Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

Neck bolt torque? Does it matter?


Thunderpaws
 Share

Recommended Posts

Hiya. Now I have a bass that I need to at least loosen the neck plate/bolts to access the truss rod, I have a question. 

When tightening the four neck bolts back up is it important that they are all torqued up the same? I’m guessing that in the factory this will be the case. 

If for example I tighten the bolts unevenly then will vibrations be reduced unevenly across the neck altering the sound/volume of each string in relation to the other? Is hand tight with a screwdriver good enough? We all have different hand strength and feeling on what is right/not tight. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's some ideas;

Maybe email the manufacturer of the bass in question? Ask them if they use a specific torque setting.

Have you an electric screwdriver/drill with a torque setting? Work out what the tightest setting is that you can undo by hand and use that- it's what I do when assembling furniture etc. It'll give consistent results, and most drivers will let you tighten it up gently.

 

Otherwise, I'd venture to suggest that as tight as you can without damaging the heads or stripping the threads is best. I'd adjust action and intonation after the neck is good and tight.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

I just Pinch the screws up equally by hand , and finally tighten as tight as I can so as not to damage or strip  the screw head , which is normally about half a turn 🙂

Me too. I wouldn’t worry about it too much...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, Burns-bass said:

Me too. I wouldn’t worry about it too much...

Years ago a luthier told me something that came as a bit of an epiphany at the time... He was mainly talking about Fender guitars, but I suppose it goes for most mass-produced bolt-on models: these guitars were designed to be put together easily.

I would say make it nice and tight, but don’t overdo it. If you’re not careful, an electric screwdriver can really wedge in a screw, so I prefer to do it by hand. (I’ve seen a few bent bridges and neck plates) However, if you apply some common sense it’s really quite difficult to break a bolt-on. 

Edited by Danuman
Tried to fix weird formatting
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Danuman said:

Years ago a luthier told me something that came as a bit of an epiphany at the time... He was mainly talking about Fender guitars, but I suppose it goes for most mass-produced bolt-on models: these guitars were designed to be put together easily.

I would say make it nice and tight, but don’t overdo it. If you’re not careful, an electric screwdriver can really wedge in a screw, so I prefer to do it by hand. (I’ve seen a few bent bridges and neck plates) However, if you apply some common sense it’s really quite difficult to break a bolt-on. 

Yep, I bought an old Fender from a reputable dealer a few years back. He took the neck off to show me the stamps etc, and when he put it back on I was really surprised that he didn't appear to be putting in any effort. I asked him about it and he said as per the above, they didn't leave the factory all that tight and they don't have to be any tighter than he'd tightened them to be stable. He was right about the latter for sure, neck never gave me any problems.

Edited by Beedster
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...