It’s infuriating. The amount of shit advice on how to do guitar/bass setups is just maddening. And from sources who should know better! The latest one I have come across is in the “knowledge base” over at Sweetwater.
Part 1 is all about adjusting the truss rod. First they have instructions how how to “sight” the neck. Then, admitting that you probably don’t have enough experience to do that, they offer something called the “tap test.”
I have seen this one before. You hold down the E string on the first fret. Then you hold down the string near the body with your pinky. Then you stretch your hand wide so that your index finger can tap the string on a fret in between those two points. (Apparently Sweetwater has never heard of capos. Shame. They could sell you one with a link right there, but no.)
So…how much tap space should there be? They don’t say exactly. They do supply the information that if there is no tap because the string is on the fret then you probably have a backbow. So…provided you don’t have a backbow and there is tap space, how much is too much? How little is too little? They do not say.
Based on this you are now supposed to adjust your truss rod. Which way? Who the fuck knows. But they do then tell you to check for fret buzz. If it buzzes here, then you need more relief, and if it buzzes there, then you need less of it. That’s it. You adjust your truss rod such that there’s no fret buzz.
Mind you, the string heights have not been set yet.
The rest of the setup tutorials seem pretty reasonable. But as I have written before, setting a sensible neck relief is the foundational adjustment upon which all other adjustments depend.
So basically you have little chance of finding success with this guide.
I just don’t get it. Not only could Sweetwater tell people what measurement tools to use, and what measurements to shoot for, they could also sell people those tools. They could link to them right there in the tutorial. Everybody wins. But no.