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Question about truss rod adjustments


markdavid
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Hi

Bit of a noob question here.
Am soon to be starting playing again after a long long break, once thing has occured to me and that is that I have always had shops do my setups and have never adjusted a truss rod myself.

I know it is meant to be left to loosen and right to tighten the truss rod and was wondering if it is left/right when looking down the neck with the bass upright and the body resting on the floor or whether it is left/right with the bass neck facing downwards towards the floor

Also, am I right in thinking turning right counteracts forward bow and turning left does the opposite

Thanks is advance

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'Left' and 'right' make no sense when discussing rotation; 'clockwise' and 'anti-clockwise' are more relevant. To tighten (as with most screw threads...), turn clockwise. This will 'shorten' the truss rod, thus pulling the headstock backwards, and reducing the bowing of the neck. To loosen, turn anti-clockwise, unscrewing; this will allow the strings to pull the headstock forwards, thus increasing the bowing of the neck. Small (1/8 or 1/4 turns...) are recommended for ordinary, routine adjustments.
Hope this helps.

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I agree, it's easier to talk in terms of clockwise / anti-clockwise
But the old saying "Lefty loosie, righty-tighty" is just to aid the memory

As well as youtube videos, there's some rather good advice in the Haynes style Fender Bass manual
This is written by Fender & other bass / guitar techs, and it's well illustrated too
.... even if you're adjusting basses other than fender....

Anyhow, make adjustments slowly. Some recommend no more than a quarter of a turn an hour
and allow plenty of time for the neck to "settle"
Good luck :)

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