Quick way to lower action b4 gig?

[quadrogong]

I've had situations where an instrument needs a quick, on the spot adjustment,
I usually try the truss rod first, which works ok..
but my question is..

If the action is high
Or too low and buzzing against the frets..

Is it usually more effective to give the truss rod a twist or lower/raise saddles?

Obviously, if it's just one string, I'll try the saddle, so it doesn't affect the others..
But that's pretty rare,

My question is,
For typical, quick, "emergency" lowering/raising of a bass's action,I've been using the truss rod, is this ok?

I know it's a broad, vague question, since every setup issue differs,
But if I need to adjust quickly, on the fly,
Isn't the truss rod the first place to turn to?
Or should I adjust saddles at times like this?

I've always had pro setups, and never learned,which is embarrassing.. Any info is really appreciated.

[darkstorm]

If your constantly haeving to tweak to truss rod, somethings really wrong with the bass or it has super cheap qaulity neck on it. its ok to occassionally adjust action for srtrings via the saddles untill its perfect for you. But having to do frequent adjustment just indiactes a problem with the bass. Truss rod adjustments on very well made necks are just occassional as in for change from summer to winter and vice versa. And little tweak sometimes when switching to diff brand or gauge of strings. Just focus on geting string action right and leaving it there. If the action is changing otherwise, other then due to seasonal weather or string gauge and brand change, then somethings wrong with your bass and it needs to be checked out by a qaulified repair person.

To answer basic question though. lowering saddles would be better approach I think. Since truss rod tweaks should not be needed for such things. Unless its got cheapo neck on it.

[quadrogong]

Naw,it's not a constant thing for me, but it's something I should know how to do correctly

I'm talking about stuff like humidity/weather changes, not using a bass for a while, or sometimes leaving a bass out on a stand for a few weeks & the action settles from humidity changes in the house ,
or just when it's been a longtime between setups, and it needs a slight tweak.
.. u mentioned using the TR for things like that.
yet at the end, u said that basically I should use the saddles..I'm still confused.

[Paul M]

It depends on what the problem is. If the action is too high, hold a string down at the first fret and the highest fret. Then check if there is a gap between the string and the fret board. If the gap is large, tighten the truss rod but leave a little gap.

If your strings are rattling or buzzing, you need to find where the noise is. That will determine which adjustment to make.

If the rattle is on the high frets, near the body, raise the saddles.

If the rattle is on mid to low frets, from fret 1 to about fret 8, loosen the truss rod a little. Try 1/8 turns, and recheck for buzzing between each turn.

[Joe Nerve]

If the bass is initially well set up, then I don't see any reason to tweak anything other than the truss rod if the action gets a little high or low. The bridge saddles don't move when the temperature changes.

And I've played some super air conditioned places that wreaked a little havoc on my setup on hot summer nights. I don't think it's all that uncommon.

[Green1]

+1. In my experience it is most often a truss rod adjustment, as a previous poster said, its not your bridge that is doing the moving. I almost never have to mess with the bridge, assuming the bass is set up properly in the first place and Im not changing string gauges.

[quadrogong]

Originally Posted by Green1

+1. In my experience it is most often a truss rod adjustment, as a previous poster said, its not your bridge that is doing the moving. I almost never have to mess with the bridge, assuming the bass is set up properly in the first place and Im not changing string gauges.

Makes sense,
This was all very helpful, thank you

[darkstorm]

Ok, so for weather changes the truss rod might need a tweak. At first I thought you where indicating regular need for action adjustment. There is one other thing that can be happening if your getting fret buzz after it sitting or being played for awhile when truss rod/neck relief is fine. On a few bridges like the Ibanez sr300 they used overly narrow screws for the saddle height adjustment ones. Which results in the saddles slowly creeping downward from string vibration. The fix for this is a little bit of locktight or similiar to prevent saddles from riding down the too narrow screws mfg used for them.