OK I'm an idiot, Truss rod adjustment

[Rod Trussbroken]

Ok os what do you do when... your trussrod is fully released i.e. you have tried to give it as much bow as you can, in the left <-- direction as shown in the pic below but your strings have not come far away enough from the fret and are still buzzing? Is this when you must start adjusting the bridge saddles height to raise them up a bit? Because this is what is happening to my Bongo, winter is on it's way out and the house is much warmer now so the last 2 days I have noticed that the bottom 2 strings i.e. B and E are beginning to buzz against the frets, so I have tried to release some tension in the trussrod but I have noticed that the adjsutment nut was already almost loose. Any suggestions before I seek the help of Blind Lemon & Co. ? (Strings and Things) Thanks

Fran...First thing I’d do is make the neck flatter as you have too much relief. Rotate the driver clock-wise as in the pic. Depress the 1st fret and 12th on the B string and adjust until you have credit card thickness between the top of the 5th fret and bottom of the B string at that fret. Now adjust all strings for no fret buzz from about the 6th fret to the last fret. That will be about 3/32 inches from the top of the 12th fret to the bottom of all strings at that fret. The E, A, D, and G strings can be slightly lowered proportionately to each other from the B string for a better feel. Finally, you may have to add a bit of relief to the neck (driver moves anti-clockwise) if the strings buzz from the 1st to the 6th fret.

 

[Grand Wazoo]

Thanks Gav, I will try that but what I am seing here, its a very convex neck even with the trussroad fully released (counter clockwise) and I would think that with the trussrod released I should obtain a more concave neck to allow the strings to come away from the frets a bit more, but it's not giving at alll, and the buzz is occurring all over the frets from 1st to 24th. No one has touched the bridge saddles so far, it looks like this Bongo has reacted to the weather change a lot more than my Stingray 5 which on the other hand hasn't shifted one bit. I think I need to get in touch with the Blind Lemon...

 

[DanTheMan]

save as..........that's what i did when gav 1st posted that pic....

+1 on that!

Thanks Gav!

 

[Grand Wazoo]

I'm not sure I understand the question, but if your strings are not pulling the neck into proper relief with the truss rod fully disengaged, here's what I do:

Leave truss rod loose.

Tune a half step or even a whole step PAST PITCH, putting more tension on the strings/neck.

Let it sit for a day or two. Wood will move.

Tune to pitch, readjust.

This is only if your neck is not already bowed up like, well, a bow!

I take no responsibility for any results, by the way.

I appreciate the tip Jack, and I thought of it too, yet t seems rather a drastic solution, can a neck really withstand the tension of 5 strings 45-130 gauge tuned a whole step up? I know you've said that you take no responsibility but can anyone at EBMM confirm this is a safe procedure to take?

Thanks

 

[BongoNate]

Same Problem

I just had the Exact same thing happen to me as well with my newer bongo. I live in Colorado and the weather has rapidly started to warm up. When I went to turn the dial counter clockwise, it was loose with no pressure against it. I continued to turn it counter clockwise (a good bit) until it did catch tension and proceeded to add relief to the neck. I have probably turned the dial about 3/4 rotation, and still have buzz on the first four frets of the D and G string. I have raised the action on the bridge a bit as well...but still have the buzz. If I push down on the 1st and 12th frets, I have about as much room as a piece of notebook paper between the 5th fret. (I read that you should have about a credit card thickness) Should I keep going with the truss rod??...raise the action from the bridge??? Won't I get into changing the pitch of the notes at that point? I'd like to learn how to make these adjustments myself, but I am worried that I might damage my guitar.

 

[Basspro]

Do what Gav stated above, as you have too much relief in the neck and need to flatten it out.
When my 98' ray arrived i noticed the saddles almost all the way back against the bridge, i had some buzzing above the 12th fret,so i then looked down the neck and noticed alot of relief from about the 5th fret down i loosened the strings and went to the trussrod wheel and noticed it was all the way out (counter clockwise).looking from
the body down the neck.
I moved my saddles out for a simi intonation and have been flatting the neck out
for the last 3 days now just 1/4 turn at a time (clockwise) to allow the wood to settle back as i suspect it's been set this way for awhile,the neck is almost there with no fret buzz anywhere on the neck, im going for another 1/8 turn too get the action just where i want it.Never adjust a trussrod all at once if it's at one extreme or the other, just a little at a time and let the wood settle.I never damaged a neck using this method.
I stand the bass or guitar upright and put my right foot in front of the body and my left
leg in the back of the body, now if im flatting the neck, i pull back slightly on the headstock while turning the wheel clockwise or away from me.
Hope this helps.

 

[fly]

nice basspro.........all the insight helps......

 

[Ken Baker]

It still confuses me. That is why the guys at my local guitar repair shop see me so often.

Just outa curiousity, when you do take a bass in for service, where do you go?

Ken...

 

[Basspro]

Originally Posted by silverburst
It still confuses me. That is why the guys at my local guitar repair shop see me so often.

Why on earth would you need too take your basses in so often?

 

[silverburst]

Originally Posted by silverburst
It still confuses me. That is why the guys at my local guitar repair shop see me so often.

Why on earth would you need too take your basses in so often?

Because I go through alot of basses.

Ken -- I see Greg over at World of Strings in Long Beach. Unfortunately he leaves for some European tour on Monday. But, the other guys there are great too.

 

[Basspro]

^Too bad i didn't live closer,or i would give you a guitar maintenance crash course, so you could save some $$ and set up your own guitars.

 

[xaxxop]

Hi people I'm user new, I like this site

any tips for Adjustment my bass, I have a OLP mm2

excuse me for my ingles, I' m from Argentina

 

[peterv]

how much to turn

hey!
the picture is great, my strings are about 4mm over the neck at the 12thfret (ive never touched the bridge height). my question is how much to rotate the trust rod, to bring it back to the 2.4mm factory setting?

many thanks!
P

 

[sabre-player]

OK, I allways have to search the forum to find which way to turn the trussrod. Is there some logical way I can remember this?

If I'm looking at the bridge from the body which way do I turn to bring the strings away from the fretboard.

There must be a way I can remember this...

Actualy very simple : loosening the trussrod will enlarge the distance to the fretboard so to remember :

loosening the trussrod (counterclockwise) will loosen your strings (further away from fretboard)

thightening the trussrod (clockwise) will tighten the strings (closer to fretboard)


Can this help ? ;-) Daniel

 

[adouglas]

hey!
the picture is great, my strings are about 4mm over the neck at the 12thfret (ive never touched the bridge height). my question is how much to rotate the trust rod, to bring it back to the 2.4mm factory setting?

many thanks!
P

I think you may be missing the point of adjusting the trussrod. Yes, adjusting it DOES change string height, but that's a secondary effect.

The primary purpose of tweaking the trussrod is to adjust relief, or neck bow.

Here's why the difference matters. Let's say a previous owner set the saddles way too high. Attempting to lower string height, you tighten the trussrod so much you wind up with back bow... the neck bowing in the wrong direction. Now you've got buzz all over the place and you can't get rid of it.

So, yeah, you lowered the string height with the trussrod, but that's not the culprit in this example.

What you need to do is set relief with the trussrod until it's correct, then check string height. If the relief is correct and the string height is off, THEN - and only then - you adjust the saddles.

There are a few different ways to check relief. Here's how I do it (I assume you're right handed).

- Fret at the first fret with your left hand and simultaneously at the 15th fret with your right thumb.
- Holding your right thumb down, stretch your right hand and tap the string with your forefinger at the 7th fret.
- You're looking for a tiny bit of movement. You need to hear the string tap against the 7th fret, but virtually no visible gap between the string and the fret.
- If you see a big gap, you've got too much relief. If you get no tapping noise of the string hitting the fret it's already in contact and you have to little.
- To increase relief, stick an appropriate tool (I use a small screwdriver) into the capstan wheel and pull it up towards you. To reduce relief, stick the tool in the wheel and push it away from you.

 

[mynan]

hey!
the picture is great, my strings are about 4mm over the neck at the 12thfret (ive never touched the bridge height). my question is how much to rotate the trust rod, to bring it back to the 2.4mm factory setting?

many thanks!
P

About 1/4 turn, let it settle, then repeat until it gets to where you want it to be.