Adjustment question

[pseudoxh4]

Hey,
I just recently took the strings off my bass to replace, only to run into a bit of a road block.
When I put the new strings on, the strings get so close to the lower frets such that whenever I play them "open," all I get is a buzz/rattle and no note (and upon further investigation, it seems that pushing down on the 5th fret or one of the higher frets seems to be fine, so it must be intersecting the lower frets) and none of the lower (1st-4th) frets sound (i.e. rattle as well).
The only "solution" I've found is raising the saddle height, but I'd have to raise it a bit too high to be able to sound notes on an open string, making the higher frets very difficult to push down on.
I made sure to shorten the strings to the extent that they only wrap around the posts 2 or 3 times.
I was wondering if someone could point me in the right direction as to what I should be adjusting (is this one of those times where I should be adjusting the truss rod?).
Thanks for any input.

[Joshua]

Firstly, I'd tune your bass to pitch and let it sit for a couple hrs to let the neck adjust to the new string's tension. Check a couple times to make sure it is still tuned to pitch.

Next I'd measure relief, and adjust accordingly. Do you know how to do so?

[pseudoxh4]

So I guess I should be tuning my bass based on the 12th fret.
I'm not entirely sure how to measure relief or adjust, unfortunately.
In case it matters, I believe my bass has two truss rods.
Thanks.

[Mushroo]

Sounds like a job for the truss rod! There is a good sticky at the top of this forum that will get you started on truss rod adjustments. If you aren't comfortable doing this yourself, taking it in to the shop for a pro setup is a good idea. I have one bass with two truss rods. Unless the action is messed on one side but not the other (which has never happened so far), I turn both truss rods equally when making an adjustment. Good luck!

[Joshua]

Start by simply tuning the bass and allowing the neck to acclimate to the new strings.

To measure relief (don't adjust anything yet), capo the first fret and fret where the neck meets the body. This turns the string into a straightedge and relief can be judged beneath it.

There should be about the thickness of a business card's space between the top of the fret and the bottom of the string at the mid point of the 2 fretted points above.

Take a look and let us know.

Also, if more adjustments are needed, it certainly would be helpful to know what kind of a bass it is...

[T-MOST]

If your bass buzzes in the lower register the neck is probably "too" straight. You need to add some relief (bow) to the neck.

[Solarmist]

Originally Posted by Joshua

Start by simply tuning the bass and allowing the neck to acclimate to the new strings.

To measure relief (don't adjust anything yet), capo the first fret and fret where the neck meets the body. This turns the string into a straightedge and relief can be judged beneath it.

There should be about the thickness of a business card's space between the top of the fret and the bottom of the string at the mid point of the 2 fretted points above.

Take a look and let us know.

Also, if more adjustments are needed, it certainly would be helpful to know what kind of a bass it is...

+1 - Exactly - Capo 1st & last - check in middle with a credit card