Fuzzbass2000 Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 (edited) I have a bass neck which I can't seem to loosen the truss rod off enough to get the neck straight when under string tension. I know it needs a little relief but I like the neck pretty straight so I loosen the hex bolt until it feels like it's super loose but the neck still has too much relief in it Any ideas as to how I can get the neck straighter? Edited December 12, 2018 by Fuzzbass2000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonBassAlpha Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 Normally one would tighten the truss rod to straighten the neck. Rightly-tighty! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 ↑↑↑↑ this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzzbass2000 Posted December 12, 2018 Author Share Posted December 12, 2018 (edited) 5 hours ago, MoonBassAlpha said: Normally one would tighten the truss rod to straighten the neck. Rightly-tighty! Thats exactly what id normally expect, but the more i tighten the truss rod (turn it to the right, looking down at the hex nut from the headstock) i’m sure there’s more relief (concave) in the neck - unless i’m totally confusing things. Edited December 12, 2018 by Fuzzbass2000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twincam Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 Are you turning it with the strings on? Might help to loosen the strings a touch. Also are you actually checking the relief properly. Not just eyeballing it. No harm in turning the rod the other way, just to see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary mac Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 For a couple of years or so, Warwick used a truss rod that turned in the reverse direction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 5 hours ago, Fuzzbass2000 said: Thats exactly what id normally expect, but the more i tighten the truss rod (turn it to the right, looking down at the hex nut from the headstock) i’m sure there’s more relief (concave) in the neck - unless i’m totally confusing things. OK - try it the other way. If it is a normal modern rod, you will reach a 'loose' mid point. This is where the rod is now straight so there's no pressure on the nut. Keep turning and it will start tightening again, but this time the rod will be bending in the opposite direction. What bass / neck is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickhunt Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 You get one and two way rods; 1 way rods counter string tension and takes relief out when you tension/tighten it (tightening is 'usually' clockwise BUT sometimes is counterclockwise). 2 way rods have a mid -point and depending on whether you turn one way or the other it can add/subtract relief. I'm discounting necks with 2 parallel rods. If you know what you are doing and you don't go daft, sometimes you need to apply relief into the neck with pressure before tensioning the truss rod BUT you'll need to be sure which way your rod is operating! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzzbass2000 Posted December 12, 2018 Author Share Posted December 12, 2018 4 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said: OK - try it the other way. If it is a normal modern rod, you will reach a 'loose' mid point. This is where the rod is now straight so there's no pressure on the nut. Keep turning and it will start tightening again, but this time the rod will be bending in the opposite direction. What bass / neck is it? Cheers - It's a Gretsch Junior Jet - with a hex nut at the headstock end. Can I check my understanding of something, you're saying turn to the left until it feels super loose, then keep turning and it will start to tension again? (and not fall off?). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twincam Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 It will start to tension the other way (forward bow), Useful for low tension strings sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickhunt Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 1 hour ago, Fuzzbass2000 said: Cheers - It's a Gretsch Junior Jet - with a hex nut at the headstock end. Can I check my understanding of something, you're saying turn to the left until it feels super loose, then keep turning and it will start to tension again? (and not fall off?). I wouldn't think that your bass has a 2 way rod especially with a nut on a threaded rod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 2 hours ago, Fuzzbass2000 said: Cheers - It's a Gretsch Junior Jet - with a hex nut at the headstock end. Can I check my understanding of something, you're saying turn to the left until it feels super loose, then keep turning and it will start to tension again? (and not fall off?). Ah - maybe not if it's a Gretsch. As @warwickhunt says above - I think Gretsch have a standard nut on a threaded rod - in which case it isn't going to be double acting. You actually can't do any harm because it would just screw back on, but it probably isn't going to solve your problem. But therefore I don't understand why tightening it is increasing the relief. How are you measuring the relief? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 Oh...and yes - I'm pretty sure Gretsch are 'normal' righty-tighty... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grangur Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 6 minutes ago, Andyjr1515 said: Oh...and yes - I'm pretty sure Gretsch are 'normal' righty-tighty... What Andy means is clockwise, when looking down the neck from the headstock end. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twincam Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 (edited) Are we talking about the modern ones? I had one of these. I'm pretty sure it's a modern truss rod dual action, allen key. I would of remembered a nut on the end. Edited December 12, 2018 by Twincam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzzbass2000 Posted December 12, 2018 Author Share Posted December 12, 2018 2 hours ago, Twincam said: Are we talking about the modern ones? I had one of these. I'm pretty sure it's a modern truss rod dual action, allen key. I would of remembered a nut on the end. Sorry, I mean a "nut" (or bolt?) accepting an allen key. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 13 minutes ago, Fuzzbass2000 said: Sorry, I mean a "nut" (or bolt?) accepting an allen key. OK. If it's a modern one that has an allen key, then yes - there is no loose nut and nothing should come undone if you loosen it (counter clockwise) and keep turning until you feel resistance again - which is the rod now bending the other way. Turn it 1/4 of a turn from when you feel the resistance and check if the relief gap is now smaller. If so, then carry on, 1/4 turn each time, checking as you go until the relief gap is where you want it. If, on the other hand, the relief still gets bigger when turning it counter clockwise, then stop and get a tech to have a look... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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