How I set up my bass (and the “rasp” secret)

I am new to playing bass and it was pretty scary to lower those strings on my own! I was sweating blood and water, worried about me ruining my bass but actually I really managed to lower them to a good distance thanks to your clip.. woohoo!

Been using the "rasp" for years. I love the low action. It's not about strength for me, it's about technique.

There's one more issue important for a great set-up: the nut height (mostly an issue on cheaper basses).

I have been playing for 38 years. You are the ONLY bass channel I subscribe to on Clip-Share. You are the only person who consistently provides information I could trust any students with.

“Orange Sprague” refers to the manufacturer and model type of the tone capacitor. Once manufactured by Sprague, then Vishay/Sprague(1993), the “Orange Drop” line is now manufactured by Cornell Dubilier. The “Orange Drop” caps are a radial leaded Mylar capacitor. They’re called “Orange Drop” caps because they’re dipped in an orange plastic coating. The main point is that they are a high quality Mylar capacitor, and not a ceramic disc capacitor. The “Orange Drop” cap has attained a level of fame in the amplifier world. That reputation has spilled over into tone circuits for guitars.

Satin neck finishes seem to feel so much smoother to me at least...Thanks Scott for your contributions to the bass community...You are truly appreciated!

Glad to see you with Czech brand.
I am proud that my country can make somethinh usefull and enjoyable.
Keep bassing, may your strings entertain as many people as possible!

Wow Scott - what an awesome difference that makes to my sound - i got that rasp back on my Fender Jazz just by lowering the action a snadge - the rasp has been missing for a while - and it's actually making me want to play this bass again!

Totally love your videos man. I just started playing again after a 20 year hiatus. You've been a true help and inspiration my friend.

As a new bass player, this was hugely helpful. Thank you. Also, have you thought about also posting your podcast to Clip-Share? I think you should. It would get you more listeners would almost mean you are uploading more.

Great video thanks Scott, would have been nice to see some of their basses up close. One thing maybe worth mentioning is the intonation check.i.e. explain the truss and action change - check the 12th fret harmonic is the same as it frettted and also which way to adjust the bridge pieces. Cheers again.

Killer tips on setting up on bass especially that elbow thing. Many thanks Scott!

Scotty , another winner! Loving the “Bow wah bab” sound . I’ve always been a bit afraid of fiddling with my instruments but now I’m going to give it ago. See your always inspirational.

Thanks for the help Scott. I set up my bass by following this video. My measurements are different, only slightly higher than yours, but it feels great for both finger and pick playing. Very comfortable and still gets that raspiness. No buzzing in my mixes either so really stoked about that. Great video. Thanks again!

Action is a personal thing. Some people like their action a little on the high side some people like a really low action (like the strings have been painted on the fretboard). It's a matter of choice I suppose.

Love that bass. I know this is after the fact and you won't see this, but I just have to say that I love your style. You passion and enthusiasm is infectious. Just what the doctor has ordered for me. Keep up the great work, my friend.

Great advise Scott... thx. Just one note your viewers may be interested in is that if you regularly play using the 18th to 24 frets, you will definitely pick up some fret buzz by lowering the bridge adjustments to that level unless your frets have been ground with a slight "Fade-Away" from the 18th to 24th which in most cases is unlikely. It's certainly an art setting up a bass guitar. I've found the truss rod adjustment impacts on string feel & if set too low, the strings buzz more when lifting your fingers after playing a note.
Great Vid..... I often wondered about your "G" string height (action) as you seem easily able to twang the string when playing Slap.

For checking neck relief, I think it is more consistent to fret at first (maybe capo) and the twelfth fret to see how much relief there is. This would be more consistent since basses may have 19, 20, 21 or 24 frets which means the relief of the neck would show up different.

I've been playing bass for 20+ years and thought the "rasp" sound I love so much was inherent in individual instruments, not the configuration. THANK YOU so much for sharing this "secret" tweak. I just gave my fretless a free upgrade to the sound I've always wanted it to have. I can't thank you enough!
Question: I lowered my bridge to give my bass a conservative amount of "rasp", and it gives me a clean sound with just a hint of rasp color for casual playing. Perfect. I was messing around and discovered that if I pull back on the neck slightly and pull back on the body with my chest as the fulcrum, I can crank up the amount of rasp as needed. Will this damage the instrument in any way? Is there an established technique to do this more effectively without losing agility?

Satin finish is great, mine tend to get slightly shiny after a while. Your setup is very similar to mine Scott, we do long sets and it’s less tiring on your hand with that setup.

Probably the most lucid explanation of Bass setup I have seen. Good geekspeek::plainspeak ratio. The part about the ability to access the rasp at will is the critical bit. It took me three years of casual fiddling to figure that out on my own. It all came together for me when you demo-ed and gave it a name. Thanks Scott&friends

That is the coolest bass I have seen in a while. Must be nice to be gifted stuff like that.

I started playing the Bass around 51 years ago (badly) and to be honest, we never ever knew how to adjust the Bass’s. But thanks to The Bass God Scott and You Tube, everything is possible. I wish to God I could live my life again and really enjoy my various Bass Guitars over the years. All you young players out there, hark to Scott’s words and the Music World is yours. Thank you Scott. 🇬🇧🇦🇺🇺🇸🇳🇿🇨🇦

Orange drop caps are the best. On a p bass. I think. Rolls off the highs and maybe even some mids (depending on cap size) so it sounds punchier, even downright snappy. Don't understand the physics of it all, but they are tone magic in the two p's that I got mine in.

Great stuff, to check the action it's more accurate to use feeler gauges

Hey Scott,
The Sprague orange drop capacitor you were not certain about is the small device that is soldered to the side or top of your
tone pot, sprague orange drop are the standard used by most Luthiers who modify and enhance
basses for a more fatter deep tone.

Dude I just gave my Warwick that raspy sounds, thanks you Scott's bass lessons. I got 2.5 mm action, I had 3.5mm before.

Didn’t know you could do that. Always looked for strings closer to the neck for easier and faster play...
The additional rasp was a great bonus. Significantly changed the way I sound and I’m more comfortable playing!!

i've always preferred glossy basses, they just clean up nice and easier for me and my sweat lol. on top of that i go back and forth on string height, i found that rasp secret when i just wanted to see what happened, but i play upright bass too so i was used to the strings being high so i still dont know which is better for me. i have a really hard attack and dont always want the rasp but who knows my boy

Hey Scott - GForce here - the orange sprague capacitor was used for many years in many basses ( Fender in particular) in the vintage tone circuits of passive basses. Part of the reason for that awesome vintage tone.

I agree satin necks feel much better. Gonna give the action a tweak lower on my 5string this weekend. It's good to have bit of rasp when u dig in a little.

I am officially going to use the word snudge when i tune my bass from now on. 👍

This is the video I've been looking for since I got my new P bass. THANK YOU. Going to give a setup another go tonight with this knowledge. Thanks!

Scott, remember: the best way to adjust the neck relief would be bending the neck FIRST and only after, with the neck bent, tighten the truss rod (a quarter or half round, whatever). This because the truss rod is a tiny tool after all, and it has to contrast a massive amount of wood! Good chanches are that the truss rod coils, I mean where the bolt is tighten, could be ruined by the effort and consequently invalidate the rod function. In other words, it could not work/hold anymore. :)

That's how my basses are setup :) About 3.2 mm on E/B and about 2.4 on G. I mostly play fingers, pick and slap (In that order but fingers are 80-90% of my playing). Neck relief is about a thick of piece of paper so just a little bit. IMO the neck can't be all straight because it didn't sound good and there might be some tuning issues too. So for me the tone is full, I can get that "growl" when I dig in and I also can slap (maby not like Wojtek Pilichowski but still enough for my slapping needs ;) ).

Heya Scott, do you use a chorus pedal? If yes, which one is? and if not, can you make a video in which you explain what type of chorus to look for ? (I mean which knobs the pedal should have) thanks, great channel btw

Hey everybody! Don't forget to loosen the strings before you tighten that truss rod. Its probably OK if your loosening for more relief. When tightening though the little threads on the truss rod have to move all that wood and added the string tension you can strip out the nut. cheers:)

Im a member at SBLA...I've been exploring True Temperment Frets, Scalloped fingerboards, Taylor tuning, String types and their manufacturing techniques, as well as Tone-woods and Hardward and the way they affect the (bass) Guitar. The bass community would love a one stop video going over the "finer points" of bass instrumentation.

The reason you get the rasp when you dig in is because plucking harder makes the string rebound further, and it vibrates across a wider area. When the string is vibrating it's effectively thicker so it touches the fret. You'll notice as the note dies out, the rasp will go away toward the end.

Hi Scott, I have something to ask and I'm pretty sure many more feel the same way...
Sometimes I feel like there isn't anything left to learn, besides transcribing and practicing, but it can't be, I mean, there must be something else... So, may I request (suggest) a video where you point everything a musician has to learn (and maybe the best order to do so)? Thank you a lot 😜

Nice vid. Good explanation. For older instruments I'd recommend (if possible) remove the truss rod nut altogether and put grease on the threads and the flat surface of the nut.
As for Sprague caps, well these are used in valve amps because they have high voltage ratings. They are completely overkill for a guitar. But hey, if it gives your bass some mojo, go for it!

Definitely prefer satin over gloss finish. I kind of found your set-up preferences accidentally when I was tweaking my roundwound strung j-bass. It's not such a good sound with tapewound strings.

Finally, my bass doesn't feel like a military assault course for the fingers. Cheers Scott!

The Fender Jazz Bass was over 4mm from factory and now barely over 2mm. Such a difference on action and just a bit in tone. Thank you so much! Cheers from Chile! :D

I like my action a bit on the high side. I've always tended to play pretty hard through the string, sort of like Geddy Lee or Geezer Butler.
I still have a good balance between that and speed, and intonation doesn't stretch out of tune. 👍

Wow, thank you for the tip for that raspy sound! I always wondered how to get this. Would you also recommend this setup for a pbass with flatwounds?

Good quick setup guide. Very simmilar to how I do it when the initial setup is reasonable. But I take the time to check intonation, I also do that when I change strings, important if you change gauge or brand.

I always loosen strings before adjusting truss rod as advised by other guys here. Take into account total tension on 5 string bass when it's in tune can exceed 200kg, so it's worth it and it takes just 5 minutes more.

I have a bass with a sanded neck and great action. Then I've recently bought a fender dimension bass with high action and the glossiest neck i have ever seen. Never played gloss before. The transition is still in progress but i think i like it. After a while of playing, your hands become sweaty and the neck becomes silk to play.

It would be nice to talk more about which direction to turn in order to change feet board. Some basses have tried up high

‘Orange sprag’ capacitors are referring to the the capacitors that block the bass frequencies and let the treble through the put this on the potentiometers so when you pull them back the signal goes through the capacitors and the treble goes through to ground and the bass frequencies go to hot.

I've noticed that sometimes, with a new bass, I have to adjust the truss rod every 3 to 4 weeks until everything settles in. And even then sometimes the season changes will throw it out. Eventually you've got it dialed in, and then you know how to setup your own guitar

Great video as always, Scott! By the way, that beautiful AV bass is made by luthier Aleš Vychodil here in Czech Republic. Damn, I'd love to get one AV bass myself. Not anytime soon though as I don't need another bass - I need to work on my playing.
Also, I too prefer satin necks. Never felt right to play glossy, even though they look great.

Sprague is the company that makes the capacitor. Their orange drop series (comes in various values) is a polypropylene cap, which is one of the best for audio (often used in audio amps) for its low dissipation and stability.

When tightening the truss rod, always loosen string tension first, by loosening the strings.

This helped me out a ton! Thank you for making such an easy to follow video

I just adjusted my bass’s truss rod for the first time because of this. Thank you so much. It’s like a different bass now.

I love your videos! Could you comment on the direction of the neck bend direction with tightening vs loosening. Your video seems to show that the neck arches arches back with tightening thus making the strings closer in the middle of the fret board.

You always blow me away with your playing

I'm not a fan of glossy necks at all but I just picked up a p bass that has binding and unfortunately the polyurethane or whatever they put on it is so damn thick I decided to just leave it for once. But Normally I hit my necks with sandpaper.
And thanks for sharing your setup. That's a cool bass. I thought I was an odd ball setting my strings this way. I didn't know it was a "thing". So thanks Scott.

Might be worth mentioning that the bass will need to ''settle'' over time and might need some slight adjustments again. Great video.

Perfect timing that I switched my pbass to a lighter gauge of strings and thus needed to do some adjustments and you post this vid! I know the basics and have done setups, but the idea of using the string itself as a straight edge somehow never occurred to me! 😣😃👌👍 time to dial my baby in!

Great setup, beautiful dream sound.

A satin neck is sweet but I actually like a glossy neck. My Fender Prophecy II with a super slick neck was so dang fast and it was amazing.

Love your vids Scott. You mention that with the right setup you can get the 'rasp' sound but also play the note cleanly but you don't say how you get one or the other. Can you explain the playing technique as to how you get one or the other sound with the same setup? thanks!

I have a Peavy millennium acBxp and would really love to follow your steps Scott but with the hardware layout of the instrument and peavy's vague manual it makes it very hard to do so .. love your vids btw

Your channel is so precious bro!
Just, THANK YOU for sharing!
I learned so much. 🤓👍

Feeler guages are best for string height. Also keep in mind that your basses tuning will change slightly when adjusting the truss rod, so recheck tuning after each adjustment as this difference in tension affects the tension of the rod.

When I check the relief, I usually will fret at the first, as you do, but then I put my pinky on the 17th fret or so or right where the neck neck and body first meet, and then stretch my thumb over to the 9th fret or so. Never thought about using my arm to press the strings down lol

Thanks for the tips man! It would be cool if you made a video talking about what you should do if you have an unusable truss rod and what to do if it happens.

Scott, as far as your method of checking the neck, instead of using your elbow or forearm to depress the strings try using a capo to depress the first fret strings and that will leave you a hand to press the strings at the pickup area.
Bob Bork

Satin neck is the thing for me. I have a Rickenbacker with a glossy neck and friends are trying to dissuade me from roughing it up with the ScotchBrite, but to me, until it is more satin, it's unlikely to get much play.

I also bought a set of radius gauges for $11.00. The gages fit under the strings.

It kind of sounds like slap a little bit. I never thought about the sound of the strings when they hit the frets making that raspy sound. Thanks Scott!

That was a fun vid Scott. Enjoyed.
I never use measurements to set up my bass. I get the neck pretty much straight and then adjust the bridge saddles to bring the strings down to where they buzz and then take the saddles back up to where they don't buzz.
If my way of setting up my bass is stupid wrong please tell me, I'm not an expert. I just do what I do.
The way I set up my bass gives me plenty of different sound options with how my fingers control the sound though.
Maybe it is all in the fingers?

dont forget about the first fret action with the nut. it is equally as important as everything else.

Good video, if I could add a little to it.
I took the church bass home to adjust it. The raspy noise was made popular I believe by guys playing in Black Churches, Which is exactly were this bass came from. The problem is they like to play songs in oddball keys like D flat.
To make this easier they started tuning down their basses by 1/2 to a full step lower. This is why there is that disco pop sound comes from, or so I believe. Because that is where the raspy sound came from, and that is what they were doing at the time disco emerged. Now more of us buy 5 string basses instead. You also get deeper warmer tones.
Actually what is happening, in Black churches we do not have a list of songs we are going to sing, like most churches. What happens is someone will stand up and start singing a song, and the band first figures out what key they are singing in, then we play the song.
The thing is there are so many songs you can not remember them all, so what you do is learn music theory and play the song using that.
Anyway, that is why you end up playing in oddball keys.
Also the point I wanted to make if you want to be able to lower the action the most, you need to realize that the curve in the neck is required. That is because the string needs room to vibrate back and forth.
So first make sure there is a curve when you adjust the truss rod, then lower adjustments for each string as low as you can at the bottom of the string until it buzzes then raise it a bit, tune it, repeat until you get it where you want.
So the church bass I tuned down one full step. It is a 4 string Fender and by doing this, not only does it deliver more funky tones, it also has deeper fuller nicer tones.
As you adjust the bass, tune it as you go. The reason is that when you tighten or loosen the string, it changes the action and or the tuning. I recommend changing the action then tuning, then change the action again, what you want to do is go down the string to make sure it has room to move. When you change one string it will change all of the other strings. So you will need to repeat the process until all the strings are in tune and have the action you were wanting.
Because we are playing by ear, it really does not matter that it is tuned down one full step. So D,G,E, F instead of E,A,D, G. My regular bass I usually play is a five string with normal tuning.
The five string fender bass by the way was purchased from a pawn for $80 and was not playable. I was able to adjust it, and now plays very well, similar new basses that sell from $500-900.

Look down a string from the top of the bass and see if the fret board follows the string. That’s the best way to check if it’s straight

glossy necks are nice to watch
satin necks are nice to play
btw nice video, actually didnt even think about that trick with the action before

I do the same rasp thing but I make it raspier, I play a lot of Thrash Metal and just get so many questions about it by the community here. Now I can give them your video :D

wow, thanks for the reassurance man. did this myself before hand and I did a decent job with it but now I know for sure. thanks again bro ✌

If I'm not mistaken, an Orange brand capacitor is an actual paper and oil capacitor like you would use in vintage instruments. The advantage being that it has better mid dynamics at lower volumes

There's one thing I also to to any new bass I get: LOWER THE NUT. Not mentioned in the video. Nuts usually come way too high. This affects playability of the lower register a lot. A nut shouldn't be any higher than a fret, but reality is they do come way higher, even on 1000€+ basses.

Would you play medium gauge strings, or do you need the extra tension from the heavier gauge strings?

'Smidge' Scott, short for smidgeon. 1' 26" I love these videos and will be signing up for the academy as soon as I have built myself a Bass.

Excellent. Hope I'll get to learn how to lower my action properly.

Great informative video! Suggestion: do a video on light strings vs heavy strings

Followed the process and landed pretty much where you did on yours Scott. I prefer it - thanks!

How much time do you wait between turns on the relief? Can you make that sound in a fretless bass? Thanks for the video.

Such a helpful vid Scott. Thanks so much.

Sprague Orangedrops are a brand of capacitor used for tone controls in a lot of high-end guitars. The name comes from the sweet believe it or not!

I notice that sometimes you get a vibrato effect by bending the note in a side to side motion as one does with guitar, but at other times you do what looks like a violoncello vibrato up and down the neck. What is the difference between the two and why do you choose one over the other at different times?

Hey Scotty just wondering have you ever thought of doing a series involving going through the process of designing a bass and/or making a bass from scratch? I know that is something scary to see asked in the comments, but even just the shedding of some knowledge like you did in this video about the real technical stuff could be very interesting.
If you already have courses involving this area, I am not aware of it because I don't go on the website but love watching your videos, so that may clear up any misconceptions on either side. Thank you for your videos and these awesome tips!! Always love learning more about how deep the rabbit hole can get!

Hey Scott, big fan, nice content keep the good work. Blessings man.
I'd like to ask if you could review and play and set up a Strinberg CLB 44A bass. I have one and seem to be having some issues with the intonation and the string height, strings are pretty tense.
I'm usually accustomed to playing a Fender 5 String Jazz Bass. It's string feel like butter compared to the other bass and has a more mellow sound. I do like how the Steindberg sounds but it's pretty funky feeling in the hands and fingers. Tried a million things and taking it to maintenance but it's still tense.
I'd like you to give the bass a try if you can and give some thoughts.

I personally prefer, and observed indeed, some bow (1mm) is good for lowering action while a straight neck obliges in rising a lot the bridge saddles to avoid fret buzz.

A very good tutorial. Thank you!

Proper way to measure your neck relief is to fret the 1st and 15th fret and measure from the top of the 7th fret to the bottom of the high and low E strings (G for bass). Average neck relief there should measure .005" to .008" (5 to 8 thousandths). The easiest way to do this is to capo fret 1 and finger fret 12 (with your off hand), then use a feeler gauge to measure at the 7th fret. I went to college for lutherie, and this is how my teachers taught us, and this is how I do it at work.
*make sure to take all measurements while holding the instrument as if it were being played. If it's sitting flat on its back, gravity can affect the measurements.

New bass player here. I think I better let a pro do this setup for me. Thanks Bro.

I love the rasp sound but I have noticed you can't get it with all basses. Some necks or fingerboards are absolutely more suited for the sound

Great video! I'm new to playing bass and I wondered if lowering the strings too lowers the distance between strings and PICKUPS. So, is that of any matter? How much distance should there be and do I have to adjust the pickups when I lower the action??? An answer is pretty much appreciated ;-) Have an awesome day!