm going to Stu-Mac for some files.

The volume suggestion is helpful. I had the bridge pickup on 6-7 to balance the neck. I may just pull the pickguard off to satify my own curiosity and try and see how that horseshoe assembly is put together.

Cheers, Mike

[ben_brown]

Try getting some files that are slightly larger than the strings you are using so the nut won't pinch the strings when tuning.

[VRICKY63]

Hey All,

Thanks for those suggestions.... Looks like I'm going to Stu-Mac for some files.

The volume suggestion is helpful. I had the bridge pickup on 6-7 to balance the neck. I may just pull the pickguard off to satify my own curiosity and try and see how that horseshoe assembly is put together.

Cheers, Mike

That's how I run my V63 - bridge pickup rolled back to match the volume of the neck toaster .