Fear of the Truss... Question.. Help. :(

DanBass

DanBass

Supporting Member
Jan 27, 2003
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Gainesville, FL
#1
Regardless of having played for upwards of 30 years, from the very beginning, I have had this paralyzing fear of adjusting my own truss rod. Still to this day, you would think I was potentially setting off a grenade in my lap with one turn.

So here is the story.

I picked up a beautiful bass recently... in coast to coast traveling, it picked up a slight back bow, ever so slight. Or it was already there, who knows.. I wasn't really sure if it was back or pin straight, it was that close.. So I ran it to the local shop and it had the slight back bow. So the gent took it in the back and a few moments later, it seemed good. He even commented that the rod was great, fluid.. that was good news!!! Anyway, I left... a few days later, it still seems a tad low to me again.. When I first took it to the store, it was noticeable as in in the D string, if I was playing the second fret, an E note... thud.. right on the fret...

After the slight adjustment, it doesn't do that now, but still a little too much buzz for my liking and as much as I like the action low, it's probably till a hair too low. If I flex the neck up a tad, buzz - GONE. It seems like it "settled" a bit after he did it.. if that makes sense. I probably should of had him give it another slight turn..

I really really really don't want to take it back to the store. It's not right around the corner and it is kind of a pain in the ass for something I should probably be able to do myself, no?

Now, aside from the Trussaphobia that probably has you all chuckling with delight, I have another stupid question.. In terms of turning the rod, are they all standard? Meaning, back bow or straight, turn left (or say if I am holding the bass pulling it towards myself) and if bowed turning it right (or pushing it away from myself if in playing position) - oh, I am right handed.. lol

Given the level of issues and repairs/adjustments that many of you deal with and handle, my apologies for this silly and pedestrian "issue".

Thanks as always.
 
#2
I initially shared your fear of messing with the truss rod, but it's really not that hard, read the sticky thread here ALL BASIC SETUP QUESTIONS ANSWERED HERE and learn everything you need to know. Start slow, let it settle before making further changes, you'll be fine. And yes, tighter = straighter (remove bow) is standard. Righty tighty lefty loosey. Nothing to be afraid of. Just use the proper tool.
 
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#3
When asking about which way to turn the truss rod, it's always useful to state the make of the bass in question. On most basses turning the truss rod nut clockwise will remove relief, counterclockwise will add it. But there are a few basses that work opposite to that (e.g. Pedulla and some older Warwicks).
 
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#6
Turnaround said:
When asking about which way to turn the truss rod, it's always useful to state the make of the bass in question. On most basses turning the truss rod nut clockwise will remove relief, counterclockwise will add it. But there are a few basses that work opposite to that (e.g. Pedulla and some older Warwicks).
Click to expand...

My apologies - it is a Spector Legend 4 :)
 
#8
If a neck is out, and it has been out for a period of time, it can take a few truss rod adjustments over a period of several days before everything finally settles in.

Neck wood also varies. Some necks don’t budge or seem affected by the weather. Others need regular small adjustments to keep them in spec. It’s just in the nature of the beast. But as a rule of thumb, the thinner the neck the more often a truss adjustment will be required.

Important thing to remember is the truss rod check is only one third of what constitutes a routine setup.

To do a proper setup you need to do three things.

But before you start the setup dance you need to check the action at the nut and correct that if needed. This is usually just a one time thing if you pretty much stick to using the same gauge strings.

Once the nut is good to go you can begin to perform a setup. There are three adjustments that need to be done in order.


Step-1: Set the neck relief. This is the dreaded truss rod adjustment. And it’s nothing to be afraid of. It’s easy to do with the right wrench or allen key as long as the truss rod isn’t frozen or maxed out. The only important thing to remember is to go with multiple small adjustments and allow the neck to settle in between adjustments rather than single more extreme adjustments.

Step-2: Set the height and radius of the strings to match your action preference.

Step-3: Adjust the string intonation.

After that you check everything again and repeat the steps if necessary.

Sometimes you need to go through the steps two or three times over a couple of days before everything finally settles in. If a bass has been neglected or never adjusted, the first baseline adjustment can take a bit of time and work. But once you get a really good baseline setup accomplished, the subsequent ones almost always go a lot quicker and only require minor tweaks.

If you’re getting a slight buzz that goes away when you flex the neck, then all it probably needs is to have the truss rod tightened up an eighth or maybe a quarter turn to fix it.
 
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