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Action suddenly got higher?

H

Hippos Melas

Apr 9, 2009
337
7
Milwaukee, WI
#1
Alright, so here's the deal:

I got my Musicman Sterling about 3 weeks ago now. I loved it when I first got it because I didn't have to play so hard when I played slap. However, now I feel like I really have to beat on the open strings to get them to ring correctly when I play slap. Also, when I do a muted pop, it doesn't sound like I'm pulling the string up high enough to get it to smack against the fretboard again. It just sort of flops, if that makes any sense...it has a tonal quality, but not that snap you get from muting it correctly.

My question is how do I know when I adjust my truss rod? When I had the bass back home before I brought it back up to Milwaukee, the temperature wasn't that different (now it sure as heck is), but I feel like the old style radiator heater that I have in my dorm room is dryer in comparison to the heater in my parent's house and because of this temperature/humidity change my neck has warped a little and the truss rod should be adjusted. How do I know if it needs to be adjusted and if it does, how? In this case, I'm just worried that I could just be playing like a sissy and I just don't realize it.

Thanks for the help!
 
#2
Hippos Melas said:
Alright, so here's the deal:

I got my Musicman Sterling about 3 weeks ago now. I loved it when I first got it because I didn't have to play so hard when I played slap. However, now I feel like I really have to beat on the open strings to get them to ring correctly when I play slap. Also, when I do a muted pop, it doesn't sound like I'm pulling the string up high enough to get it to smack against the fretboard again. It just sort of flops, if that makes any sense...it has a tonal quality, but not that snap you get from muting it correctly.

My question is how do I know when I adjust my truss rod? When I had the bass back home before I brought it back up to Milwaukee, the temperature wasn't that different (now it sure as heck is), but I feel like the old style radiator heater that I have in my dorm room is dryer in comparison to the heater in my parent's house and because of this temperature/humidity change my neck has warped a little and the truss rod should be adjusted. How do I know if it needs to be adjusted and if it does, how? In this case, I'm just worried that I could just be playing like a sissy and I just don't realize it.

Thanks for the help!
Click to expand...

First thing - you don't keep your bass near the dorm room radiator, do you?

Sounds like your neck may have shifted a bit, a common thing. Time to check for straightness. Look down the length of the neck from the nut end to the bridge and use the string as your straightedge guide. Does the neck look like it is bowed or cupped in relation to the string? If so, then yep, your truss rod could use a tweak.

And here's the instructions from the Ernie Ball page on how to adjust.

Q: Do I need a truss rod tool for my bass?
A: The truss rod wheel design was designed so any musician can easily make minor adjustments to the neck. Any tool such as an allen wrench, nail, small screw driver, etc. that will fit into the wheel hole will work. Turn the wheel a quarter turn at a time then check by playing your bass. Clockwise will raise the fingerboard.
 
#3
Put your face by the bridge and look along the neck. Is it straight? If not, it needs to be adjusted.

From there, there are hundreds of good articles on this site about setting up a bass and adjusting a truss rod. It's a simple process, but you have to have patience and time for it.

The truss rod adjustment is either just behind the nut on the headstock, or it's down at the heel of the neck.
 
#4
The neck on my Sterling is very climate sensitive. So I allways try to keep the proper tool on hand to adjust as needed. As far as adjusting I will press the E string at the first and last fret and check the gap at the 8th fret, I keep the gap set at about a thickness of a Business card. If the gap is too large I will tighten accordingly in small increments, if the string is touching the fret I will loosen the truss accordingly.
 
#5
Funny because last week the action on my G&L L2000 suddenly was higher. I just had it set up professionally a couple of months ago. I think because of the weather change here that my neck shifted like Lonny said. I just adjusted the truss rod a little and its back to a good height now.
 
#6
Tis the season. If it has a bolt-on neck, make sure that's tight, too. Lotsa info on setups here on TB. Fret the same string on the first fret and the highest fret, and if the gap over the middle fret is more than about a credit-card's thickness, it probably needs adjustment.

I kinda let me basses go--within reason, and don't dink with them too much: that can be worse than seasonal changes.
 
#7
It's this cold snap that did it. I just picked up my Skjold for the first time in about a week and its neck has increased its relief. My Stingray is in the basement that we keep cooler, I bet it's even worse.

The good news is that your Sterling has one of the easiest truss rod adjustment mechanisms of any bass!
 
#8
Yes, what is happening is due to the sudden lack of humidity as it gets colder. Heaters take alot of moisture out of the air too. In the spring and summer you may have to add relief because the neck will swell and push against the truss rod and cause it to backbow. If you keep track of how much you turned it you can turn it back in summer and then again in the winter. It shouldn't be very much of an adjustment from season to season.


Pete
 
#9
Pete skjold said:
Yes, what is happening is due to the sudden lack of humidity as it gets colder. Heaters take alot of moisture out of the air too. In the spring and summer you may have to add relief because the neck will swell and push against the truss rod and cause it to backbow. If you keep track of how much you turned it you can turn it back in summer and then again in the winter. It shouldn't be very much of an adjustment from season to season.


Pete
Click to expand...
Pete, are you following me around? ;)
 
#11
Sounds like you need to perform a new set up. Even though the temperature is similar, the prevailing climate (even if it's just within you dorm room) is different and your bass has shifted because of it. Set it up for where you are and not where you were or where you will be.
 
#13
'Tis the Season ....

AbominableSnowman.jpg
 

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