quick string height/truss rod/bridge question

[shwashwa]

the strings on one of my basses are higher than i would like. i check the neck and the amount of relief seems pretty good. not excessive, but slightly more than my other basses with lower action. im thinking that if i want lower action ill work on it from the bridge first. so my question is, in general, when lowering strings at the bridge, in order to get lowest possible action, would i want relief in the neck or a virtually straight neck?

[testing1two]

In theory you want a straight neck with the least amount of relief necessary to prevent fret buzz. So you should adjust neck relief first, then action, then intonation (if necessary). Keep in mind that low action is governed by how level your frets and fingerboard are as well as the aggressiveness of your plucking hand.

[Tracebassplayer]

Originally Posted by testing1two

In theory you want a straight neck with the least amount of relief necessary to prevent fret buzz. So you should adjust neck relief first, then action, then intonation (if necessary). Keep in mind that low action is governed by how level your frets and fingerboard are as well as the aggressiveness of your plucking hand.

+1
Loosen your strings BEFORE you adjust the truss rod... ALWAYS!

[JTE]

Not really. What you want to do is pre-stress the neck into pretty much where it needs to be, then tighten the nut. The point is that you don't want the nut to move the neck, only to hold it in place.

John

[Tracebassplayer]

Originally Posted by JTE

Not really. What you want to do is pre-stress the neck into pretty much where it needs to be, then tighten the nut. The point is that you don't want the nut to move the neck, only to hold it in place.

John

Good way to strip the truss rod threads if it needs to be tightened (bowed back). By leaving the forward tension on the strings there is more torque on the truss rod nut when making that adjustment.... But as long as you're paying the bill, I suppose you can do it your way.

[john grey]

Music Man & a few other companies state their neck should be adjusted under string pressure. (Notation URL below: )
How do I set up my Music Man bass?

The adjustment of a neck is related to how the truss rod is bound within the neck & is individual to the manufacturer. There are some that require the neck to be unmounted, there are some that require the string tension backed off and there are some that string tension should be maintained. It's best to find this information from your SPECIFIC MANUFACTURER.

Neck relief issues are individual to string manufacture and design and to how the individual plays and the height of the string. Relief is not a bad thing, nor is a nearly completely flat neck plane. A plucked string naturally vibrates with a cone of movement and that should be taken into account as related to your style of playing and the string height & design. There are several variables here and missing data. What type of neck is it? What type of nut (material, etc) What type of strings? And what do you want to accomplish in your adjustment.....via your style of playing? A straight neck could be achieved; however there is always a cost to your playing style. A light relief is very common as it allows a harder string strike.
"Ideal" designs are only related to your INDIVIDUAL circumstances.....and should remain so.... (IMO)

[tdub0199]

I always adjust my neck WITH string tension.... never had a problem with stripping any threads....

[JTE]

Originally Posted by Tracebassplayer

Good way to strip the truss rod threads if it needs to be tightened (bowed back). By leaving the forward tension on the strings there is more torque on the truss rod nut when making that adjustment.... But as long as you're paying the bill, I suppose you can do it your way.

Note I said to pre-stress the neck. Hols the neck where you wantbit to go, then snug up the nut. This prevents both possible stripping of the threads and wood compression. It's to take the work of MOVING the neck away from the truss rod so it only has to hold the wood in place.

John

[lethargytartare]

First, to your specific question:

Originally Posted by shwashwa

the strings on one of my basses are higher than i would like. i check the neck and the amount of relief seems pretty good....

So yes, I'd lower the saddles and see what I get. Your concern is action, saddles adjust your action. If you then say "I can't get the action where I want it without buzzing" THEN you might start over with a full start-to-finish setup making sure everything is optimally set. Start here:

ALL BASIC SETUP QUESTIONS ANSWERED HERE

Not with Q&A -- if you start with a structured approach from a professional shop/business, you will have a better basis to view the inevitable back and forth these threads inspire. They're GOOD back-and-forths, but you should start with an understanding of the basic process.

Originally Posted by shwashwa

in general, when lowering strings at the bridge, in order to get lowest possible action, would i want relief in the neck or a virtually straight neck

You want consistent, clear tone across the board. The nut, relief, bridge, and frets, strings and your technique are all going to play a role. The "general rule" I think most follow is to go for very very little relief. But once you start tweaking the relief, you probably should give some thought to everything else to make sure that THEY are set optimally as well to give you consistent clear tone across the fretboard.

To the relief concepts so far -- I never take the strings off when adjusting the truss, and have never had a problem. I only recently pre-stressed a neck to adjust the truss, but in that case only so I could experiment with some very small adjustments and to try to see if I could get less of an "acclimation" change over night. For my Sterling, and for the various Fender Js I've owned, I just adjust the nut. The MIAs (and my Sterling) had no acclimation shifting, my MIM ALWAYS changed more overnight than at the time of the adjustment.

Good luck!!

ltt