Upon receiving the bass, inspection begins with the box it's shipped in. If damaged I don't even open it and it gets returned to sender. Next there's inspection of the entire bass before disassembly, involving tuners, bridge-to-pickup-to-nut string alignments over the poles, nicks-scrapes-bumps-bruises-cracks and other imperfections in the neck and body. If the paint has orange peel or runs I might send it back as this is an unplanned for extra cost. Then there's audio testing of the pickups and control assembly for basic functioning. I'll be swapping out the control assembly for upgrade so this is only a test for the take-off I keep and functioning of the pickups' output. I also basically see if they can be balanced out with raising and/or lowering because it's a known fact that the positioning of the bridge pickup and the lesser string oscillations don't allow the bridge pickup to appear to be functioning properly. This is the time to determine this as the bass will be returned if the bridge pickup is unbalanceable. Next is complete disassembly and inspection for cracks in the pockets and cavities, or any other disfunctional components. Cracks in the body is cause for reassembly and return of the bass. Usually, if the tuners aren't being swapped out, they are checked for tightness and no abnormally excessive fore nor aft movement requiring removal for shim adjustments. If necessary, they'll be readjusted. If defective, I either make an exchange of the tuners or send the bass back.