Jerry_B Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 (edited) Try as I might, I cannot get the truss rod in my Jazz to tighten. It seems possible to loosen it off a little (although it's not an easy job) but tightening it seems impossible. It hardly budges at all. Does this possibly mean that it's maxed out (and maybe I have to follow the instructions in the relevant thread) or is there some other problem involved? At the moment the neck has too much relief in it, and being a fretless it means that the action is too high and I'm getting marks appearing on the fingerboard. Any help much appreciated! Edited January 12, 2011 by Jerry_B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 You've slackened off the strings before trying to adjust it, yes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry_B Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 Yes. The neck has to be removed before I can adjust it as the rod nut has a cross head at the bass of the neck, not an allen key nut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7string Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 With the truss rod on the butt end of the neck you're going to have to be patient. It might takes a few goes to get it right. Make sure you use the right size screwdriver, slowly loosen the rod and take the nut out completely. Clean it (and the threads on the rod) and lube with some vaseline. This makes the rod adjust easier. Tighten the rod, not too much and assemble the bass again. If that doesn't work you'll need to disassemble the bass, take the neck off again, loosen the nut, clamp the neck into a backbow and then tighten the rod. If you're lucky this should putt too much rlief into the rod and you'll have to loosen it to get it right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry_B Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 Aha - thanks for that! At the moment the rod doesn't seem to like being tightened or loosened, so I wonder if it's okay. I rescued the bass from years of very bad neglect so I wonder if some of that it catching up with it now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceH Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 [quote name='Jerry_B' post='1086837' date='Jan 12 2011, 03:59 PM']Aha - thanks for that! At the moment the rod doesn't seem to like being tightened or loosened, so I wonder if it's okay. I rescued the bass from years of very bad neglect so I wonder if some of that it catching up with it now [/quote] Is it the kind of nut with an open centre? If so you can get some WD40 into it and leave it to work its way in that'll help a lot getting it loose but you'll struggle if it's the closed kind and might just have to force it, which is gonna be a bit scary! Often you can help ease off screws with a change in temperature but obviously with a neck that might not be such a bright idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry_B Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 What do you mean by an 'open centre'? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceH Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 [quote name='Jerry_B' post='1087121' date='Jan 12 2011, 07:42 PM']What do you mean by an 'open centre'?[/quote] On some Fenders the truss rod nut isn't capped under the cross head so you can see the end of the truss rod itself. On others it's solid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry_B Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 Well, there seems to be a smaller, dark space behind the 'X' of the nut, so maybe that's it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceH Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 [quote name='Jerry_B' post='1087194' date='Jan 12 2011, 08:38 PM']Well, there seems to be a smaller, dark space behind the 'X' of the nut, so maybe that's it?[/quote] I'd spray some penetrating oil in there then (like WD40)and wait, minimum 1h - definitely won't do any harm and may well free the bolt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceH Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 oh yeah, you really don't need much of the stuff - i'd find a way of holding the neck upright too so it all stays in the nut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry_B Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 I'll give that a try! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willyf87 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I'd shout at it angrily and hope for the best....failing that take it to a luthier... sit back and relax lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry_B Posted January 13, 2011 Author Share Posted January 13, 2011 It went to a luthier about 9 months ago - but I suspect he didn't do enough work on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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