Neck Adjustment/action Problem - 5 String Bass

[ecnal]

I've never really messed with my truss rod before, always been pretty good. A tiny adjustment here and there.

I refinished my five string after years of not touching it. Came out good, but the action was horrible. So I adjusted the neck until it was more or less straight (eyeballing it) and the strings are unplayable, rubbing on 75% of the frets. I adjusted the saddles at the bridge - they're now all the way up and it's still unplayable.

What is an acceptable truss rod adjustment? Is a little curve in the neck OK?

[Dauntless]

Do a fret level and crown, then adjust the truss rod!

You should still have a slight curve when the adjustment is done.

It'll make a world of difference.

Info available on the net.

I've never really messed with my truss rod before, always been pretty good. A tiny adjustment here and there.

I refinished my five string after years of not touching it. Came out good, but the action was horrible. So I adjusted the neck until it was more or less straight (eyeballing it) and the strings are unplayable, rubbing on 75% of the frets. I adjusted the saddles at the bridge - they're now all the way up and it's still unplayable.

What is an acceptable truss rod adjustment? Is a little curve in the neck OK?

[ihocky2]

You should not need to touch the frets unless you did a refret as well. It just sounds like it needs a full setup, from start to finish. There is info available online and in several books on it. The key is to perform it in the correct order, since one adjustment affect another. You'll need a ruler that measures in 64th's or mm's, a capo, and some feeler gauges, or at least some clippings from old guitar strings to act as feeler gauges.

[Moth]

A straight edge will be your friend on this one. DO NOT do a fret level and crown until you have determined that your neck is straight. Try this:

Put your face near the headstock. Now, look at the nut. Now look down the neck at the bridge. This is the best angle for seeing if your guitar's neck is straight. Chances are that you've over tightened your truss rod and you have backbow on the neck. For an ideal setup, your neck will be straight. If your neck is straight, then the factory fretjob should be flat. Then you should be able to raise and lower your action to your comfort level depending on how far it'll let you go.

As far as the truss rod adjustment goes, you will see immediate results when you first turn it, but the next day, you may see different results. That's because the wood has to adjust to the adjustment that you've made on the rod as well. So, you may have to make another adjustment the next day, but to a lesser extent. After that one, you should be all set up.

I really wish people would stop recommending fret work when the option of a proper setup has not been considered.

[Samba Pa Ti]

+1 on a straight edge, a 2foot/24 inch ruler is handy as long as its straight ,

a slight bow in the neck is ok as long as theres only a 1mm gap at about the 7th or 8th fret.

i stopped using feeler gauges ages ago and i now use a string action gauge from stewmac, a ruler with millimeters's could be used at about the 17th fret and make each string 1.5mm high (thats for guitar, bass strings are probably higher, fenders website has proper setup measurments).

getting the action right isnt too hard, i find intonation to be a pain in the ass though.

[B. Aaron]

Another way to do it:

Fret your D string at the 1st fret with one hand and at the neck/body joint fret with the other hand. Take a peek and check how much space there is between the D string and a fret in the middle of the neck (fret 8 or 9, for example). For a bass, you want about 0.5-1.0mm between the string and that fret in the middle of the neck. That should work nicely with an action of ~2mm on the G string and ~3.3mm on the low B string (when checked at the 12th fret with nothing fretted) and the other strings gradually shifting between those two extremes.