Truss rod - is this a problem?

[lordradish]

Hey, all.

I've had a great Stambaugh fretless 5 since 2018, I haven't had to do much setup on it.
Recently, after playing another fretless, I finally realized I had some room for some lower action/relief in the neck.

I've done all my setups on all of my basses (including my Wal), so I'm pretty confident in doing so. When I went to tighten the rod here, it seems as though it was close to bottoming out. I didn't force it. I could have gone a little further - it wasn't a dead stop, but it felt a lot tighter.

The action's where I want it (and I could probably even loosen it and still be okay). Does this necessarily indicate a problem? The thing plays fine, I'm not noticing any strangeness on the neck. I don't foresee having to tighten it anymore, so is this something to worry about? Thanks in advance.

 

[johnh89]

Do not use the truss rod to lower the action . The truss rod is to get the correct relief of the neck . Lower the bridge saddles .

 

[lordradish]

Do not use the truss rod to lower the action . The truss rod is to get the correct relief of the neck . Lower the bridge saddles .

Perhaps I didn't communicate properly. My point in doing so was to get the correct relief, which most certainly does affect the action.

 

[Lo-E]

Does this necessarily indicate a problem? The thing plays fine, I'm not noticing any strangeness on the neck. I don't foresee having to tighten it anymore, so is this something to worry about?

Given that you’ve gotten the action where you want it, I’d say no. It’s certainly something I’d keep an eye on but not something that would keep me up at night. Only time will tell if you’ll need to make further adjustments in the future. It may never become an issue.

 

[Zooberwerx]

Perhaps I didn't communicate properly. My point in doing so was to get the correct relief, which most certainly does affect the action.

Just be sure to manually flex the neck while adjusting. If dealing with a single-acting rod, you may gain some extra real estate by adding a couple of washers.

Riis

 

[lordradish]

Thanks for the tips, everyone. I'm curious as to what causes this, as Stambaugh certainly builds a good bass and knows what he's doing.

 

[bobdabilder]

The threads could be contaminated in that area. Next time you need to adjust it, bend the neck by hand and the see if the nut turns more freely.

 

[johnh89]

Perhaps I didn't communicate properly. My point in doing so was to get the correct relief, which most certainly does affect the action.

Point taken . I have seen folk strip the truss rod trying to get a low action . If the relief is now spot on , then I would not worry unduly about the travel left on the truss rod .

 

[lordradish]

The threads could be contaminated in that area. Next time you need to adjust it, bend the neck by hand and the see if the nut turns more freely.

You mean like with some gunk or rust or something like that?

 

[bobdabilder]

Yes. If that's a removable nut, you can take it off and lube the threads with graphite or tiny bit of vaseline. Don't spray anything in or on the neck.

You mean like with some gunk or rust or something like that?

 

[SkylineFiver]

I always loosen the truss rod slightly before tightening. I read this in Dan Erlwine luthier column in Guitar Player magazine in the 70’s and have always done it that way.