Truss rod won't budge.

[SinisterMental]

I just got a new Fender American Jazz bass and I need to take a little relief out of the neck with a clockwise turn to the truss rod. My problem is that it won't turn either way, and I don't want to apply excessive force. I've done PLENTY of guitar set-ups with no problems, but I'm new to bass. I've read that you should loosen the strings first, which I did. Maybe not enough? Anyway, it won't turn counter-clockwise either. Is lubrication called for? Are bass rods just a whole lot tougher than guitar rods?

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.


Thx!

[Son of Magni]

To reduce the relief you should be going CCW. I would try getting someone to help you flex the neck slightly back and forth while you turn the adjuster. That might help free it up.

[SinisterMental]

Originally Posted by Son of Magni

To reduce the relief you should be going CCW. I would try getting someone to help you flex the neck slightly back and forth while you turn the adjuster. That might help free it up.

The manual says CW to remove excess relief. I'll give your suggestion a try though. Thanks.

[ddnidd1]

On all nine of my basses it's CW to reduce relief.

[Hambone]

Originally Posted by Son of Magni

To reduce the relief you should be going CCW. I would try getting someone to help you flex the neck slightly back and forth while you turn the adjuster. That might help free it up.

Relief is a slight bow along the neck amounting to a few hundred thousandths of an inch to allow the strings to vibrate freely. In Fender instruments with single action truss rods, a clockwise adjustment of the trussrod nut is necessary to decrease this bow. The only thing that moves on a single action trussrod is the adjustment nut on the end. That's always a standard right hand thread. If you wanted to increase the relief, you would turn it counter-clockwise

[Son of Magni]

Thank you, I stand corrected. Clockwise tightens / reduces. Wake up *smacks head*

[Masher88]

My G&L L-2000 was showing a little bow to the neck. It was a brand new from the factory bass that I got about a year and a half ago. I tried to turn the truss rod and it would resist turning and spring back to the original position. I kept trying once in a while over the course of about two weeks. I never wanted to put too much pressure on it for fear of it snapping. Finally, I took off all the strings and gave it a pretty forceful clockwise turn and I heard a crack, and it moved and stayed! Now, it's fine and can be adjusted at will. (The bow is all gone and the neck is straight!) What I figure is that a brand new rod needs to be "cracked" open. Then it can turn freely. This was the first Brand New bass I ever had, so I didn't know what to expect...and surely have never run into this before. All Is good now.

[Son of Magni]

With a factory instrument maybe they got some glue on the rod that made it stick. Now that I think about it I don't think I ever got my truss rod to turn on my Fender P and I've had that thing for more than 25 years

[SinisterMental]

Thanks for the responses, everyone. I'll cross my fingers and give it another go.

[Hambone]

I think when they run these things through the production line, they put the TR nuts on before the finish has totally cured. That might cause some stickiness and the oft quoted "crack" that comes when the nut finally gets loosened.

[ulrich]

Yes, use some lubrication (Liquid Wrench, or such) Let it sit over night. It's a stuck nut, no reason to treat it any differently than any other stuck nut.