Help! Stingray Special 4HH neck unstable? Seems to move by end of a gig.

[Philthy]

Does anyone else believe their Stingray Special neck to be a bit unstable? I have a 2018 Stingray Special 4 HH in dropped copper with roasted maple neck and fretboard. I'll have it set up to my liking (.012" relief, 7/64" bass side, 6/64" treble side - bridge pu 9/64" bass 8/64" treble neck pu string height) and by the end of a gig night (avg. 2 1/2 hrs of total playing time) it seems like my action has gotten higher. I measure the relief and the neck seems to have moved. I'll have to tighten the trussrod again before the next gig. I've never experienced this with my other Stingrays. Anyone else have this issue? Maybe it's just me and I'm going nuts but I want to see if I'm not the only one. Not sure what I can do about it. Thanks.

 

[DrKev]

I have two thoughts...

No two piece of wood are the same and some other require more regular adjustment than others. It's the just the nature of wood. But at long as the truss rod is not cranked crazy tight and you can always achieve the relief you want it's not an issue. With the Music Man truss rod nut being so easy to access it's super fast to correct.

But you may be going nuts too.



What I mean is that if we merely *suspect* that there is an issue, we can possibly drive ourselves crazy imagining there is a problem when there might not be. The way to cure this to do a setup, measure the relief, and measure it again to compare every time you feel you need to adjust it. Data is your friend.

 

[nhbassguitar]

If the action drifts higher, then I assume the instrument goes flat in the process, and you have to re-tune (tighten strings) during the show. Correct?

My personal test for truss rod tension "correctness" is a neck bow so slight that I can barely see it when sighting down the neck from the headstock end. I mean very close to dead flat. (Some people use a very long straightedge and that's fine.) I would never automatically assume an abnormally high action mandates a truss rod adjustment, because there could be something structural going on that's serious.

If you have verified that the higher action is in fact due to increased neck bow, perhaps the wood at the adjuster or the anchor is compressing because you're heavy-handing things without realizing it.

I adjust truss rods the following way. I look at the neck bow, and, for example, I'll decide I need to tighten the adjuster by 1/8 of a turn to reduce the bow to where I want it. Then I loosen all the strings until they're floppy. Now there's zero tension on the truss rod, the anchor, and the adjuster. Next, I back off the adjuster a tiny bit to make sure it isn't bound up and the threads are okay, then re-tighten it to exactly where it was (i.e. to the original starting point). Then I tighten the adjuster by the 1/8 of a turn I previously decided on. Then I retune the instrument, let it sit for several hours to stabilize, and re-check the neck bow.

 

[Philthy]

@nhbassguitar

If the action drifts higher, then I assume the instrument goes flat in the process, and you have to re-tune (tighten strings) during the show. Correct?

Yes, tuning goes flat

I adjust truss rods the following way. I look at the neck bow, and, for example, I'll decide I need to tighten the adjuster by 1/8 of a turn to reduce the bow to where I want it. Then I loosen all the strings until they're floppy. Now there's zero tension on the truss rod, the anchor, and the adjuster. Next, I back off the adjuster a tiny bit to make sure it isn't bound up and the threads are okay, then re-tighten it to exactly where it was (i.e. to the original starting point). Then I tighten the adjuster by the 1/8 of a turn I previously decided on. Then I retune the instrument, let it sit for several hours to stabilize, and re-check the neck bow.

Thanks for this very thorough method. I will have to give this a try.

If the neck is truly unstable, not sure what else can be done at this point. I hate to give it up as the neck is one of the best feeling necks I have but constant adjusting is a bit of a pain. Selling it to someone wouldn't be right either. Feel like I maybe between a rock and a hard place right now.

 

[nhbassguitar]

Next time you have the strings "floppy loose", check that the neck screws are tight (not socked down wood-stripping hard, just snugged up securely). It's a long shot but still worth checking. You could also check the bridge mounting screws for snugness. Please disregard if you've already done this.

 

[Philthy]

Update: played a gig last night. 2 hrs worth of music. Neck definitely moved. Action was a smidge higher and my tuning went slightly flat. Slightly more relief this morning. Kinda at a loss with this one.

 

[mynan]

Customer service is your best option. Even though the bass is out of warranty and getting this resolved might not be free, they should be able to point you in the right direction so you can determine whether or not the cost is worth it to you. It definitely won't hurt to shoot them an email. [email protected]

 

[Philthy]

Update: I did reach out to customer service. And, correct, being out of warranty my only offered option was to send it in for them to look at; which comes at with a cost. Cost for me to ship the bass, $80/hr on the bench for evaluation + $60 to ship back to me. If the neck is determined to be faulty, $1250 to build a new neck as they don't have necks readily available. So, sounds like I'm just going to have to live with it the way it is.

With that said, wondering if there is any advice to help stabilize it a little better. Could building up a TruOil finish on the back of the neck help a bit? I currently do like a quick wipe on/wipe off of TruOil once a year; but that's about it.

 

[lm183902]

Yikes. That all adds up to be more than my first Stingray 5 that I bought in 2001