Playing outside has changed my setup (Q)

[Andrew.Glose]

I played a small set outside yesterday, and that evening (I had another gig), I noticed my action was higher, when tuned correctly. Granted, I was constantly having to tune UP from being in the heat and the strings becoming more elastic. I left it in the case as it was tuned when I was outside. Maybe this has had some affect on everything.

What's the deal? And has this happened to you before?

I've detuned my strings today in hopes that the neck just needs to get back to where it was, etc.

Andrew

[BassSurfer]

yes, this happens alot actullay..weather can throw instruments out of tune alot..and in your case can alter the neck as well..always hated playing outside..lol

[XylemBassGuitar]

Andrew.Glose,

Yep, humidity and temperature changes will do that to an instrument sometimes. It's just something that you may have to deal with from time to time. If it happens a lot, you might consider learning how to do quick setups and adjustments to your instrument to avoid changes in action between gigs.

Be careful leaving your bass de-tuned though (I'm assuming by "de-tuned" you mean that you're signifcantly loosening the tension of the strings). Here's why:

Guitars and basses with truss rods have a balance between string tension and truss rod tension that keeps the neck from severely bending/warping in one direction or the other. If you de-tune (loosen) your strings without also loosening the truss rod, you are basically destroying the balance between the string tension and truss rod tension. The bass' neck might actually begin to warp into a backbow because of the truss rod tension not being counteracted by the string tension.

Usually, the neck will settle back into its normal position after a hot gig if you just leave it alone and check its tuning one or two times a day (unless it got really hot/cold/wet/dry).

However, if I misunderstood what you meant about "de-tuning," nevemind.