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Truss Rod Adjustments Not Working


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Bass has been in storage for a few months. Retrieved it recently to find the neck seemed to have flattened / had no relief resulting in a lot of buzzing around the low frets.

 

Loosened the truss rod a 1/4 turn to get some relief, but the problem returned a day or two later. Tried another quarter turn and the problem has returned.

 

Anyone tell me what’s occurred?

 

cheers

Edited by Fuzzbass2000
Grammar
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First question - have you adjusted 'this' truss rod before and you know for a fact that the truss rod operates in that direction?  Only asking as it isn't unheard of for truss rods to operate the opposite way, you also get 2 way rods.  

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9 minutes ago, Fuzzbass2000 said:

Bass has been in storage for a few months. Retrieved it recently to find the neck seemed to have flattened / had no relief resulting in a lot of buzzing around the low frets.

 

Loosened the truss rod a 1/4 turn to get some relief, but the problem returned a day or two later. Tried another quarter turn and the problem has returned.

 

Anyone tell me what’s occurred?

 

cheers

Was it stored with strings on and at full tension?  If the strings were slack in storage, then the truss rod will have bent the neck into a back curve which may have temporarily set in.

 

Whatever the cause, the timbers may have adjusted and fixed into a new set curve when the bass was in storage.  One way is to loosen the strings fully and loosen the truss rod fully too and leave it for a few days for it to settle back to its natural shape.  Then string back up and adjust the rod basically from scratch. 

 

What make is it / do you know if it is a single action or two way?

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Ta - to answer both

Dano '62 Shortscale fitted with D'Addario ECB81S Chromes 
Stored with strings on at pitch. 
Pretty sure it's a lefty loosey truss rod which i've adjusted in both directions before.  Usually to remove relief so it's kind of ironic I can't get more relief.

Edited by Fuzzbass2000
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OK.  So, yes, try taking the tension off the strings and fully loosening the truss rod and leave it like that for a couple of days.  Then come back to pitch and adjust the rod accordingly.  Check it every few days and make any (hopefully small) further adjustments until it settles down.

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25 minutes ago, Fuzzbass2000 said:

Ok - will give that try. How do I know when it’s fully loosened?

If it's a two way, it will suddenly feel loose as the rod gets to the straight state before then trying to bend the other way.  On a single-way, then the adjusting nut will start unscrewing

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