Do Wood Types Affect Neck Adjustment Timing?

[Bassdoggydogg]

I'm curious if anyone knows how different neck and fretboard woods affect how often a bass will need a truss rod adjustment (or any other adjustment)????

For example I have a bass with a maple neck and maple fretboard now say I had the same kind of bass but with a pau ferro fretboard, would there be any difference in how often it would need some kind of adjustment?

I'm asking because I'd rather not buy a bass that would need a lot of adjustments compared to other basses that might not need as many.

 

[lz4005]

No

 

[JRA]

I'm asking because I'd rather not buy a bass that would need a lot of adjustments compared to other basses

your buying decisions would be 'liberated' if you learned how to make the common adjustments that every player/owner should know how to do! just sayin'. sooner or later: they all need adjusting.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

The differences, if any, will be more about the individual piece(s) of wood rather then the species of wood.

 

[Bassdoggydogg]

Right on guys thank you!

 

[Bruce Johnson]

When the neck moves because of changes in temperature and humidity, but then moves back when the conditions go back, we call that short term instability.

Short term instability is mostly related to how well the wood in the neck is sealed up. Preventing the wood from absorbing and releasing moisture; that's what makes it swell and shrink and bend the neck. Quality of the finish on the neck, a sealer finish on the fingerboard, sealing down in the fret slots, sealing around the nut and around the truss rod adjuster, these are the things that make a neck short term stable.

The choice of wood doesn't have too much to do with short term stability, although hard maple will tend to absorb less moisture than most of the softer fingerboard woods. A Fender-style neck, maple with a maple fingerboard, the whole thing coated with clear polyester, will usually be pretty well sealed up and stable short term. A neck with a "bare" rosewood or pau ferro fingerboard will depend on the workmanship; whether the builder has put in the effort to seal it up.

Now, long term instability is a different thing. That's a neck that starts bending and continues bending, and never comes back. That has almost nothing to do with the finish and sealing. Long term instability is caused by the wood itself not being properly dried or having internal stresses. A neck that warps beyond the range of what the truss rod can correct for is a permanent problem that needs to be repaired.

 

[Obese Chess]

As Bruce implied, any well-crafted bass is going to be pretty similar and it's more due to internal factors.

Of course, you could always get a graphite neck bass if you're really concerned.

 

[ad9000]

Neck stability might also be a matter of how thick the neck is. For example, every pre-CBS Jazz Bass I’ve owned has required more frequent adjustment, especially the ones with the “veneer” fingerboards.

 

[Bassdoggydogg]

Yeah I hear graphite makes a world of difference but that's out of my budget right now. Honestly I'm pretty happy with my MIM p bass and my sterling stingray 24; they both have maple necks with maple fretboards. For 25 bucks my local guy will change strings and make adjustments, so I think I'm set until I learn a lil more. I was just looking at a used jazz bass with a maple neck and an unknown fretboard so I was kind of leery, but that thing was a no go anyways.

 

[NoiseNinja]

A laminated neck with graphite enforcement rods made of wood types with an average higher elastic modulus (stiffer, less flexible wood types) will have a bigger chance of being more stable than a 1 piece mahogany neck for instance, but as there is no way to predict how individual pieces of wood will act over time things as neck stability will always be relatively random, and a specific 1 piece Mahogany neck might still be more stable than a specific 5 piece Maple/Jatoba laminated neck with graphite rods enforcement, even if the chance is less.

No way of knowing for sure in beforehand with necks primarily relying on the randomness that comes with an organic material like wood, which pretty much leaves you with getting a bass with either a graphite or an aluminum neck, if you want a guaranteed super stable neck.

Has little to do with price of the instrument either, my cheap budget Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro Bass has the most stable neck I ever had on any bass or guitar I've owned, and it is just a fairly standard 2 piece maple neck with a rosewood fretboard, the second piece just being the neck jointed tilted headstock.