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Fretless Bass Setup is easier than you think! Squier Jazz bass with Seymour Duncan quarter pounders
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- čas přidán 1. 10. 2021
- This Squier Fretless Jazz Bass needs a setup -it has been sitting around for quite a while and the owner wanted to double check it before he started taking it to gigs again. It has a few modifications - Seymour Duncan quarter pounder pickups and concentric tone / volume knobs. It plays and sounds great. Enjoy the video!
-Steve
Manotick StringWorks
sroyMSW@gmail.com
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada
sroymsw.wixsit...
#fretless, #bass, #guitar
Just picked up a Squire Classic Vibe 60's Jazz fretless, so great video for me today!...will definitely use your suggestions to get a starting point on my latest purchase...Thanks!
Glad this helped you out - I hope you have subbed to my channel?
There's a whole bunch of how to set up your fretted bass videos on CZcams. Fretless? Not so much. I've been doing setup jobs on my fretted basis for decades. So I started on fretless I haven't had one for some time, until I recently acquired one. Yours is one of like three I found. I knew the numbers would differ from a fretted bass and I appreciate your offering. I split the difference on the 4 and 5/64 and it worked out nicely. So I just wanted to say thanks. Thanks! 🙂
This will get you a basic setup for a fretless. But as a life long fretless player I have to say a real good setup comes from being a fretless player and knowing how to do it yourself. Where you want to intonate, how much mwah you want relative to your play style. Takes me about a month of fine tuning it after I get a new fretless.
That would apply to fretted guitars as well- this setup is a starting point which you can then personalise.
I own one of these Squier VMJs, and I like it a lot - especially for the fingerboard, and the stock pickups (which are "Duncan designed" and very good). I changed the bridge for a Fender hi-mass, which helped the sustain a lot. I can tell it isn't especially well made though - the nut needs some filing, as it's way too high. It is worth mentioning that especially on a fretless Jazz, the bridge pickup needs to be as close the strings as it can reasonably be got. I used to put a strip of duck tape over mine so that it didn't clank :)
Good tip
Love the Dave's world of fun stuff sticker !!
lol - Dave has some great videos and has tons of experience! I hope you enjoy my content and have subscribed to my channel as well?
@@ManotickGuitarTech Yes I subscribed to your channel , I have learned a lot . BTW quick question , I have set up by basses to specs 12 thou relief , 5/64 string height , so I have a slight clank in the high registry on the fret board. could this be a fret level issue ? How can I check ??
@@samstinkeringaround8961 probably not-5/64th is the low end of action and you do risk clanking, especially if you play hard. Try 6/64ths for a while and see if it is better. If you don't play much past the 12th fret, it shouldn't matter.
Beautifully done.
That Bass is very pretty, like the Shelby Cobra, Coke Cola Bottle or E--Type Jaguar, the Jazz Bass is an ALL TIME classic.
I love that you included specific measurements throughout the video, but at the end, there was no mwaa. I wish there was a video that addressed “how much is too much mwaa”. I have a Ibanez GWB205 and I adjusted the set up a bit after I had it 3 months, and I wonder if my mwaa is too much, like it stifles the notes on the D and G. I don’t know cuz it’s my first fretless and Alexandria Louisiana is a SMALL city with little to no fretless expertise. I only bore you with this cuz I think you know your ****. THANK YOU. EXCELLENT VIDEO!
Hi, Michael - thanks for watching the video! Gotta admit, not sure what "mwaa" is...lol
@@ManotickGuitarTech I think hes referring to that sound that fretless basses make, that only they make, that "mwah" sound when you hit certain notes...
@@ManotickGuitarTech I setup my Precision fretless about exactly how you did this Squier Jazz. The notes are clear and the action is similar to a well setup fretted bass. Not much "mwaa" (notes swell due to string just barely vibrating against fretboard immediately past you finger) - some people refer to it as fretless growl. Recently I decided to straighten the neck a tiny bit and lower the action. That accomplished the goal of getting that Jaco/Pino sound but I ended putting the bass back to how it was. I would get an EUB (electric upright bass) if I wanted to get that sound.
@@doug_I_do_not_consent very nice! I hope you have subscribed to my channel?
@@ManotickGuitarTech Yes I did! 😁
Thank you for this….only one suggestion (being an audio/video guy)…on your videos, clean up the white noise in the background….it sounds like you are getting a heavy rainfall in the background…other than that…awesome !!
Older video and I have improved my sound quality since then 😁
Oh man I need one of those racks
Hello there! I was trying to find some help here as i have a Cort B4FL, an unlined fretless, and was wondering how to see if the intonation is set correctly when there are no lines to have a visual reference... How does one do that? Very nice bass BTW. The stacked concentric knobs make so much sense i wonder why it´s not the default on all those Jazz basses...
Tune your bass and then check it at the 12th fret area... fretless are played by ear more than by eye
Same here I’m thinking if I measure to the 12th fret marker on a regular 34” scale bass to the fret and use that distance dot to fret on my unlined I should be in the ballpark. I hope I’m making sense 😮 I could then put a piece of tape across the 12th as a reference. Jeez that was hard to put into words 😅 mines a vintage Japanese Vox White Shadow rosewood board.🇬🇧🏴
Just had an amusing thought can you imagine a tone deaf fretless bass player 😂😂🇬🇧🏴
You can probably just find a spot you think is right for 12th fret (measuring scale and decide by 2) and use some temp line for a fake fret (using pencil or tape) while tuning the intonation. So all strings will be aligned to this exact line, perpendicular to fretboard.
I have a plain neck fretless and only side dots so how do I determine where the actual 12th fret is for the octave? Cheers for the advice and video! Mines a Japanese Vox White Shadow a vintage bass unlined. Thanks 🇬🇧🏴
Measure the scale length and then divide by 2- that will be the location of the 12th fret
@@ManotickGuitarTech Thank you for the advice and video?🇬🇧🏴
Nice work
Nice, thanks. I was thinking of converting an old Jazz knock-off to fretless and see some use veneer as a filler for the frets. Do you have any advice on that? Is there a thickness I should be looking for for this purpose?
you would have to measure the fret slot width on your particular guitar, but I would think it would be between .025-.030"
Hello, thank you very much for the video which is very interesting. I wanted to ask you, since here in Italy we "think" in centimeters, when you talk about the height of the string at the 17th fret of 5-6/64ths are you referring to centimeters? Thank you very much. Maurizio
5/64ths " is approx 2mm
I have a fretless G&L and the first fret action is about .0030 which still feels too high to me when compared to my fretted basses. However the strings are pretty much already touching the fingerboard wood behind the nut as they break to the tuners. I'm not sure what I need to do to get the nut lower, maybe sand down that area?
Hard to understand what is going on without seeing it- can you send me some pics at sroymsw@gmail.com?
I want those concentric pots in a Jazz bass I have.
They are pretty nice- you can find them at StewMac or Solomusic here in Canada. Dont forget to sub to the channel if you havent already.
Hey friend , Will a Fender player series Jazz bass neck fit a Squire jazz bass body without issues ?
Depends on the year and the factory they were made in...probably? I Lay's get the dimensions or take measurements before purchasing anything.
Should the silk wrap be touching the saddle witness point?
Ideally, they shouldn't be on the co tact point of the saddle. You can use an exact knife and cut back the wraps if that is an issue. They are close on this bass bit it didnt affect the sound.
Nice video. I don't play fretless YET. But might do so in a year or so. I noticed this video was done in 2021. It's now 2023. I do have one question....., where did you get that strobe tuner?
Peterson is the brand... I bought it on Amazon at the time.
@@ManotickGuitarTech thank you.👍🏼
I didn't hear anything when U tapped pickups w/the screwdriver, what were U after with that????
Maybe it didn't come thru on the video, but I was checking to see that the pickups were wired correctly and working.
Nice work! Are those hand made feeler gauges for string hight (upper frets), and pickups basically bent pieces of round stock? I could use those in my shop :)
Yes they are! I just ordered brass round stock on amazon and then made them with wood dowel holders. Please sub to my channel if you have haven't already. Thanks !
Brass rods...non magnetic
Thanks for posting this video! It is very well done and helped me set up my Squire fretless. Can you recommend to me where I would get a replacement NUT? One company that has the correct size is in Canada. You know the company. Big hassle to get it shipped to California.
Easy to find Graphtec Tusq nuts on Amazon US
Love this video. I have a Squier fretless that I picked up in 2010, I think. The neck has a bit of a bow, and I want to reduce the string height. Never done this before, and this video shows exactly what I want to do.
Two questions: Peterson makes a clip-on tuner (StroboClip HD). For setup purposes, will this work as well as the StroboPlus HD you use in the video? Also, where can I find the 5/64 and 6/64 string gauge tool?
And yes, I am now a subscriber!
They do make a clip-on version but I prefer the bench top version in my shop. I make the string gauges and am thinking of mKong them available soon.
Fret Guru offers a nice fret rocker tool that allows you to measure string light both metric and SAE units utilizing the 64th scale. And other features Gage what percentage of fret material is left. I only said that because those two tools you mention only do that one job, whereas the fret rocker will allow you to do that and more more bang for the buck. I just did my fretless bass using his numbers with that tool and it came out perfectly. It's very well made and the paint both black and white good quality and will not wear rapidly. I think I paid about $25 for it. And you can find them cheaper but I was impressed with the quality and precision and durability of this particular one. If you really had to you can go online and find a calculator that would convert fractions to logarithm. It would allow you to convert 60/4 and 202 thousandths of an inch and you could do it all with feeler gauges if you want to. Good luck and I hope to get your Bass tweaked-out just right
I had a Peterson strobe unit from the seventies and I foolishly traded for something that I no longer have. I was curious as to what make and model you have there on your cuz I'm tired of using the built-in tuner in my little fender Studio 40 Rumble. I just don't think it tracks well or is accurate enough. I can get 24 threat perfectly in tune well-made instrument if I have a good tuner. I recently acquired an Alembic Spyder 4 but I cannot get the 24th fret dialed-in using that cheesy little tuner. Time to upgrade. Thank you in advance
@@Hndsmstrngr1 I bought it online - Peterson Strobo Plus HD. They are about $200
Thanks. About 10 years ago about the CD so I could use it with my laptop and I lost the password for some reason they were unable to verify that even bought it or my password or anything so that was that. I will go to the website and take a look. And then start filling up the jar until I have enough to get it. And thanks again
I always thought checking the setup of a guitar or bass should NOT be done when the instrument is laying on its back, due to the vertical pressure of the weight of the wood. Was I misinformed?
I have found no significant difference doing it on the bench or in the "playing position". Do it the way you like but the same way everytime.
What is the fret board made of? It looks so smooth.
Ebony like wood...not sure exactly.
@@ManotickGuitarTech I believe the fretboard is made of Ebonol. It's a synthetic material. Google it, you'll find lots of info.
EBONOL no Ebano. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebonol_(material)
Tank's
I am new to your Channel but I find it Great. A serious question
Should I oil or treat the fingerboard on a fretless bass?
I just bought my first fretless Bass
A and I really like the sound of it.
A strange combination of an ordinary electric bass guitar
and a double bass 😎
Only if it is not finished and still natural wood- some fretless have a hard epoxy like finish on them. I hope you have subscribed to my channel?
@@ManotickGuitarTech Thank you for your answer and yes I'm a new subscriber
As a long time fretless owner and player, if the board is bare rosewood or morado, then it will really benefit from being epoxied. Oiling won't really change the resistance of the board to damage from (eg) roundwounds. Epoxying improves the sound and means that the board won't wear and can be used with just about any string. It's not an easy job though - it take multiple coats, and a lot of sanding. This is what Jaco Pastorius famously did to his own fretless Jazz (it helped that he had access to to a boat shop). Otherwise, some fretless basses - like the Squier VMJ in the video, Zon fretlesses, or Pedullas - have boards which are treated to be very hard. All that said, ebony is my favorite material for a fretless board.
I bought the bass you're working on I think it has neck issues. When you put a straight edge on it 😃it rocks in the middle
With strings on it or without? Could just be your neck relief needs adjusting.
@@ManotickGuitarTech strings loose
@@ManotickGuitarTech I'll check all the adjustments and let you know what I find
What capo are you using?
It is a SHUBB brass capo I bought about 25 years ago... still available online
@@ManotickGuitarTech thank you
I like your shirt, where do you get it?,,🤓
LOL - it's an old Eddie Bauer sweater