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05-11-2010, 07:35 PM
|  | Tuxedo Bass® - That's Me! | | Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Hamilton, Montana | |  Is A Tiny-Little Neck RELIEF Good?
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I have my Affinity P and it has a small - very small neck dip/scoop/bend/relief that although it never bothers my playing - just bothers me that it's there at all.
Straining at gnats or should I go in and fix it?
Last edited by SurferJoe46 : 05-11-2010 at 11:19 PM.
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05-11-2010, 07:43 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Virginia Beach, VA | | Quote:
Originally Posted by SurferJoe46  I have my Affinity P and it has a small - very small neck scoop that although it never bothers my playing - just bothers me that it's there at all.
Straining at gnats or should I go in and fix it? | If you're talking neck relief, a slight degree is acceptable and, actually, quite desirable. Disclaimer: many TBers will tout the benefits of maintaining a perfectly straight, zero relief neck profile...but its never worked for me.
How much "scoop" are we talking about?
Riis
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05-11-2010, 07:44 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: May 2005 Location: Glendale, AZ | | | The neck shouldn't be absolutely straight, it should be very slightly bowed. Fender has an online owners manual that can tell you how to measure it properly. |
05-11-2010, 07:48 PM
| | Tuxedo Bass® - That's Me! | | Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Hamilton, Montana | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Zooberwerx If you're talking neck relief, a slight degree is acceptable and, actually, quite desirable. Disclaimer: many TBers will tout the benefits of maintaining a perfectly straight, zero relief neck profile...but its never worked for me.
How much "scoop" are we talking about?
Riis | Quote:
Originally Posted by BadB The neck shouldn't be absolutely straight, it should be very slightly bowed. Fender has an online owners manual that can tell you how to measure it properly. | I can just barely see a little light at about the 8-9th frets. No clunks now to speak of except my playing ability.
I'll check out that Fender instruction - thanks. |
05-12-2010, 03:17 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Birmingham, UK | | The rule of thumb I go by, is if you can fit a business card between the octave fret and the string, with the first and last frets pressed, that's just about ok. I wouldn't want any more than that, but that's the amount I have on my P copy, and it plays like a beast. 
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05-12-2010, 03:37 AM
|  | Unprofessional TalkBass Contributor | | Join Date: Dec 1999 Location: Brighton, England, UK, Europe | | | If you are "digging in" and playing hard - then neck relief is essential really or there will not be enough room for the strings to move!
A straight neck is desirable if you are using a very light touch and are going for speed and economy of movement.
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05-12-2010, 10:15 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: St. Louis | | | Unless you have a Rickenbacker, a slight bit of forward bow at the headstock end of the neck is ideal.
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05-12-2010, 10:17 AM
| | Tuxedo Bass® - That's Me! | | Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Hamilton, Montana | | I shall immediately cease to worry and lose more sleep. 
Thanks. |
05-12-2010, 10:40 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Virginia Beach, VA | | | OTOH, if you're able to launch arrows like a longbow, you have too much relief.
Riis
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"20% of the money will buy you 90% of the sound..another 30% of the money will buy you another 5% of the sound..you can't buy the remaining 5% of the sound because nobody can agree about what it is." |
05-12-2010, 10:56 AM
| | Tuxedo Bass® - That's Me! | | Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Hamilton, Montana | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Zooberwerx OTOH, if you're able to launch arrows like a longbow, you have too much relief.
Riis | They may have to be teeny-tiny arrows though.
Now I'm not gonna sleep another few nights. Thanks.  |
05-12-2010, 11:19 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Virginia Beach, VA | | Quote:
Originally Posted by SurferJoe46 They may have to be teeny-tiny arrows though.
Now I'm not gonna sleep another few nights. Thanks. | You should really invest in a capo and set of feeler gauges (Pep Boys $4). Come in handy for this sort of thing.....bass maintenance, not archery.
Riis
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"20% of the money will buy you 90% of the sound..another 30% of the money will buy you another 5% of the sound..you can't buy the remaining 5% of the sound because nobody can agree about what it is." |
05-13-2010, 05:51 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: St. Louis | | | The right tools help. You certainly can make due without them. You can fret the first fret with your left hand and the last fret with your right hand and then plink down on the string with your left pinky and listen to it.
If I had the extra cash I would buy the neck relief gauge from Stew-Mac though. That thing looks cool.
btw, I use a capo and feeler gauges when I check relief.
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05-16-2010, 11:29 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Kentucky USA | | | I got hung up on the same thing when I first started my headfirst dive into bass setup and maintenance. My experience: if it's a low enough action for a easy play without undue fret buzz, ignore it. If it's so high you strain a ligament fretting something, drop it down. But, always remember to to make small changes and see how they effect you're playing. Just remember not to let any little quirks distract you from having fun playing and practicing.
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05-16-2010, 02:01 PM
| | | | Can neckrelief damage the neck of the bass?
Because I like high action and have quite some relief on my neck
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05-16-2010, 03:00 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Virginia Beach, VA | | Quote:
Originally Posted by DutchDude Can neckrelief damage the neck of the bass?
Because I like high action and have quite some relief on my neck | That's interesting 'cuz I can see two ways of pulling this off. I don't know which makes more sense:
*Near-normal relief, jack the strings up via the bridge saddles.
*High relief (> .016"), string height to taste.
Riis
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"20% of the money will buy you 90% of the sound..another 30% of the money will buy you another 5% of the sound..you can't buy the remaining 5% of the sound because nobody can agree about what it is." |
05-16-2010, 03:01 PM
| | Tuxedo Bass® - That's Me! | | Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Hamilton, Montana | | Quote:
Originally Posted by cessna928 I got hung up on the same thing when I first started my headfirst dive into bass setup and maintenance. My experience: if it's a low enough action for a easy play without undue fret buzz, ignore it. If it's so high you strain a ligament fretting something, drop it down. But, always remember to to make small changes and see how they effect you're playing. Just remember not to let any little quirks distract you from having fun playing and practicing. | X 10000000.
I just make sure to not make many changes or big changes too quickly too.
One-eight turn a day or two is good enough to make sure that things settle in and don't go over the hump and make it wrong in a completely different direction.
I'm patient. |
05-17-2010, 01:20 AM
| | Unprofessional TalkBass Contributor | | Join Date: Dec 1999 Location: Brighton, England, UK, Europe | | Quote:
Originally Posted by DutchDude Can neckrelief damage the neck of the bass?
Because I like high action and have quite some relief on my neck | Artists like James Jamerson played with high action throughout their careers with no problem. 
On the other hand - without seeing the bass it's difficult to say - but excessive neck bowing, could be a symptom of a problem or inherent weakness in the construction...? 
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