Loosening truss rod when storing bass necks.

[joey305]

Not to positive as to where this really should go so, mods, if im in the wrong place go ahead and move it.

I'm about to move to another city. Because of a meeting I must attend I'm dropping my junk off at my future room mates so he can bring it up in a trailer. I do not have cases for my cheaper basses.

Seeing as my basses wont fit in the boxes I am planning on removing the necks from the bodies.
I was talking to a guitar and he told me that I should loosen the truss rods in the necks. He said if I don't the necks could become crack or be damaged if they are kept to long like that. It should be a week between disassembly and reassembly.

I'm not to sure if hes right and if its worth my time. should i loosen the necks up a bit?

Thanks in advance

[Pilgrim]

No! Get a wardrobe/clothes hanging box - plenty of room for basses. Leave basses fully assembled and strung. Pad them well with blankets or buy bubble wrap and package them in the wardrobe box, with all sitting as upright as possible. Make darn sure they will be stored in a climate-controlled room.

That's the best way I can think of to do this. DO NOT disassemble them! DO NOT mess with the truss rods. Keep them as they are now. If the packaging costs a bit, all you're doing is protecting your investment. If the roommate has to rent a larger trailer to bring them, pay for it.

[joey305]

That wardrobe clothes box sounds like a good idea but what would be the cons of disassembly?

[Pilgrim]

- You lose your setup..and possibly let the necks warp!
- Basses stay most stable when they are assembled and strings tight
- Chances of damage which disassembling and re-assembling
- The work in doing all this is wasted...because it's not necessary.

my 1963 P was stored with strings at normal tension - in its case - from 1973 to 1997. I opened the case, tuned it up and started playing it. No action problems, no string problems - in fact, I have never changed the strings. THAT, I submit to the court, is STABLE!!!

I had to think for a minute before coming up with the wardrobe idea, but that's how I'd do it if I didn't have cases. I personally make it a point to buy hard cases for all possible instruments - just received a hard case for my Casady bass yesterday ($120) because I'm a believe in hard cases. But even in cases, I think I'd use the wardrobe box idea. The more I think about it, the better I like it. Just pad everything generously.

[CatfishStudios]

Well.....thats pretty much handled.

[Pilgrim]

I think it'll work out fine.

[Nino Valenti]

If you have to disassemble the neck, there will not be any issues if you loosen the neck so it is straight. Personally, I wouldn't disassemble it.

If it is not climate controlled, don't even think about storing a bass there assembled or disassembled.

[Caca de Kick]

If you need a packing box for your case-less basses, then try a guitar store. They get basses in all the time that don't have cases, and I've always had an easy time getting empty shipping boxes from local stores.

[BigOldHarry]

never once have I done this - and I stored all my basses in a closet for over a year while I was in Iraq.

just leave them be.

[JTE]

Here's the thing. The truss rod and the strings balance each other. The bass is designed to have those two tensions on the neck. If you loosen one without the other, it's going to be unbalanced and that's more likely to cause real problems than leaving it be. So, what happens if you take the strings off AND loosen the rod? Well, you might get the rod right for no tension, but then when you put it all together again, as Pilgrim says, you're starting all over again on your set up.

If you can't find a shipping box big enough for a bass at a guitar store, go to a bicycle store. Those boxes are great for a long-scale bass in a hard-shell case. Plus, those boxes are generally triple-wall and very heavy corrugated board so they're much better for shipping than most guitar company boxes.

John