Peavey Grind5 truss issue?

MuseChaser

MuseChaser

Sep 17, 2023
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Univ of Southern North Dakota at Hoopla
#1
I picked up a fretted Peavey Grind5 a week or two ago for low coin, figuring it would force me to learn how to play frets, and have some fun learning to slap in the process. It plays pretty well.... but...

After getting together with an absolute wizard-of-a-bass-player friend/colleague of mine a few days ago and getting his advice on setup on my basses, amplification, technique, etc., he suggested that I get the action as low as possible for slapping. He felt that the setups I had on my fretless Alembic Epic5 and the Peavey were both really good, but that the Peavey could go lower.

Well... it can't, at least I don't think it can. The range of adjustment on the truss rod seems to be maxed out, and there's still relief to the neck (checked by capo at 1st fret, depressing a string at last fret, and checking height in the middle of the string). I know SOME is necessary, but I'm pretty sure there's more room to go lower, but I can't. On the Alembic, I can take ALL of the relief out of the neck; should I be able to on the Peavey?

The Peavey is a through-neck bass. Is there anything that can be done?
 
#3
I'll measure and report back as soon as I can... off to a gig right now, and tomorrow is pretty booked. By "manually flex the neck by adjusting," .. (Yes, I'm new to doing this stuff)... do you mean, with the tension completely off the strings, pressing down on the nut end of the neck and the body end, while supporting the neck in the middle, sort of manually trying to force it flat while turning the adjustment nut? A two-man operation?
 
#4
MuseChaser said:
I'll measure and report back as soon as I can... off to a gig right now, and tomorrow is pretty booked. By "manually flex the neck by adjusting," .. (Yes, I'm new to doing this stuff)... do you mean, with the tension completely off the strings, pressing down on the nut end of the neck and the body end, while supporting the neck in the middle, sort of manually trying to force it flat while turning the adjustment nut? A two-man operation?
Click to expand...

Yep but it’s a one man job. Hold bass body between knees, left hand grasps neck, right hand manipulates hex key. You may relax string tension if that helps.

Riis
 
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#6
Action is a factor of nut height, bridge height, relief, and the condition of the frets. The truss rod is for relief.
Just a note, I don't find the lowest possible action to be the best for slapping.
 
#7
Gluvhand said:
I understand tweaking the truss rod to get a bit lower action but that's really not the truss rods function.
Click to expand...
Despite the wealth of info available on instrument set up, folks will insist on jerking their TRs in the hope of lower action :roflmao:

Peavey Grinds use mono saddle bridges, a good system.

String height is fixed by these blocks.

Grind Saddles (1).jpg

If folks find they don't go low enough, a flat file solves that.
Grind Saddles (2).jpg Grind Saddles (3).jpg

You can be quite fierce an how much gets removed as the locking grub screw sits fairly high.
Saddle Height.JPG

A flat file can also alter the string spacing, there's plenty of meat either side of the top grub screws. Just file down the overall width then slide to desired position in the slot.
Saddle Width.JPG
 
#8
I appreciate the replies. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but the amount of relief determines just how low the action can go. Setting the relief is the first step, and if the relief is too much, setting the action low at the bridge will result in tons of fret buzz or even total unplayability in the middle of the neck, no?
If a good neck neck without high or low spots (fretless)/frets (fretted) is adjusted with the trust rod to have minimal relief (or pretty much none in the case of a fretless), THEN the desired action can be dialed in further with bridge adjustment. The nut only affects the amount of pressure required to press the strings down, and primarily only in the lower positions/first few frets. The angle of the string from the point it's fingered to the bridge and clearance from the frets/fingerboard influence tone and playability to a much greater extent.

Without minimal relief, low action isn't possible along the entire neck.

The angle of the neck to the body would also affect things; if the neck was shimmed so that it was at a slight angle to the body with the head/nut ever so slightly elevated compared to the body (when lying flat on the bass's back), the neck could have NO relief and still play fine along its entire length.

These are guesses by a newbie who digs physics and explanations. Please let me know where/if I'm wrong.
 
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#9
MuseChaser said:
I appreciate the replies. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but the amount of relief determines just how low the action can go. Setting the relief is the first step, and if the relief is too much, setting the action low at the bridge will result in tons of fret buzz or even total unplayability in the middle of the neck, no?
If a good neck neck without high or low spots (fretless)/frets (fretted) is adjusted with the trust rod to have minimal relief (or pretty much none in the case of a fretless), THEN the desired action can be dialed in further with bridge adjustment. The nut only affects the amount of pressure required to press the strings down, and primarily only in the lower positions/first few frets. The angle of the string from the point it's fingered to the bridge and clearance from the frets/fingerboard influence tone and playability to a much greater extent.

Without minimal relief, low action isn't possible along the entire neck.

The angle of the neck to the body would also affect things; if the neck was shimmed so that it was at a slight angle to the body with the head/nut ever so slightly elevated compared to the body (when lying flat on the bass's back), the neck could have NO relief and still play fine along its entire length.

These are guesses by a newbie who digs physics and explanations. Please let me know where/if I'm wrong.
Click to expand...

Correct for the most part. You do want to set the relief first as this is a prerequisite for all subsequent adjustments. What we DON'T want is cranking on the TR without manually flexing the neck during the process...stuff gets broken.

Riis
 
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#11
MuseChaser said:
@Zooberwerx You, my friend, win my little portion of the internet today. Your trick of flexing the neck worked like magic. I'm finally beginning to understand the interplay between all of these adjustments, and the thing is dialed in SO much better now.... like playing a WHOLE different (and much better) bass. MUCH appreciated!
Click to expand...

Excellent! Sounds like a fun, sometimes frustrating, project. Where are you located in central NYS?

Riis
 
#13
kodiakblair said:
It's physically impossible to shim a neck through body design, how's that for an explanation .
Click to expand...
Appreciate the snark .. well done. I was speaking in generalities about setup procedures during that post, in response to your denigration of those who address neck relief as the first step in order to achieve a successful low action. Obviously, shimming only applies to bolt-on necks.
Setting the neck relief properly IS the first step.

Again, thanks for two nasty posts. Very helpful.
 
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