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Post subject: truss rod issues
Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2013 3:55 pm
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Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2012 10:11 am
Posts: 195
when i straighten my neck and tune my strings back up the tension causes a bow in the neck, and the tension is high again on the lower frets, does this mean my truss rod is shot?


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Post subject: Re: truss rod issues
Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2013 4:14 pm
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Rock Star
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Location: Linningrad
You are supposed to have some bow. Take your bass to a luthier for a pro set-up. I do. So should you.

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Post subject: Re: truss rod issues
Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2013 4:17 pm
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linnin wrote:
You are supposed to have some bow. Take your bass to a luthier for a pro set-up. I do. So should you.


yes i generally give a little bit of a bow but as soon as i tune up the bow increases


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Post subject: Re: truss rod issues
Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2013 4:38 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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Joined: Thu Oct 10, 2013 10:09 pm
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Try it again, but with your strings at full pitch. Quarter turn a day, slowly. Fender basses sound best with some bow.


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Post subject: Re: truss rod issues
Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2013 7:38 pm
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Professional Musician
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If you are having a problem with your neck and you adjust and still have a problem- take the guitar to a real repair person . It's that simple. A neck or the rod can have a pre-existing problem that may only get worse with constant tightening of the truss. The repair cost for a fudged neck or truss is more than the cost of determining whether or not there is a problem. AND it may be a nut problem or something else odd. You want to address the situation from the right perspective if you are not sure about it--hence== qualified repair person.


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Post subject: Re: truss rod issues
Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2013 8:31 pm
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Rock Star
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Joined: Thu Aug 07, 2008 3:12 pm
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Location: Albemarle, NC
The two setup guides I point people to are the Fender online bass setup guide at:
http://www.fender.com/support/articles/bass-guitar-setup-guide/
and the Gary Willis setup guide at:
http://www.garywillis.com/pages/bass/bassmanual/setupmanual.html

The Fender guide is more attuned to professional techs while the Willis guide is more for players. If you don't have feeler gauges for example, use the Willis one. If you have full compliment of tools then the Fender guide might be better.

Either way there are several specialized tools needed plus there's always the risk you are going to mess something up. I have a local tech set mine up. He does it better than I can because all he does are setups. Then after he sets one up I might make a minor seasonal tweak but try to leave the basic setup alone. Usually I don't mess with success.

In your case where you are having trouble eliminating excess relief (relief is a nicer way to describe bowing), there could be something amiss. Your truss rod could actually be broken or maxed out to the point where if you keep adjusting it you are going to strip the nut. I'd seek out a good tech. Usually the best techs are not at the mega box stores, but at a smaller new instrument dealer or vintage shop. You may have quite a wait. The tech I use here stays really busy and had a turn around time of over two weeks the last time I had him do a full setup on a new bass a while back.

That being said as was posted earlier you do need some relief in the neck, but not too much. Too little relief can be almost as bad as too much. As has been mentioned here by others, a perfectly straight neck on a Fender bass is never a good idea.


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Post subject: Re: truss rod issues
Posted: Mon Oct 14, 2013 8:54 am
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Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2012 10:11 am
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Thank you all who replied very helpful i have tried turning it slowly each and it has improved a great deal enough to get by i have a gig coming up and once that passes i will seek a professional tech


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Post subject: Re: truss rod issues
Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 4:05 am
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brotherdave wrote:
The two setup guides I point people to are the Fender online bass setup guide at:
http://www.fender.com/support/articles/bass-guitar-setup-guide/
and the Gary Willis setup guide at:
http://www.garywillis.com/pages/bass/bassmanual/setupmanual.html

The Fender guide is more attuned to professional techs while the Willis guide is more for players. If you don't have feeler gauges for example, use the Willis one. If you have full compliment of tools then the Fender guide might be better.

Either way there are several specialized tools needed plus there's always the risk you are going to mess something up. I have a local tech set mine up. He does it better than I can because all he does are setups. Then after he sets one up I might make a minor seasonal tweak but try to leave the basic setup alone. Usually I don't mess with success.

In your case where you are having trouble eliminating excess relief (relief is a nicer way to describe bowing), there could be something amiss. Your truss rod could actually be broken or maxed out to the point where if you keep adjusting it you are going to strip the nut. I'd seek out a good tech. Usually the best techs are not at the mega box stores, but at a smaller new instrument dealer or vintage shop. You may have quite a wait. The tech I use here stays really busy and had a turn around time of over two weeks the last time I had him do a full setup on a new bass a while back.

That being said as was posted earlier you do need some relief in the neck, but not too much. Too little relief can be almost as bad as too much. As has been mentioned here by others, a perfectly straight neck on a Fender bass is never a good idea.


The Gary Willis guide was quite helpful i ought to save that link incase of any future refrence


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