Bass Relief question......

BigBud · #1 12-07-2009, 09:03 PM

Brother bassers....... I can't get this right in my hard head.......I want to DECREASE the relief in the neck of my MusicMan SR5......with the bass laying in my lap-neck and head pointed away from me......do I slip a screwdriver (or equivelent) into the tress rod

wheel and turn to my right or left? Please no have-it-set-up suggestions...that's how it got this way. Besides if I weren't brain dead this should be easy. Turning to the right should tighten thus increasing relief, right? Turning left should release tension thus allowing neck to straighten, right? Distance from fret to bottom of E string at 12th fret is 3/16 of an inch and I like low action......Bud

CPplaysBASS · #2 12-07-2009, 09:11 PM

Righty tighty ... so turn right to tighten, and that will DECREASE or lessen the relief (i.e straighten). Tighten too much, and not having enough relief will cause fret buzz.

Not sure what the MusicMan SR5 needs, but I'm guessing you'd need a proper allen key (if it's anything like a Fender truss rod). Using a screwdriver would likely strip the end of the rod if you're supposed to use an allen key instead.

Edit: Sorry, just realizing he SR5 has an adjustable "wheel" .... still though. tightening will straighten the neck / decrease the relief.

bwv1013 · #3 12-07-2009, 09:32 PM

any straight object that fits (and is strong enough) will work fine as the EB basses have an exposed truss rod "wheel." just push the screwdriver in, turn the wheel down towards the bottom of the bass and you're good to go. Gary Willis has some good tips for adjusting bass action on his website, definitely worth a look.

BigBud · #4 12-07-2009, 09:42 PM

Thanks to both you guys! Yes, I've heard the righty tighty, lefty loosey thing......but my brain still has trouble with the fact that tightening will release the relief and straighten the neck......just seems like tightening would increase the bend(relief) and loosening would allow release of the pressure and allow neck to straighten......I got it, but still doesn't sound right.....Bud

Rocky McD · #5 12-07-2009, 09:53 PM

If you have never adjusted the truss rod before, it is a good idea to loosen the strings and loosen the truss rod tension. This will prevent stripping the threads if the nut is frozen to the theads. I usually remove the nut and put a dab of lube on it. Reinstall and tighten until the neck is straigt or with a slight upbow. Then tune to pitch and loosen the nut just enough to stop any buzzing. Tightening the truss rod while under string tension could cause damage. Many truss rods have been broken by improper tightening.
Rocky

elgranluis · #6 12-07-2009, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigBud

Thanks to both you guys! Yes, I've heard the righty tighty, lefty loosey thing......but my brain still has trouble with the fact that tightening will release the relief and straighten the neck......just seems like tightening would increase the bend(relief) and loosening would allow release of the pressure and allow neck to straighten......I got it, but still doesn't sound right.....Bud

I see where you are coming from Bud. If the truss rod channel were straight, then yes, tightening it would probably increase the bend. But actually, the truss rod channel is curved. Around the middle of the neck's lenght it gets closer to the back of the neck, kinda like a stretched U. When you tighten the nut, the rod tries to straighten itself out. Hope it helps!

debris · #7 12-07-2009, 10:12 PM

This is an image from another thread that is a great visual aid for MM relief--I don't remember whose it is, and I obviously take no credit for this pic.

I'll see if I can find the original thread.

More relief I believe is "loosening" or reducing pressure on the truss rod, thus lefty loosy, which gives the neck more bow and brings it away from the strings, making the action higher.
Less relief then would be "tightening" or increasing pressure on the truss rod, righty tighty, which flattens the neck and brings it closer to the strings, making the action lower.

There are other bridge adjustments that affect the overall action of the strings, which I unfortunately know less about doing, and are just as important as the relief in making for a balanced instrument.

Just as an aside, would it be true that relief refers to neck adjustment more and action refers to bridge adjustment, or are the terms interchangable?
From what I know, action is the overall string height and relief is the bow of the neck.

Cy_Miles · #8 12-08-2009, 01:39 AM

The relief is how much the neck is bent, which does affect string height, but is not the way to "adjust string height"

Adjust the reliefe and then adjust the bridge to get your desired string height.

All of it together is what you could call "Action"

Now I have an important point to bring up.
NOT ALL TRUSS RODS HAVE RIGHT HAND THREADS...

Sorry didn't mean to yell but I thought it was important to bring that up.

That, and becuase sometimes I just mix up left hand turning and right hand turning I have been taught the following.

ALWAYS make small turns of the rod. About 1/8 of a turn at a time.
AND always visually check the neck after each trun of the rod. You will almost for sure see the difference within 1/4 of a revolution, or 2 1/8th turns.

If you see it start to bend the wrong way, simply return to where you started and then start going the other way.

debris · #9 12-08-2009, 02:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cy_Miles

The relief is how much the neck is bent, which does affect string height, but is not the way to "adjust string height"

Adjust the reliefe and then adjust the bridge to get your desired string height.

All of it together is what you could call "Action"

That's what I thought, thanks for confirming!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cy_Miles

ALWAYS make small turns of the rod. About 1/8 of a turn at a time.
AND always visually check the neck after each trun of the rod. You will almost for sure see the difference within 1/4 of a revolution, or 2 1/8th turns.

If you see it start to bend the wrong way, simply return to where you started and then start going the other way.

Agreed. I've heard that rule before.

johhn smith · #10 12-08-2009, 02:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigBud

Thanks to both you guys! Yes, I've heard the righty tighty, lefty loosey thing......but my brain still has trouble with the fact that tightening will release the relief and straighten the neck......just seems like tightening would increase the bend(relief) and loosening would allow release of the pressure and allow neck to straighten......I got it, but still doesn't sound right.....Bud

the easiest way to think of this is the truss rod opposes the pull of the strings. the strings want to pull the neck to the front side of the bass and the truss rod wants to pull it back. therefore tightening the rod will oppose the strings and pull the neck back while loosening it will allow the strings to pull the neck forward.