Make your Bass Playable! By Garret Graves

Did you know that there are 5 adjustments that you are expected to make on your bass to make it playable? This point can’t be overstated- there is a dramatic difference between an instrument set up to be its playable best, and one that isn’t. For instance, a nut that is too high, strings too high or low, a neck that is too bowed in one way or the other and pickups that are too far from the strings (or too close) will drastically alter the feel in your hands, and the sound your bass makes. A lot of players harshly judge the basses that they try out at large chain stores without realizing that the instrument merely need a few minutes with the right tools and it’s suddenly a great playing bass. Maybe one of the basses you play is too uncomfortable in your hands, or plays out of tune with other players (even after tuning the strings carefully), or is weak coming out of your amp. But that same bass, when the appropriate adjustments are made- (the same adjustments you are expected to know how to make!) will play smooth as silk in your hands, play perfectly in tune with other players and pump a huge sound out of your amp.

Let me give you typical examples from the forums at Talkbass.com-These prove the points I’m trying to make-

Shawshank72 said

“There was a kid selling an old Fernandes Precision Bass Made in Japan, for $150.
I drove the hour out to see it. It was in bad setup shape, like a bow and arrow.
He said he tried to learn but it just didn’t feel comfortable so he’s been picking it up and putting it down and now it’s in the closet. I asked if I could have some time to set it up while we BS and he said sure, I wanted to make sure it could be playable. I did my thing and damn! What a great bass!
As he watched me doing the setup he eyes were big with a lot of woahs and ahhhs.
I said “I will take it!”. He then picks it up and just goes nuts playing it, like a kid on Christmas morning.
Now he doesn’t want to sell it, he was apologizing repeatedly and saying “wow, wow, oh man it’s awesome.”

 -A few quick adjustments and the unplayable dog of a bass was transformed in minutes to an ‘I can’t put it down’ player. The bass’s owner had no idea that he could do those things. He is not alone, even some people that have played for years can be in the dark too. A member, ‘reddog ‘ replied to the above post “Right on! Wish someone had done that for me 20 years ago. Very sadly I sold my stunning 70's jazz in a pawn shop in France... watched the guy tweak the truss, lower the action and... Poof! Super playable! The pain I needlessly endured for 3 years! Not even one teacher ever set me straight. Brother, you're goin’ straight thru those pearloid gates!”

There are also countless tales of people trying out expensive basses at various stores and thinking they are crap compared to other cheaper models on the rack, when in fact the REAL truth is the setup that the potential buyer is experiencing on the expensive bass is either way off specs for any player (it happens a lot) or the set up isn’t right for the player, so he rejects the whole bass as crap. There is another point to be made there- the set up that is good for one person can be unplayable for another. So let’s do a breakdown of what these 5 adjustments are.

The actual order these things should be done is presented. It is vital to do them in this order. 

THE NECK

WHY- The neck needs to be ALMOST flat, which allows you to lower the strings close to the frets. Important for comfort, playing accuracy and playing in tune! Since it is made of wood, the neck will move a bit through changes in season, especially with drastic changes in humidity.

TOOLS NEEDED- The appropriate hex key or tool provided by the manufacturer.  For most accurate work you will need a capo and automotive feeler gauges. This will help you to accurately measure the amount of relief your neck has. Note the picture of a truss rod located at the top of the neck, being adjusted by an appropriate sized ‘hex’ wrench.

 

DETAILS-Most bass fretboards are not supposed to be perfectly flat, they need a very slight concave relief. Luckily, your bass has a way to adjust this relief- the truss rod. The truss rod is accessed either at the headstock or the base of the neck. It usually takes a hex key, though some of the newest basses have a wheel type device right at the base of the neck. 

THE SADDLE- STRING HEIGHT

After the neck is put into its proper curve in step 1, you adjust the height of the strings off the fretboard. Personally, I play fairly hard, so my strings are set higher than many players. There are people who play very softly, using the amp to get volume- those players can have lower strings than I do. It’s a personal thing, and you just have to get to know yourself as a player. For instance- In the practice room, I could have nice low strings and play softly all day- but when I’m in a band setting that would all go out the window and I would be digging in during a lot of the more intense tunes- so I keep the strings higher so that I’m ready for my hard playing.

Before setting height- One important thing to note is that the fretboard is not flat from one side to the other- it is curved, usually to a 9.5 inch or 10 inch radius. There are special radius gauges made by stewmac that come in all the major sizes. My point here is that you don’t just lower the strings to the fret board in a flat profile straight across- that would leave (on a 4 string bass) your E string and G string higher off the fretboard than your A and D strings! You can either buy the radius gauges and use them to help you set the height, or at the very least, make sure your outer strings are a bit lower than your inner strings, and that they match the curvature of the fretboard as best as you can by eye. Then, be sure to keep that general curve profile when you experiment with finding your own preferred string height. It’s as simple as that- experiment to find your height! You will probably have basses that will be set up differently depending on the type of strings and even they type of music you will be playing.

Watch the following video by John Carruthers on the way to do it, I recommend all of his set up videos- John Carruthers Youtube

THE NUT

WHY- The nut should be checked for a high clearance, because if you can lower it, you should- it will make playing much more comfortable up in the first position or two, where you will spend hours playing. This work needs practice- don’t start on your main bass!

TOOLS- Nut files, automotive feeler gauges

DETAILS-The nut is sent out on the majority of production basses with the slots cut too high off the fretboard. This is to allow flexibility in set up, some players like a tall nut, some take it as low as it can go. If it’s too low for a hard driving player, the strings will fret out, and the only sound you’ll get is a horrible clank- so you have to be careful in lowering the nut. With a high nut, you are fighting the pressure of a string high off the fretboard when you are pressing the string down, especially at that first fret. It needs to be ‘slotted’ deeper, that is, carefully cut lower, with special nut files. Cutting those slots lower is immediately noticeable, especially if you have been playing that bass for some time- it will seem broken in, some people call it ‘buttery’ or ‘silky’- it’s just so much easier to fret those notes, you feel like you can play all day compared to that old high nut.

This work is usually reserved for a trained guitar tech, though if you have a few basses, including especially a cheap starter bass that you hardly ever play, you can buy the appropriate nut files, watch the videos, read the articles and give it a go.

Watch the following video for the technique- John Carruthers Youtube

THE SADDLE- INTONATION

WHY- When you put a string on the bass, it needs to line up perfectly with the fret scale length on the neck, so that pressing the string to a fret plays a note in tune. You tune your strings with a tuner, but the bass will play out of tune when you fret notes- if you have not intonated the bass for each string.

TOOLS NEEDED- You need a very accurate tuner. I recommend a Peterson strobe tuner or the iPhone app from Peterson called iStroboSoft. Your average tuner will do better than nothing, but the App is only 10 dollars, and is spot on- better than the 100 dollar Boss tuner I have!

Here is the idea- The length of the string is adjusted at the saddle, by moving the saddle itself back or forth- either toward the neck to make the string effectively shorter- or conversely- away from the neck, making the string longer. This is necessary for many reasons- all the different gauges (thicknesses) of strings available and the fact that they are made to be at pitch under wide varieties of tension. Some strings have a higher tension than others. Also, the strings are suspended above your fret board and instead of running straight across, they fan out, from the nut to the bridge, they spread farther apart. Also, depending on how high you keep your strings above the fretboard, you can’t escape the fact that to bring the string down to the fret, you have to bend it down to get there. The idea of the moveable saddles is you can set the string length to match it to the fret board, so that fretting the notes plays notes that are actually in tune.

METHOD-The way to set intonation is to play the harmonic at the twelfth fret (the ‘snake eyes’ mark the 12th), and tune it to the electronic tuner. Playing a harmonic is different than fingering a note at the fret. To play a harmonic, put your finger lightly on the string without pressing it down- right above the fret- then, pluck the string. Practice this until you can produce a clear, ringing harmonic. Keep in mind, you have to take your finger off the string immediately after plucking it for a harmonic,  you don’t leave your finger there- it is the same idea behind an open string, let the string ring free. There are harmonics all over the string, but here, we are only using the one right above the 12^th fret, the octave. At the 12^th fret you will be playing the note one octave higher than your open string. Play the harmonic and check your tuning. After you have tuned the string to the harmonic, and being careful to press straight down (not bending the string sideways at all), finger that note at the twelfth fret. It should be exactly the same, not sharp, not flat. Here is the key-You have to adjust the string saddle until the sound of the harmonic at the 12^th is exactly the same as the fingered note. This adjustment will be very small- probably less than 5/64 inch (2mm) If the fingered note is flat compared to the harmonic then the saddle needs to be moved towards the neck, i.e. making the string a little bit shorter…. If the fingered note is sharp compared to the harmonic, then the saddle needs to be moved away from the neck, i.e. making the string a little bit longer. After you are satisfied that you have intonation set- set the string by pressing it down lightly just immediately ahead of the saddle- this will flatten the new string out at the saddle and give it its point. It’s as simple as that! Failing to make this important adjustment means that your bass will play out of tune even when you have tuned the string perfectly.