Protection from weather changes?

**Matthew_84** · #1 12-24-2010, 12:35 PM

Hi all,

I think the title says it all. I live in Toronto in a house that's heated by boilers and rads, which leaves my house dry.

A couple of weeks ago, I had to loosen the truss rod 1/8 turn, because of the weather changes, and once it settled, I had spend 20 minutes or so retuning my bridge to correct my intonation. A week after that, I had to make similar adjustements. And today I picked up my bass, played the E string and got nothing but buzz. I've already turned it a 1/4turn today (two 1/4 turns overall), but now I have to give it a day or so, and then spend another 20 minutes or whatever readjusting the intonation. What really drives me crazy is that the action is already higher than I'd like.

Is there any tips you guys to help fix this, or atleast help it out. I don't want to get a humidifier, just looking for tips, like keeping it in airtight bag or something. Any of you know of anything?

I have a $300 Stagg BJ300. I use Dean Markley Blue Steel .045 - .105 strings. And I'm wondering if the quality of the neck or the string gauges have anything to do with it.

Much appreciated,

Matt

**251** · #2 12-24-2010, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matthew_84

Hi all,

I think the title says it all. I live in Toronto in a house that's heated by boilers and rads, which leaves my house dry.

A couple of weeks ago, I had to loosen the truss rod 1/8 turn, because of the weather changes, and once it settled, I had spend 20 minutes or so retuning my bridge to correct my intonation. A week after that, I had to make similar adjustements. And today I picked up my bass, played the E string and got nothing but buzz. I've already turned it a 1/4turn today (two 1/4 turns overall), but now I have to give it a day or so, and then spend another 20 minutes or whatever readjusting the intonation. What really drives me crazy is that the action is already higher than I'd like.

Is there any tips you guys to help fix this, or atleast help it out. I don't want to get a humidifier, just looking for tips, like keeping it in airtight bag or something. Any of you know of anything?

I have a $300 Stagg BJ300. I use Dean Markley Blue Steel .045 - .105 strings. And I'm wondering if the quality of the neck or the string gauges have anything to do with it.

Much appreciated,

Matt

It sounds normal to me. I live in New England. There is no magic short of moving to Hawaii or buying a graphite Bass. My Steinberger XP-2 is very stable in changing weather. I also have an all wood, neck through with a bridge that adjusts on 2 screws. I adjust string height during Season changes but I won't endure high action very long. It takes less than 10 minutes to adjust relief & string height, with the bass on a shoulder strap. FWIW, I check intonation but find it is very stable on both instruments, unless I change string brand/gauge. YRMV.

Are you doing a set up with the BG on a table? Does the head touch the table? If so you may be seeing the relief created by the head bearing the weight of the bass when contacting the table. That relief disappears when you pick up the Bass & can be really frustrating. Especially if you set up for the lowest action possible. 8-)

**Matthew_84** · #3 12-24-2010, 02:15 PM

Huh, never thought of that... i lay my bass on my bass as I sit on my bed, but it's VERY possible that the head rests on my pillow as I do so. I guess I should do it whie I'm standing, that's a good piece of advice. Thanks.

I know it's normal to adjust like I do, it's just frustrating. I have 20-30 minutes to play all day, I pick it up, and suddenly I have to adjust the rod and wait until tomorrow to check it, and then maybe have to spend all my time adjusting the bridge. I'm working on doing it less that 10. I'm fairly inexperienced right in adjustments (in gauging how much I half to turn the screws anyways), so I'll make an adjustment, tune the string, check it, make another adjustment, tune it, etc.

**Matthew_84** · #4 12-24-2010, 02:16 PM

oops... *i lay my bass on my lap...*

**251** · #5 12-25-2010, 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matthew_84

Huh, never thought of that... i lay my bass on my bass as I sit on my bed, but it's VERY possible that the head rests on my pillow as I do so. I guess I should do it whie I'm standing, that's a good piece of advice. Thanks.

I know it's normal to adjust like I do, it's just frustrating. I have 20-30 minutes to play all day, I pick it up, and suddenly I have to adjust the rod and wait until tomorrow to check it, and then maybe have to spend all my time adjusting the bridge. I'm working on doing it less that 10. I'm fairly inexperienced right in adjustments (in gauging how much I half to turn the screws anyways), so I'll make an adjustment, tune the string, check it, make another adjustment, tune it, etc.

No waiting. Small adjustments happen right a way. If you're eyeballing the relief, get the tools needed to measure & practice feeling contact with the tool. It is why they are called feeler gauges. You can either feel contact or not. The touch needs some practice. Once you've learned to trust it you're good to go.

**Matthew_84** · #6 12-25-2010, 11:29 PM

Well I only wait for the truss rod to set in place, that takes time. The action and intonation I do all at once, once I'm fairly certain that the truss rod is in place.

I guess it's just that time of year, it's aggravating to have to readjust every week or so, but I guess that'll fizzle down now until spring. Thanks guys

unclejane · #7 12-26-2010, 07:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matthew_84

I guess it's just that time of year, it's aggravating to have to readjust every week or so, but I guess that'll fizzle down now until spring. Thanks guys

Yeah just keep a screwdriver and allen wrench with you, there isn't much you can really do about it with temp changes.

I think it's more expansion/contraction of the truss rod than anything else. Also if you have a dual action rod (like the one in my Carvin Bunny) those are pretty precision devices with two steel rods. So temp changes are really going to affect those. But even a traditional rod like the one in my L2000 is going to move around a bit with temp changes.

One thing that helps is high tension strings. This loads the neck more. I guess with the strings making a bigger contribution to the overall loading, it mitigates the affect of the rod. Or something like that.

I.e. my Carvin Bunny has TI Jazz Flats on it and its neck absolutely moves all over the place as the temperature changes. The rod loosens and tightens almost a full half turn over the entire year. I've had it actually contributing relief during the summer before, but once it cools off I tighten it back the other direction.

It never did that with the original Carvin strings that it came with (LaBella flats with very high tension), only very minor tweaks.

In fact I'm going shopping for a set of higher tension rounds today for it partly because of that.

My L2000 mostly stays put through the year but I do have to tweak the rod about 1/8 of a turn overall to keep it on the gnat's a$$....

LS