So I raised my action...

[bassist 4 life]

I went to my friends house the other day, and we set up my bass, raised the action form the truss rod, he used his allen wrench not mine. My bass had really low action with lots of clanking and buzzing, but now, it was great. There was a little buzzing here and there but it was okay.

So I returned home, since we raised the action(though its still considered low)it was a bit hard to play so I raised the strings from the bridge, wow plays great, but uh-oh, now it buzzes a bit more, slapping on the 1st fret of the E just killed the F, so I decided to take out my allen wrench and fiddle with the truss rod… I turned it to raise the action, but only the key turned, not the rod (or did it? it felt like the truss rod turned, but I didn’t see it move), there wasn’t any change in action, except now, its really hard to play, the stirngs are tight, and its kinda hard fretting the notes even though the action is still pretty low, it still buzzes…

This all happened after I turned the truss rod, there was no sound, no pop, and there is no rattling if I shake the neck, the action is still low so I didn’t turn it to the point in which you cant turn it anymore… So the truss rod is not broken. The strings are tight and its hard to play, its like having really high action, but except its low and it buzzes, it feels like the strings are gonna break or the neck is going to snap in two…

Can anyone tell me what happened, its really weird, and how I can solve it? I am going to check raising my action using my friends allen key, mine might have been cheap so it might have been not the correct length or size or something. Or it might be me and it might take time to adjust to the action now…

[Spencer!]

Look down the neck from the headstock. Is there a backbow? It sounds like that's your problem.

[BJAJT]

If you can't get a decent string height...I say, take it to a shop....it will cost, but in the long run it will be set-up right.

BJAJT

[bassist 4 life]

Hehe, there is no shop here that does that, theyre all crappy shops with insane prices and with people who know nothing about music, I gave my bass to them the other day, their answer : "You should go to the Yamaha Factory"


So, what should I do =)?

[middlebit]

Have a look at the Gary Willis site:
http://www.garywillis.com/pages/bass...tupmanual.html
I'd recommend taking it to a shop as well, but as you've said - there are none. Are there any other muso's around that could have a look at it?

[bassist 4 life]

Yeah, I've read the Gary Willis setup instructional, what I dont get is how it feels so uncomfortably but still buzzes, and the bridge saddles arent low either, maybe I should lower the bridge saddles, and then adjust the rod to the poiint in which it doesnt buzz?

[DavePlaysBass]

What is the relief? What is the height of the strings at the 17th fret?

Dave

[bassist 4 life]

Alright Im gonna sleep now 2:00 am over here, I'l check the relief tomorrow...

[vyse933]

this probebly isn't it..but your talking about really tight strings but low action...maybe the strings are tightened to much for the guage of strings your using

[Figjam]

Really shouldnt monkey with the truss rod unless you know what you are doing..

[bassist 4 life]

Okay, height at the 17th fret is about 2.5mm...

When I press the 1st and 24th fret and tap the 8th fret, it doesnt move much, it was hard figuring out how much it measured, it was about 0.5-0.7 or maybe 1.0

[pkr2]

Originally Posted by Joshua

First and foremost, stop randomly turning parts looking for the answer.

Tune your bass to pitch, and measure the relief (measure only!). Let us know how it looks, and we'll guide you from there.

+1000

If problems are not corrected in the order that they are found, they will affect every adjustment downsteam if the adjustments are being made in the proper order. For instance, if the last few frets are buzzing, you can elimenate the buzz by either increasing the neck angle or raising the saddle. Only one of those adjustments can be the correct adjustment. Use the wrong adjustment and what started out as one problem now becomes two problems. This is the point where you'll start pulling your hair out in frustration. By far, the biggest mistake that you can make is the first adjustment that you make just to see if it corrects the prob.

Without a systematic approach, you are just spitting into the wind.

[bassist 4 life]

Originally Posted by Joshua

Hold down at the first fret and the fret where the neck meets the body (I'm guessing it's not the 24th). At the midway point, there should be something in the neighborhood of a business card's thickness of relief.

If not we'll work on correcting that first. Let us know...

Yes I did that, btw its the 24th fret on my bass... I posted hthe emasure of relief already...

[vindy500]

is it in perfect eadg tune?

[bassist 4 life]

Yes...

sorry for being a noob...


EDIT : Relief is about 0.2-0.7 mm

[vindy500]

,2 to ,7 is a pretty big range...

[bassist 4 life]

Okay now Im sure about this, relief is 0.2mm-0.3 1/2


Josh, yeah I can slip a business card under it, but the card pushes the strings up a bit to get under it, so it isnt a direct fit , string is a bit lower by just a bit, just tiiiiiny bit, tiny tiny bit

so its a little bit less thick than a business card, maybe by only 0.1mm

[vindy500]

thats a better range, is it a fancy emossed card or your regular joe bloggs one

[bassist 4 life]

Regular

[bassist 4 life]

Alright , Thanks, I'l do that now...