going away for a month, should I...

[killersdude]

Hey everyone,

I'm leaving today for a month to tour, but I'm leaving a couple of my basses behind, would it be a good idea to loosen the strings on those which I will be leaving?

Thanks!

[Caca de Kick]

No leave them how they are. That's why there's a truss rod in them...to counter what the strings are doing.

[jnuts1]

i wouldn't. my main bass has had tension on the neck for 7 years. when i change my stings i do it one at a time so not to relieve the tension. it is a very finniky bass.

[Rodent]

leave the strings tuned to pitch

all the best,

R

[Turnaround]

Think of it this way: Playing a bass does nothing to keep the neck straight.

That is to say, playing or not playing will have no affect the straightness of the neck. So if you leave your instrument tuned to pitch between practices/gigs, it's OK to leave it at pitch when not playing it for a month or two.

My main bass is about 10 years old and the only time it hasn't been at pitch is during string changes. The neck is still perfect.

[lindseyp]

My job requires me to often leave them unusued. I leave them tuned the way I intend to play them when I return. Usually, the first thing I do when I return home is put down the suitcase and pick up a bass -- and I don't mean the original pale ale .

[202dy]

Your bass guitar is a balanced system. One of the biggest tools in keeping the system in balance is the truss rod. It counteracts the pull of the strings. Before adjustable truss rods were invented, various types of reinforcements were built into guitar necks to prevent them from bowing under the stress of the pull of the strings. Some were more successful than others. The tension of the strings would pull the neck into what ever shape the neck would allow. Other than allowances for seasonal and environmental differences, the neck would remain the same. The system was in balance. But if you remove the strings from the guitar, the neck will try to go back to it's original shape. The adjustable truss rod in your bass neck does the same thing, only better. It gives you the ability to adjust the amount of relief in the neck. Once it is adjusted to where you like it the system is in balance where you like it. However, just like a guitar with a non adjustable reinforcement, if you remove the strings, the neck will try to go back to it's original shape.

Here's the problem with all of that. Over time, wood has a tendency to "take a set" or retain the shape that it has been forced into. Think about a bent wood rocking chair. Once the strips of wood are bent into shape and fastened together it can hold that position for many years unless acted on by an outside force. The same is true of your guitar neck. Once it is out of balance by loosening the strings it will tend to go into a back bow. Given enough time the neck will take a set in the opposite direction of what you want. This condition can be fixed, but there are more hoops to jump through to make it happen. For most folks, a trip to a pro will be necessary.

So it seems like both things can happen to a neck? In a word, yes. Some necks will take a set, others won't. There is no predicting what wood will do. Whatever you want it to do, it's an even bet that it will do the opposite.

The important thing to remember is that the neck is a balanced system. Just like any equation, what you do to one side you must do to the other to keep the equation in balance. If you loosen the strings on your bass, you must loosen the truss rod, too. That means when you get home the first thing you get to do after unpacking is do a set up on your guitar.

Leave it alone.

[Pilgrim]

Mine was stored for 25 years with the strings tuned to pitch, and the neck was perfect when I got it back. Act accordingly.

[Joshua]

Holy peanut butter sandwich, Batman! Turnaround and 202dy come out of the shadows in the same thread.

I believe the correct response to this is:

/thread.

Good to see ya both!

[Turnaround]

Originally Posted by Joshua

Holy peanut butter sandwich, Batman! Turnaround and 202dy come out of the shadows in the same thread.

I believe the correct response to this is:

/thread.

Good to see ya both!

Yo, back at ya!

[PilbaraBass]

I just leave everything tuned to pitch...I don't believe in detuning for storage...doesn't make sense to me...

I don't know where this "detune to store" notion even got started

[202dy]

And a how-dee-doo to you too!

[Ric5]

Originally Posted by killersdude

Hey everyone,

I'm leaving today for a month to tour, but I'm leaving a couple of my basses behind, would it be a good idea to loosen the strings on those which I will be leaving?

Thanks!

Nope ... no .... never!

your bass is designed to be strung ...

Same thing is when you ship it leave it strung up.

[Turkeybasster]

You think the manufacturer or retailer detunes when in back stock?

[Eilif]

The only time I would loosen the strings is if I had an instrument like a les paul that I was shipping and the recipient was afraid of breaking off the headstock. In that case, I would loosen the truss rod as well.

[Rodent]

never ship a bass/guitar detuned more than a whole step unless you also loosen the trussrod!

/topic

all the best,

R

[Rodent]

Originally Posted by Turkeybasster

You think the manufacturer or retailer detunes when in back stock?

NO - no competent manufacturer or retailer would ever do this

all the best,

R

[Joshua]

Originally Posted by Turnaround

Yo, back at ya!

Originally Posted by 202dy

And a how-dee-doo to you too!

Shameless hype: to all who don't know, if either of these 2 respond to your threads (note that they're both busy folks and aren't here all the time) take notes. Either has forgotten more about S&R than most of us will ever know.

And on that note, where has Chasarms been?

[Turnaround]

Originally Posted by Joshua

And on that note, where has Chasarms been?

Hello Chasarms????????? We miss you.

[bigfatbass]

Hey Turn, I know I may have missed you as you head out on tour, but didn't you used to make wood pickguards?