| Author | Message | ||
| keith_h
Senior Member Username: keith_h Post Number: 899 Registered: 2-2005 |
I've been running the furnace a couple of weeks now and this fall has been really dry with low humidity. All of this has finally put my bass necks into winter mode so I decided it was time to adjust the truss rods. I asked my assistant (read wife) to please come up stairs and help me with fretting the strings while I took measurements. As expected I needed to remove a fair amount of relief. Having done this enough times I just turned the truss rod nuts a bit and closed everything back up. I came back today during lunch to see how things were and suddenly realized I had loosened the nuts instead of tightening. My necks now look like an old sway back horse. Worse yet I have to ask my assistant back upstairs this evening to redo everything. Keith | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 5693 Registered: 5-2002 |
Mine's still back and forth. The buzz on the C at the 15th fret on the A string is there one day and not the next. So I haven't made any adjustments yet, as "winter mode" hasn't yet fully set in. It was 70F (21C) here today; tomorrow afternoon there's a chance of snow, and tomorrow night the forecast is mid-20's (-4C). | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 1466 Registered: 10-2002 |
You're wife's only allowed upstairs when you're turning your nuts? back on track, it's so 'Humid' in Scotland all year round I rarely need to make adjustments. Graeme | ||
| lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq Post Number: 2715 Registered: 7-2004 |
Graeme: If a married man is turning his nuts, he'd better have his wife there! hehehehe Bill, tgo | ||
| keith_h
Senior Member Username: keith_h Post Number: 901 Registered: 2-2005 |
I can safely say the nuts only get turned when my wife is there and my necks are playable again since last nights adjustment. Keith | ||
| georgie_boy
Advanced Member Username: georgie_boy Post Number: 304 Registered: 8-2005 |
I have NEVER had to adjust the rods on my 76 Series 1----and I live only 30 miles from Jacko? Any ideas why?? G | ||
| keith_h
Senior Member Username: keith_h Post Number: 902 Registered: 2-2005 |
Clean living? :-) Keith | ||
| tbrannon
Senior Member Username: tbrannon Post Number: 578 Registered: 11-2004 |
My 99 Rogue used to live in Georgia with crgaston- it came across the pacific and was in NZ (as humid/wet as it gets) for a year- now I'm in an extremely dry area of southern California. I've never had to adjust the truss rods. The only adjustment I've made was to lower the action when I received it from Charles- in the nearly 2 years I've owned it I haven't touched the truss rods (and I like my action low-low) | ||
| chuck
Advanced Member Username: chuck Post Number: 215 Registered: 3-2005 |
Toby. Thou art truly blessed. Chuck. | ||
| tbrannon
Senior Member Username: tbrannon Post Number: 579 Registered: 11-2004 |
Chuck, and in so many ways! Toby | ||
| terryc
Advanced Member Username: terryc Post Number: 330 Registered: 11-2004 |
Stockton on Tees climate does not affect my neck but my central heating does..have only adjusted it once in a couple of years I have no wife to help me adjust my nuts as we have parted | ||
| 5stringho
Intermediate Member Username: 5stringho Post Number: 164 Registered: 11-2006 |
The neck on the old Excel hasn't moved in almost 2 years, even here in Ohio's screwy clime. If ya don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes. It'll change! My wife tells me to adjust my own damn nuts. She's gotta headache, or she's tired, or she want's to watch "Survivor". :[ Mike, Tho | ||
| rockbassist
Intermediate Member Username: rockbassist Post Number: 118 Registered: 8-2005 |
I am always curious when I see posts about truss rod adjustments. I live in New England where the temperature and humidity range is very extreme. It can be in the upper 90's with high humidity during the summer and in the single digits with low humidity in the winter. I also travel with my bass to different parts of the country on a regular basis. I have been playing bass for 30 years and other than an initial setup, I have never had to adjust the neck on any bass I have owned. I am curious as to why so many people seem to be constantly adjusting necks on their basses. | ||
| mica
Moderator Username: mica Post Number: 5002 Registered: 6-2000 |
It's usually a function of how low the action is and how tolerant the player is. If you've got extremely low action, you will notice a smaller movement in the neck. If your action is medium height, you might not notice small back and forth movements. Low tension strings that have gained popularity will also contribute to the neck being easier for the humidity to influence. Also, some instruments are just fussier than others. | ||
| olieoliver
Senior Member Username: olieoliver Post Number: 1662 Registered: 2-2006 |
I'm in the same "boat" as Kevin here. I've never had the "neck movement" problem that has come up in this forum. Not sure if it has to do with where I live,Texas, or the action I prefer or the strings. ???? I've owned several instruments, basses and guitars of various brands and currently have somewhere in the area of 20 different axes. I have never had the neck problems that hear some people having, with the execption of a Steinberg I owned back in the late 80's, NOW THAT WAS A BOAT OAR, and my 78 Musicman Fretless. The Musicmans' neck problems are from my own neglect though. I left it in the case for 10 years in the attic, I know I Know, I'll take my 40 lashes for that, BUt I have just about got it back in shape. Just Lucky I guess, Olie | ||
| lidon2001
Advanced Member Username: lidon2001 Post Number: 374 Registered: 4-2005 |
My issues were all string related. Back at 40's now, no problems. Olie, don't be afraid of a plain & refret/renut (refinish if maple). 30 year old basses need work especially after such abuse. Find a good luthier and bring back its glory. It did wonders for my first year reissue Jazz. | ||
| keith_h
Senior Member Username: keith_h Post Number: 918 Registered: 2-2005 |
Kevin, Where I live it's generally is 80-90% humidity for 5 months, less than 50% for 5 months and a couple of months of all over the place. With these long periods the basses absorb or lose a lot of moisture. In particular my fretless is affected since I keep a close to flat neck and low action. Likewise my BB has medium low action and what I consider minimal relief. I only have to adjust twice a year more or less. Generally a 1/4 to 1/2 turn and it is done. My 5 string Orion really could get by without adjustments since I need more relief and a higher action to handle the B string. I also have a couple of non-Alembic basses that I can see the movement in at the season change. On one of them it is no big deal due to it's setup. On the other it's a quick tweak. When I lived in the Chicago and SF Bay areas I don't recall these other basses moving around. However where I lived in the Bay area was pretty stable humidity wise and Chicago never had as long and as humid a summer as here. My house has similar behavior. Between summer and winter I have several places where you can see the house expand and contract by a 1/4 - 3/8 inches. None of it is a big deal to me. I just look at as part of living in the south. Keith | ||
| slawie
Junior Username: slawie Post Number: 38 Registered: 8-2002 |
When I moved back from California to Australia in August 2003 I had to pack my bass in a 20' container. Needless to say I forgot to take off/loosen the strings for shipping. The container was held up in Singapore for 4 weeks and then finally arrived in Melbourne Australia after a 12 week "world tour". Next day after unpacking the goods I had some time to do a set-up. I did not need to do anything as the neck was as it had left the US it did not move even a millimetre. By the way I did not change the transformer in the power supply and that works OK too. Go figure! |
