American Precision, spoke wheel truss adjuster issue.

[Turnaround]

Not being a smartass, but how are you measuring it? And if you are .002" off, do you back it off and try it again or can you actually accurately turn the truss rod to adjust it exactly that much?

I only ask because I'm a toolmaker. I can feel a couple thou step in steel, but not in physical distance as such.

Edit: I've played bass much longer than I've been building tools (and I should be a much better player than I am after 30 years...) but I would never be able to tell that subtle of a distance.

Measuring relief with feeler gauges. I will notice a different feel when playing, and if I check with the feelers I will find it is off from my regular setting by a couple of thou. Perhaps if you play for another 30 years you will notice (I’ve been playing about 60 years)

 

[davedamage]

Measuring relief with feeler gauges. I will notice a different feel when playing, and if I check with the feelers I will find it is off from my regular setting by a couple of thou. Perhaps if you play for another 30 years you will notice (I’ve been playing about 60 years)

Touché!

I did fail to mention that I have the touch of a gorilla, or the drunk in my avatar. Might explain a lot.

 

[Rockin John]

Sorted!

After a fairly short bit of work I got the wheel free. But it was pretty stuck!

With the neck removed I could get my home made tools into the slots on the wheel. But it wouldn’t budge at first. A drop of graphite based lubricant into the centre hole on the wheel plus a wiggling with a tool, and the lube began to drain into the hole. I repeated this process a couple more times and with a final push the wheel just moved.

It was possible to keep slowly working the lube into the threads and, finally, the wheel moves properly! A couple of drops of sewing machine oil into the hole should keep the threads lubricated.

The strings are now back on. The wheel moves freely enough, now, to alter the neck relief. I’ve done it bit by bit, and by loosening the strings there’s less stress on the threads, then re-tension to pitch. I’ve done that a few times and will leave it now until perhaps tomorrow, then try to properly adjust the neck relief.

One more thing…

This bass does have a push-pull rod. The adjusting wheel does NOT come off the neck. It reaches a point of sort-of neutrality where it moves V easily before starting to tension the rod, by turning EITHER left or right.

A big THANK YOU to everyone who offered advice and wisdom.

John