Neck problem?

Journey55 · #1 06-15-2011, 02:27 PM

I just cleaned my bass an left the strings in denatured alcohol overnight and when I put the strings on there was a terrible amount of buzzing from playing an open note to the 8th fret on all of the strings (I have a five string if it matters). Any easy fixes you guys can think of?

Son of Magni · #2 06-15-2011, 02:30 PM

Guesses:

The strings didn't like the treatment
You have a loose fret somewhere
The nut is loose or moved a little
You're tuned an octave down

berwick63 · #3 06-15-2011, 02:50 PM

or while the neck sat with no tension on it overnight, the truss rod bowed it a little bit more than intended. I'd suggest sighting down the neck on both the treble and bass side to see if there is any relief(generally around 7-12-15ish). What it sounds like to me is that you're bottoming out due to too little relief. Also, check your saddle heights to ensure that they somehow didn't end up out of their seat or lowered in any fashion. It just sounds as if your strings are just bottoming out on the frets until you hit the frets that are relieved. As you mentioned, it stops above the 8th fret. If you don't know how to mess with the truss rod, either take it to a shop or read up on some of the posts here about it. Do a search. Basically, only work in small turns. more than a half a turn is usually frowned upon, as it could "damage the neck" Just be careful, use common sense.

Journey55 · #4 06-15-2011, 03:40 PM

Uh... I don't see where I'd adjust the truss rod. It's not where it usually is on other basses I've played

berwick63 · #5 06-15-2011, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Journey55

Uh... I don't see where I'd adjust the truss rod. It's not where it usually is on other basses I've played

Is it "usually" at the headstock? There are also heel side truss rods, fairly common to see them on either end. Usually if there's not a groove routed for it, you have to remove the neck. Usually if its a heel truss, its a big philips head, though I've seen different.

Exploiter8 · #6 06-15-2011, 03:58 PM

Maybe you should just wait for the strings to pull the neck back to where it was initially, retuning daily, of course.

I've stated before that I replace my strings one at a time, even putting an old set on while soaking my strings of choice in DA overnight to avoid just what happened to you. I took a few flames for that but for me, it works.

X8

berwick63 · #7 06-15-2011, 04:05 PM

I agree that you definitely shouldn't leave the neck with no tension for very long, especially if the truss is applying opposing pressure which would normally be equaled by the strings. I personally feel if you have to leave strings off or take the neck off for more than a routine cleaning/ect, that you should bring the truss back to it's mid-point, where it's not putting pressure at all.

Journey55 · #8 06-15-2011, 04:11 PM

So it should just set back now that the strings are back on?

berwick63 · #9 06-15-2011, 05:25 PM

How long has it been since you put them back on? If it's been a few days, it's probably as back as it's going to get.

TheMonkeyKing · #10 06-16-2011, 04:03 PM

How much does denatured alcohol and taking your bass to a specialist to repair the neck cost compared to the $20-$30 it costs for a new set of strings?

Just curious.

Anyway, I read something recently that has changed my approach when adjusting the truss rod. After adding relief to the neck, tune all of your strings up by a semi-tone or a tone. This will help "coax" the neck as it adjusts itself to the tension. Do the reverse if you are lessening the relief: drop-tune all of the strings by a step.

It seems to help, I notice the adjustment immediately when I do this, then once you are happy with the amount of relief, tune it back to the correct pitch and keep an eye on it.