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CIJ Geddy Lee action really high...truss rod maxed?

#21
To the OP: stop whatever it is you're doing. Measure your relief with the E string fretted at the first & last frets. Use feeler gauges and give us a real number. From the photos & descriptions, you potentially have a botch job going on here.

Riis
 
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#24
Ok, the truss rod works but it is tight. This is what I would recommend you do. First, take the strings off, loosen the truss rod, nut and remove it completely. Go to your nearest hardware store and get a dry graphite lubricant, a door lock cylinder lubricant works really well, http://www.homedepot.com/p/The-Hillman-Group-3-g-Powdered-Graphite-Lubricant-703185/100137063.

But a tiny dab of lubricant on the end of the treads, and a little in the nut itself and reinstall the nut, and give it about a half a turn after it it makes contact with the wood on the neck. Then reinstall your strings and setup from there.
 
#26
marko138 said:
You played this bass before you traded it right? You didn't notice ANY of this stuff before you walked out the door?
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Yes but I had little time to inspect it thoroughly because the seller said he had to leave in ten minutes (for school).

SanDiegoHarry said:
Loosen your strings (ALWAYS when working the truss)
It will resist - but don't force it too hard. Big *snap* = firewood bass
Tighten strings to test action
Repeat until good to go.
Click to expand...

Yeah I did that. It moves, for sure, but still some resistance. I usually keep the strings on any bass while I adjust the truss rod but the Geddy feels especially fragile with the thin neck and all..
 
#30
Andy D said:
Hey Jazz, I've got a Geddy, and the neck gives me fits (although, fortunately, my truss rod works). If your neck is such a pain, why not get a new one from Warmoth or Fender?
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I do love the neck profile and appearance on the Geddy, for sure. I don't plan on modding the Geddy at all because it's a tribute to one of my heroes and one of the world's best musicians in history so I pay tribute to that.

Warmoth is super pricey but great selections. Fender took forever for it to ship me my MIM jazz neck.
 
#31
Hey Jazz, I agree with you: I wouldn't change the look, but you can get a maple board with black blocks from Warmoth, and with a P-profile to boot. I know a lot of players rave about thin necks, but in my experience they don't hold up against string tension.
 
#32
Andy D said:
Hey Jazz, I agree with you: I wouldn't change the look, but you can get a maple board with black blocks from Warmoth, and with a P-profile.
Click to expand...

Like I said...price is the deterrent.

Funny thing though and I did post this: I changed the strings from the new D'Addarios .45-.105 to my old strings that I got with the Geddy Lee and the action was actually lowered. The fret buzz is there, but it doesn't show up on the amp and it actually gives me a great growl to it. I heard string gauge affect neck tension as well so this must be it.
 
#35
Zooberwerx said:
To the OP: stop whatever it is you're doing. Measure your relief with the E string fretted at the first & last frets. Use feeler gauges and give us a real number. From the photos & descriptions, you potentially have a botch job going on here.

Riis
Click to expand...

That would be the sensible thing to do. I think I have given that advice before but most people want to just tweak blindly and get approximate advice from approximate answers.
 
#36
MovingPitchers said:
Is it worth selling the bass as a whole or individual parts separately.

I know people go crazy for the badass bridges and that neck though.
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This might seem redundant...but how deep are the nut slots? You would be surprised how a fraction of depth will change the action height. Break it down like this...1st fret through 5th-6th frets is a nut adjustment, 5th-6th to 10th-12th is more the truss rod and 12th on up is the bridge. Do the adjustment areas overlap? Yes, but a rod too tight will generally fret out around 2nd-3rd through 7th, then the fall away starts and the buzz stops until you get to the heel and the bridge height comes into play. If the action is poop from 1-7 don't neglect the depth of the nut slots effecting the action height. The nut slot depth helps set the "acquisition height" of the open string...i.e. action height from an open position to the first fretted position you play. After you have a fretted note, the action height is what the string height is with the string fretted, nes pa? I'm just saying make several small adjustments using the nut, rod, bridge, rather than just the truss rod/bridge by breaking the neck down into smaller areas. Good luck and hope it helps.
 
#37
God's Favorite Bass said:
This might seem redundant...but how deep are the nut slots? You would be surprised how a fraction of depth will change the action height. Break it down like this...1st fret through 5th-6th frets is a nut adjustment, 5th-6th to 10th-12th is more the truss rod and 12th on up is the bridge. Do the adjustment areas overlap? Yes, but a rod too tight will generally fret out around 2nd-3rd through 7th, then the fall away starts and the buzz stops until you get to the heel and the bridge height comes into play. If the action is poop from 1-7 don't neglect the depth of the nut slots effecting the action height. The nut slot depth helps set the "acquisition height" of the open string...i.e. action height from an open position to the first fretted position you play. After you have a fretted note, the action height is what the string height is with the string fretted, nes pa? I'm just saying make several small adjustments using the nut, rod, bridge, rather than just the truss rod/bridge by breaking the neck down into smaller areas. Good luck and hope it helps.
Click to expand...

Nut seems fine, actually.

You quoted one of my psots but never answered it..XD not to be totally ungrateful for your opinion though.
 
#38
MovingPitchers said:
Nut seems fine, actually.

You quoted one of my psots but never answered it..XD not to be totally ungrateful for your opinion though.
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It's all good...and I can never play with most standard issue nut depths and have to cut a little, but I'm really light handed...looks like I'm whacking the snot outta stuff when I play but I'm light handed and my nut slot depth is generally about the thickness of 2-3 business cards string height between first fret and string, if that, probably closer to 2. Any higher and it feels really high to me, but every one is different. Im actually looking at culling the herd Monday and offing one of my white Jazz basses for a Geddy, a 70's Classic Jazz or another Jaguar Deluxe...maybe the Geddy will win.
 
#40
MovingPitchers said:
Well the action is where I sort of want it to be. Low enough to fret without much finger strength, but high enough to prevent any stupid fret buzz that is audible through an amp.

I'm gonna let the wood rest for a day and see if it changes since the weather here in Vancity fluctuates everyday. It was hot yesterday but now it's pretty darn chilly.
Click to expand...
How much are you turning the truss rod by? Turning it too much will seriously get it out of whack I know because I've had this same problem and I just did a neck reset, and since my bass was very sensitive to set ups I had to do a very tedious setup and turn maybe even 1/8 of a turn every 2 minutes. Every month I usually do. And letting the wood rest is always good.
 

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