Neck warped, or is this normal?

[steveksux]

I went to adjust my truss rod after putting on new strings. I check the relief by pressing the first and last fret, and seeing how much space there is in the middle between the frets and the string.

My problem? If I check the B string, there's less relief than if I do the same thing with the G string. I'm thinking my neck must be warped or frets not levelled?

Should be the same amount of relief all across the neck right? Never noticed before, maybe I just never checked more than 1 string to set the truss rod before...

Randy

[Turnaround]

If you are asking if it's common, the answer is "yes". It's generally not serious though unless it interferes with proper playability of the instrument. So if your instruments sets up and plays the way you like, don't worry. Keep an eye on it to see if it becomes more exaggerated, at which point you may get a little more concerned. Otherwise just enjoy playing.

[Zooberwerx]

Re-check it while depressing the ~17th fret (where the neck meets the body) and see if there's better correlation. Are you using a capo & feeler gauges or judging by dead reckoning (sighting down the the fretboard)?

Riis

[Joe Nerve]

I say if ya can't feel it or hear it, it doesn't matter.

I have a friend who gets very caught up with the technical imperfections of his instruments (not saying that you do), and I think it robs him of much of the joy he would otherwise be experiencing. If I were ever to super inspect all my basses for imperfections, dead spots, misaligned pickup poles, screws and whatever elsemight be slightly our of whack, I'm certain I'd find myself in heaps of trouble. And I guarantee not a single one of the imperfections I found would ever be heard by anyone on any gig, or in any recording.

[steveksux]

Originally Posted by Zooberwerx

Re-check it while depressing the ~17th fret (where the neck meets the body) and see if there's better correlation. Are you using a capo & feeler gauges or judging by dead reckoning (sighting down the the fretboard)?

Riis

I hold down the string at the first and last frets, then stretch a thumb to depress the string in the middle to get an idea how far away from the frets it is. I'm assuming the tightened string is a pretty good approximation of perfect straightedge.

I'm forced to have the G string's action higher than I'm used to on my other basses, that's what got me investigating. I can usually set them up to my satisfaction, but this has been difficult.

Randy

[Zooberwerx]

Originally Posted by steveksux

I hold down the string at the first and last frets, then stretch a thumb to depress the string in the middle to get an idea how far away from the frets it is. I'm assuming the tightened string is a pretty good approximation of perfect straightedge.

I'm forced to have the G string's action higher than I'm used to on my other basses, that's what got me investigating. I can usually set them up to my satisfaction, but this has been difficult.

Randy

Spot on. The reason I recommended the 17th fret is to take the 17th - 24th out of the equation. A tongue rise or hump will skew the method you've described and cannot be adequately remedied by manipulating the truss rod.

Riis

[steveksux]

Originally Posted by Zooberwerx

Spot on. The reason I recommended the 17th fret is to take the 17th - 24th out of the equation. A tongue rise or hump will skew the method you've described and cannot be adequately remedied by manipulating the truss rod.

Riis

Gotcha, I'll give it a try and let you know.. I only go to an E on the G string, don't have 24 frets, but I have more than 17...

Randy

[john grey]

Different strings have different "pull-pressure" depending upon construction, width and tuning. Take a set of (round or flat wound) strings and different pull will be exerted from the E (or B) to the G. The neck on the other hand generally is consistent from the use of a consistent sample of wood and lamination from one side to the other. Therefore you have one side may be "table-top flat" while the other has a tiny bit of relief (in the thousandths). This is quite normal unless the level of relief is substantial on one side. Even then; if it plays well, I doubt it's worth the worry.

From working with the string size and design (custom single string purchases) you certainly can get a totally flat neck IF that is important to you but the tiniest bit of relief may eliminate any buzz IF you are working toward a very low action. It's easy to make yourself a bit crazy trying to eliminate any relief what-so-ever from many necks due to the above example of variances in pull.

[slaphappychappy]

You also have a certain amount of curve in the neck. Just turn up the volume more.