Cannot lower action on my Warwick Corvette

putmeinthezoo · #1 07-18-2008, 07:08 PM

Hi all,

Hope you all can help me out because this is driving me nuts...

I can only get my action lowered to a certain point on my Warwick Corvette. It seems that it should be able to go lower than it is. It's playable, but as I progress as a player (and get more into slap&pop) I want my action lower. Here's what's frustrating... I've lowered my bridge and the individual string adjustments as far as they will go. They will go no lower.

I've been adjusting the truss rod about 1/8th turn at a time over the past few weeks and it doesn't seem to make any difference. But my understanding is that truss rod adjustment does not have much effect on the action, right? I should be able to do this just by adjusting the bridge, right??

I go into local shops and they have fenders that seem to have the strings 2mm off the frets (frankly I don't know why because I find it hard to evaluate a bass when the action is set so ridiculously low). Not that I want my action that low, but it would seem that I should be able to get it that low if I wanted to.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

putmeinthezoo

jschall84 · #2 07-18-2008, 07:16 PM

best advice: take it to a luthier. its well worth the $50 for a great setup. expecially if you dont know what you are doing.

GKevinK · #3 07-18-2008, 07:22 PM

I ran into a similar situation with the Warwick Thumb BO fretless that I recently picked up. I cranked on the hex set screws on either side of the strings and got the strings down to what felt like it was up against the hard stop and the action still wasn't as low as I wanted. What I failed to notice (since all the hardware is black and the wood is dark also) is that there is a separate locking screw that comes in from the side. Once I noticed these, I was able to get enough additional slack to get the action close enough (though I'm still cranking on the truss rod a little at a time.)

It could be that you already knew about this 3rd screw on each string saddle already - but I though I'd mention it since I was inexperienced enough to not notice it at first glance.

Kevin

Nick Kay · #4 07-18-2008, 07:43 PM

If all possible bridge adjustments are out of range, it's time for a neck shim. And don't EVER touch the truss rod for setting the overall action height or intonation. The truss rod is ONLY for setting relief - do not use it for anything else.

putmeinthezoo · #5 07-19-2008, 05:59 AM

Thanks, Kevin! I did in fact realize a while ago that there was that locking screw for each saddle on the side. I'm not sure that this locking screw was described clearly in the owner's manual and as you experienced it was easy to overlook!

putmeinthezoo · #6 07-19-2008, 06:07 AM

Taking it to a luthier is what I need to do. I'm a die-hard when it comes to doing everything myself, but I have to admit I'm out of my league on this.

A question... I notice that when luthiers come up on this board poeple do not say take it to your local guitar superstore! So I get the impression your talking about someone with far more expertise in setting up and adjusting instruments, and maybe someone who works independently from a superstore? So how do I find a luthier in my area? And just in case someone knows someone I live near RTP North Carolina.

Thanks all!

SBassman · #7 07-19-2008, 06:13 AM

I recommend you check music papers in your area finding someone who places ads selling themself as a real luthier or guitar/bass tech. I think it can be dangerous handing off a bass to the local music store. Many do Not have real techs or luthiers. I have seen some nasty hack jobs come out of a store. Not to say you can't find someone qualified there - but, I think it's a risk.

maston · #8 07-20-2008, 07:18 AM

hey - with my corvette you can adjust the height of the whole bridge as well as the individual sadles - can you not do this with yours? Another option is to adjust the action at the nut....

mattygbass · #9 07-20-2008, 08:22 AM

do not take it to a superstore, they will charge you $50 and you wont be happy( from my own experience) take it to a luthier google search luthiers in (type in your state) they will probably keep it a few days but that may be a good thing as they will have time to adjust your truss rod) it sounds to me like you may have too much relief in the neck, another idea is to have the nut filed down so that you have the right string height at the first fret, if you dont have alot of relief in the neck it could need to be shimmed( putting a small piece of cardbourd at the bottom of neck pocket willgive you the right angle to get the string height right ant the end of the fretboard) to check the relief hold down the string at the first fret, hold down the last fret and look to see how much space there is a the 8th fret you should be able to slide a credit card betwen the fret and the string , but no more than that.

SuperDuck · #10 07-20-2008, 08:49 AM

Warwicks can be tricky. As mentioned above, you can adjust the entire bridge as well as each saddle, the truss rod, AND it has an adjustable nut. You can get some fantastic setups out of them, but having to get every adjustable point in concert can take a while!

staindbass · #11 07-20-2008, 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by matt galbraith

do not take it to a superstore, they will charge you $50 and you wont be happy( from my own experience) take it to a luthier google search luthiers in (type in your state) they will probably keep it a few days but that may be a good thing as they will have time to adjust your truss rod) it sounds to me like you may have too much relief in the neck, another idea is to have the nut filed down so that you have the right string height at the first fret, if you dont have alot of relief in the neck it could need to be shimmed( putting a small piece of cardbourd at the bottom of neck pocket willgive you the right angle to get the string height right ant the end of the fretboard) to check the relief hold down the string at the first fret, hold down the last fret and look to see how much space there is a the 8th fret you should be able to slide a credit card betwen the fret and the string , but no more than that.

YES, that will work but affect the tone and sustain in a bad way. ever see a bolt on violin? that joint needs to be mechanically solid for vibration transfer.anything soft will ruin it somewhat. how do you know u are turning the truss rod enough? depending on how fine the threads are, a full turn might make very little difference. how do u tell how flat ur neck is? u need to push the low string onto the first fret it self (not between the frets!), then, one fret above where the neck joins the body, push the string onto that fret also. now you have an almost perfect straight edge to gauge how much 'relief' or space is on the middle of the 2 frets you are holding down.(im talking about the space between the frets and the string. ) there should be about enough space there to barely fit a guitar pick. also note, when you adjust the truss rod, it takes 3 or 4 days to settle to its permanent position. this is why it pays to learn it yourself. if the guitar mechanic does not want to keep the instrument for 5 days for a professional set up, he does not know as much about the instrument as you hope he would. after the truss rod and neck settle, the intonation needs to be redone. if you would like, pm me ,bring yer bass to the gig, ill show ya how. ive been adjusting guitars since 1979. johnny a

putmeinthezoo · #12 07-20-2008, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by staindbass

YES, that will work but affect the tone and sustain in a bad way. ever see a bolt on violin? that joint needs to be mechanically solid for vibration transfer.anything soft will ruin it somewhat. how do you know u are turning the truss rod enough? depending on how fine the threads are, a full turn might make very little difference. how do u tell how flat ur neck is? u need to push the low string onto the first fret it self (not between the frets!), then, one fret above where the neck joins the body, push the string onto that fret also. now you have an almost perfect straight edge to gauge how much 'relief' or space is on the middle of the 2 frets you are holding down.(im talking about the space between the frets and the string. ) there should be about enough space there to barely fit a guitar pick. also note, when you adjust the truss rod, it takes 3 or 4 days to settle to its permanent position. this is why it pays to learn it yourself. if the guitar mechanic does not want to keep the instrument for 5 days for a professional set up, he does not know as much about the instrument as you hope he would. after the truss rod and neck settle, the intonation needs to be redone. if you would like, pm me ,bring yer bass to the gig, ill show ya how. ive been adjusting guitars since 1979. johnny a

In response to the previous posts about the bridge, yes I've adjusted the entire bridge. Everything is as low as it will go. The setting of the nut is fine as well.

I agree with Johnny about the advantages of doing it yourself. I met a guy in the bass section of a guitar superstore who said he brings in all his basses every year to have the intonation set. I didn't say anything, but I'm thinking "why?" as this is obviously pretty easy to do.

However, I now have the feeling that something is wrong with my truss rod. As all the instructions say, you should stop turning when you feel too much resistance. In some sense this wasn't too much help, because there is always resistance. I definitely have to put a little muscle into turning it, and even bracing the bass to bend the relief of the neck back does not help. It generally turns smoothly, but again requires some effort. And I've reached a point where it feels like it will not turn any more, but I still have action that is higher than I would like with the bridge and saddles as low as they will go. So I'd like to keep turning it more, but I don't think it will go any further. I am turning it the direction indication in the user's manual (clock-wise when facing the hex nut).

Unless this sounds normal to you all I'm wondering if something is wrong with the truss rod. And it's always been like this since I bought the bass 3 years ago. If this sounds suspicious I will definitely take it to a luthier.

fretman4god · #13 07-29-2008, 08:09 AM

yeah...that seems really really odd. When I first got my corvette, i experimented with the action and put it as low as it could go...it was so low, you could only play fingerstyle, there wasn't even enough space for the string to slap. then I brought it up a good bit.

Point being, you should be able to set the action too low to play...