Truss rod issue on a Geddy Lee

Major Havoc · #1 01-01-2010, 06:41 AM

Hello,
First off i have to say I love my Geddy Lee bass.But i am having an issue with the truss rod.You can not adjust it. If i loosen it the nut on the end of it, the nut backs all the way out until it come off the threads. An then if i tighten it,well then the nut will only go so far...and i dont want to force it,for the fear of breaking the rod.Any help with this issue would be gratly appreciated.

JTE · #2 01-01-2010, 08:12 AM

So you're saying the neck doesn't move at ALL when you loosen the nut all the way and that it doesn't move at ALL when you tighten it?

When it's tuned up with your strings on, what is the relief? I fret the E string at first and last frets at the same time, and look to see how much clearance there us between the bottom of the string and the top of the 7th fret. Check that to tell us what kind of problem you're dealing with.

John

Benjamin Strange · #3 01-01-2010, 09:37 AM

You should never force a truss rod. If it's fighting you, stop.

Is it not having any affect on the neck when you tweak it?

Major Havoc · #4 01-01-2010, 12:04 PM

The fitting at the end of the truss rod, you can turn it all the way out untill it is in your hand.Is this suppose to be? and then when you run it all the way back in, it seems like it is super tight, and i dont want to force it.the neck is bowing a bit due to colder temps, i would like to be able to adjust it,but this is what i am up against.

zombywoof5050 · #5 01-01-2010, 03:01 PM

Yes, the truss rod adjuster nut will come off if you unscrew it all the way.

Is your neck bowed forward towards the strings causing too much relief, or is it bowed back causing the strings to buzz on the frets?

If it is bowed back causing too little relief and buzzing, then you need to loosen the truss rod. But if you have to loosen it so much that the nut falls off, and you still don't get enough relief, then you may need to try some heavier gauge strings which could pull more relief into the neck.

If your neck is bowed forward causing too much relief, you don't want to just tighten the truss rod nut to take out the relief. What you do is flex the neck back by hand to take tension of the truss nut, and then tighten the nut while holding it in this flexed position. This will help to prevent the nut from digging into the wood where it tightens up against it.

Bongolation · #6 01-01-2010, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zombywoof5050

If your neck is bowed forward causing too much relief, you don't want to just tighten the truss rod nut to take out the relief. What you do is flex the neck back by hand to take tension of the truss nut, and then tighten the nut while holding it in this flexed position. This will help to prevent the nut from digging into the wood where it tightens up against it.

Yes, "backloading." A trussrod should never be adjusted under load.

It's the way real pros adjust trussrods, only they do it with a jig of some kind.

I'm still not 100% sure I understand the problem in the OP, but the GL trussrod seems to me to be a massive engineering fail with the top-end adjuster. There's too much wood removed at a really weak spot on that skinny neck (likewise the Jaguar).

There were many fatal neck problems with the original GLs and I wonder if it was traceable to that.

DrigBoy · #7 01-02-2010, 10:22 AM

My Geddy Lee truss rod does take a significant amount of torque to get it to tighten. I never adjust it under load, but backloading makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the tip. I wonder if that would help the original poster...?