Dealing with different levels of relief?

[Kabal]

Hello again...

I've got a geddy neck that appears to have two different levels of relief at the same time. When I look down the E its a bit too straight for my taste but the G side is already way too bowed for my liking.

What do you guys do in a situation like this? Is there a general rule of thumb? Do you go by the relief on one side or a combination of both? Would mixing string gauges help out?

Right now I'm thinking go by the G side and raise the action on the E and A a bit but I'm open to advice from experience

Non geddy neck owners please chime in too.

 

[FunkMetalBass]

Most 6+ string basses have two truss rods, so I'm able to control both the bass and treble sides. It's not the case in a 4-string, but there is probably a work-around.

My best guess is that a change in strings would help to correct this issue. The D- and G-strings on traditional string sets are generally under much more tension than the E- and A-strings. Circle K makes a balanced tension set that is actually slightly higher tension on the lower strings than on the upper strings. I highly recommend those strings (tonally, feel, and longevity), and they'd be a cheaper potential solution than the alternative.

If that does not help, you may have to see if you can find a good tech or luthier who is able to correct a warped neck, or a new neck.

 

[Kabal]

I've got Sunbeams on them now from what I understand they're supposed to be well made strings as far as tension goes no?

I don't think its warped as its not unplayable right now its just a little "off" from what I'd like.

I've been looking into other strings though so maybe I should try those first and see where they leave my neck. I don't want to turn this into a string thread so I'll stop there. I'll look into Circle K a little more deeply though, thanks.

Anyone else have any insights?

 

[darkstorm]

Have a tech check it out. You may have the start of a twisted neck. Useing lighter gauge D & G strings while keeping same gauge E & A strings should help but may not give you the feel and sound you like.

 

[Kabal]

I just wanted to update this thread in case others are having this same problem.

I got a set of Circle K but the twist was still there when I put them on. So I put the D and G Sunbeams back on to see if there would be any change and it seemed to straighten out my neck!

For reference I had Medium Sunbeams on and got the .106 balanced circle k

My neck wasn't super warped to begin with and didn't appear twisted when the strings were removed so I'm not guaranteeing it will fix a neck that looks like soft serve ice cream but this helped my situation

 

[sninja]

I have the same problem with my Jazz Bass after I took it from luthier. He is the best in my area, and he did a flawless refretting job on my bass, also the neck is 30 years old without any twist, and, he even sand the neck pocket perfectly... But it seems that problem is in the previous string set ( DR lo-rider 100-40) which I kept on bass and they are very unbalanced I may add... I have far a lot of relief on G side of the neck but on the E side the neck is dead straight! And, as a consequence, I have some fret buzz on my G at 8-10 frets when I'm trying to set up it lower than 1.6-1.7 mm at 12th fret... All other strings are perfectly sounds even with 1 mm action height adjusted... Today I`m gonna buy a D'Addario Balanced Nickel Strings (107-45) set and give them a try. See, if it will help...

 

[Lownote38]

Could the neck be slightly twisted?? That's the only time I've had the problem you describe. I'd say it's time to bring it in to get looked at.

 

[sninja]

It is just from luthier, and I`ve checked it - no twist at all. I`ve bought these balanced tension strings yesturday (107-45 set), today I will try it and let you know if it will fix my particular case.

 

[sninja]

Here is some results!
This balanced set really works in my case!!! I just turned truss rod 1/4 clockwise and put these new set on... man, it's perfect!!! So much easier to play comparing to lo-riders... end relief is equal on both E and G sides of the neck!!! I can go lower than 1.2 mm but I stopped there. Almost no relief on the neck, straight! Great action and very easy to play, without any nasty fret buzz! I highly suggest you are trying balanced string sets if you have the same problem. It is not because twisted neck, but because of different string tension.