The Fender Bass Handbook: How to Buy, Maintain, Set Up, Troubleshoot, and Modify Your Bass Hardcover – July 8, 2010

A well-written book that contains valuable historical and set-up information.

Great resource for setting up and maintaining your bass guitar. I have been playing for over 40 years and have built multiple guitars and basses - and I learned things from this book. Took me over a year to find a copy, I'm never letting it go.

The Fender Bass Handbook has a great deal of information on vintage through current Fender models: descriptions, photos, key differences in hardware, etc. Additionally, it provides some simple remedies to common problems, such as strap pins coming loose, setting up actions and intonation, etc. The book also includes a few electrical modifications that owners/luthiers can make in their basses, though there should be many more of these listed and described with wiring diagrams for such modifications (such as series-parallel switching in Jazz basses, adding additional pickup(s) to Precision basses, etc.). Also wiring diagrams of Fender basses should also be included in the content--perhaps in the appendix of the book. Kudos to the author for reminding readers to save original hardware when making modifications to their basses--adding provenance when basses are placed for sale. I enjoy reading and re-reading this book, and it will be kept as a reference in my bass guitar library.

I purchased this when I bought my first Fender because they're so well known for thier versatility & customizable/interchangable parts. I wanted to know all I could about the instrument, how it's made, & what I'm able to do with it. IMPRESSED!!I have several basses, including my "starter" bass (an SX Ursa Jazz bass that I bought on Amazon several years ago). the style was copied from a Fender Jazz bass. Because of this, I was originally eyeing this book so that I could upgrade the parts on my Ursa. Needless to say, this book can also be applied to it, as well.Even if you don't plan on doing the adjustments yourself, or any at all, this book really teaches you a LOT about the instruments contruction and internal parts (information that I had no clue about, despite being able to jam on the bass itself)I always hated when other bassists would talk technical & I couldn't follow. Now I feel "armed"...lol

This book blew me away. It's a high quality hard back and a bargain it's current price. The pictures are vibrant and detailed and accompany the text very well. The name of the book is not a sham, it has complete strip downs of some bass models like a Jaguar, not something I'd expect. The level of detail isn't just for the average bass player but goes in luthier's work. I showed the book to a tool and die engineer and he was impressed with it and he doesn't even have an interest in guitars. If you own a Fender and maintain it beyond replacing your strings, or you want to learn how to do your own setups and maintenance, Get This Book!

If you are a Fender bass fan and want to know how to setup or modify your bass then this is the book for you. It has plenty of pictures to illustrate the history of the Fender bass, set up, and short bios of some of the players who have used the Fender bass. Great book one of the best I have seen. I keep referring back to it. I even ended up buying a bass that was descibed in the book and it is exactly as the author described. If you play a Fender or a Squire bass and want modify it or keep it in to form get this book.

Whether you own a Fender Bass or you dream about buying one, this book will be a great source of inspiration.It is filled with beatiful pictures and a lot of passion for one of the most influental ingredients in the age of Rock and Roll.I don't know how many of the described projects I will ever try but as I open this book, I just want to grab my Jazz Bass and start playing.That can't be so bad...

I found this book to be very interesting and helpful is selecting, modifying and tuning up a Fender Jazz bass. The interviews with famous bass players were also interesting and have helped me with my own quest to become a better bass player. I would have liked a bit more technical discussion of the components and features of the Fender bass. Also the book is biased toward a British view but still great book overall.

Good book if you are a novice to basses. Basic but informative no end. Great photos and diagrams, good to read about famous player's gear too.

Sehr umfassender Überblick über die bekannten Bässe von Fender. Sehr nützlich und lohnenswert für diejenigen, die eine Fender oder Sqier Bassgitarre - egal welchen Baujahrs - besitzen und Genaueres über sie wissen wollen, und bietet hilfreiche Informationen für diejenigen, die diese Gitarren warten und reparieren. Sehr viele, anschauliche Abbildungen. Es wird ein breites Spektrum von Modellen, darunter sehr exotische, präsentiert und für jeden ist etwas dabei. Ein lesenswertes Kapitel über bekannte Bassisten, welche Fender-Bässe verwenden, rundet das Buch ab. Für den Liebhaber ist es sein Geld sicher wert.Das Buch ist 2010 erschienen. Der Autor ist Paul Balmer; Carol Kaye hat ein Vorwort beigesteuert.

Bought a 2nd copy for a good friend.. Excellent Tips, Pics and the Queen of Bass, Ms. Carol Kaye !!

good for learning about the maintenance and minor repair of your Fender bass.Laid out quite well for novices to learn with confidence and not make a mess that will need professional repair.

Da buon bassista e amante del Jazz Bass Fender, questo libro è un must, sprattutto per chi come me non solo suona il basso, ma se lo sistema, modifica e lo setta.Gran libro!