Need help adjusting truss rod on my Yamaha RBX 270J

[benjoman]

I've looked at many sources that talk about truss rod adjustment, and I learned that it's a lot easier to do that when the adjusment nut is located at the headstock. The adjustment nut on my Yamaha is located at the base of the neck, and I've heard that some bass guitars with this layout such as the older Fender precision bass must have the neck completely removed in order to adjust the truss rod. I tried adjusting mine with an allen key, but the nut doesn't seem to turn and I'm afraid if I apply any more pressure, I'll damage it. To fix the action, I tried lowering the string height on the bridge, and this worked for a while, but it looks awkward and the strings buzz occasionally at the lower frets. The curve of the neck seems to be the most severe near the headstock. Can anyone tell me if I have to remove the entire neck of my bass guitar to adjust the truss rod? Or am I not looking at the situation correctly?

[ByF]

I am not familiar with that bass, but if you need to adjust the rod and can't turn the nut with the neck on, you should probably remove the neck.

Are you taking all the tension off the strings before you turn the nut? Did you try loosening the nut before you try tightening it, to make sure it turns freely?

It sounds like you have at least some access to the nut, so the problem seems to be that the truss rod nut doesn't turn freely, or it is out of travel. I would remove the neck, remove the nut and clean the threads, put a little dab of grease on it, and try again with the adjustments.

Ed

[rumblethump]

I own one. Easiest way is to loosen all the strings until they are floppy. Flip the bass over and remove all the neck screws.
Turn both the neck and bass back over and remove the neck from the pocket. Tighten the truss rod nut no more than 1/3 of a turn and reverse the above procedure. Tune and then check the neck for relief. I can get almost every Yamaha neck I've worked perfectly straight. Repeat above until you get the exact amount of relief that works best for your bass.
You will then probably have to reset the bridge intonation and height to finish up the job properly.

[los100malditos]

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