Dumb question?

[Chad Bennett]

So I've started doing some neck adjustments out of necessity and have got pretty comfortable with that. Now I'm gonna attempt to start doing my own setups. One question, should I do neck adjustments with strings at full tension or should I loosen the strings before adjustment. From all I've seen it looks like full tension, but I don't wanna screw up.

 

[sharkbait130]

I've done truss rod , bridge height and intonation adjustments all at full tension. There are some in here that say doing this is hard on the adjusters and they may have a point , but it has never caused a problem for me on any of my basses.

 

[Goatrope]

When flattening the neck, I always leave my strings at full tension for truss rod adjustments, but pull the neck in the direction I want it to move. This way, the rod doesn't have to move the neck, it just has to hold it.

For intonation, if the string plays sharp, I'll loosen the string a bit before moving the adjuster, but these are just my habits that formed over the decades.

-edited due to lack of caffein

 

[Oren Hudson]

Thoughts prevail on both ways. I've set-up more than 30 basses and find it to be a little better to loosen in most situations so that you're addressing only one thing and not have to fight other influences.

 

[Hopkins]

I only loosen the strings if I cannot turn the nut without doing so.

 

[202dy]

• You cannot screw up.*
• Strings at tension.

If you cannot adjust the neck with strings at tension there is another problem that is in need of remedy.

*Climbers will tell you to always screw down so you don't screw up. Different discipline. Same goal.

 

[JustForSport]

If you screw up (strip or gall/lock up) the adjusting threads or break the truss rod or nut off because it was fighting string tension- Who pays?

No reason to adjust with full tension and no help* until there is a problem- best to prevent it.

*I always help/bend the neck in the direction it needs to go, adjust the truss rod, then let up to see where it's at. (Same as stated in post 3 above).

If the neck needs less relief, I back off on the string tension at least a full tone worth, so it won't be sharp (with the associated extra string tension) after adjustment.

JMO

 

[JLS]

So I've started doing some neck adjustments out of necessity and have got pretty comfortable with that. Now I'm gonna attempt to start doing my own setups. One question, should I do neck adjustments with strings at full tension or should I loosen the strings before adjustment. From all I've seen it looks like full tension, but I don't wanna screw up.

Pros do it full tension.

 

[lz4005]

I've done truss rod , bridge height and intonation adjustments all at full tension. There are some in here that say doing this is hard on the adjusters and they may have a point , but it has never caused a problem for me on any of my basses.

Never raise bridge saddles with the strings at pitch. You'll strip the heads.
I learned this the hard way.

 

[JLS]

Never raise bridge saddles with the strings at pitch. You'll strip the heads.
I learned this the hard way.

This can happen, esp. w/poor quality Allen screws, but usually you're okay.

 

[fhm555]

Not a pro so i always loosen things up a bit to do adjustments. Considering string tension is the only thing really maintaining saddle position on your typical Fender L plate bridge, it seems silly to attempt to move a string saddle under tension. Not to mention i'm sure that's where those little divots cut into the bridge base by your height adjusters come from.

I'm sure it's quicker to keep everything tight when tinkering, but it's something i do for fun so i don't mind if it takes a minute to get it all done.

 

[Coolhandjjl]

For intonation, it depends on the bridge. Couple of mine requires strings to be loosened first.

For truss rods, full tension here. Some older Rics require a totally different procedure, but that doesn't seem to be the case here.

 

[sissy kathy]

Nope; not a dumb question.

 

[Michael B]

Loosen if you don't want to strip anything. Risk it only if you want to feel like a pro.

 

[202dy]

Not singling anyone out here.

"Not a pro so I..."

...do it some other convoluted way that I made up and I didn't break anything.

...do it like this because I found it on the internet from someone else who says they're not a pro.

...do it another way because it makes sense to me no matter what the pro's say.

...do it differently because I'm afraid if I do it right something will go wrong.

...do it like that because pro's might know something I don't.

...do it like this because I prefer to err on the side of caution.

If you're erring on the side of caution it's because you don't know what you're doing. Take it to a pro!

The pro's on this board take the time to tell everyone how they do it because they know their methods are safe and effective. And they want everyone to learn the basics. That's hundreds and hundreds of dollars of research and thousands upon thousands of dollars of experience. All free right here on TalkBass.

It's a little frustrating to hear the less experienced giving advice that we know is inefficient or just plain wrong. And then turn around and argue their point because they never broke anything doing it their way. Arguing the point won't convince a pro to change their methods of work. Arguing won't make an amateur method any safer or better, either. By the way, that's how the myths get started. And perpetuated.

Here's the catch: You could make a mistake if you do not know how to use tools.

Here's the solution: If you don't know how to use tools, either buy some junk to practice on or take it to a pro.

The funny thing about all of this is that almost everyone reading this does their job like a pro. And yet when someone who does this for a living suggests something different they want to argue about it.

Respectfully submitted.

 

[Michael B]

I'm going to assume I am one of the targets for the post above.

So what's so bad about playing it safe? You are basically saying if you have to play it safe, bring it to someone else. That's unrealistic. How else do you become experienced? You give it a try. Not by doing it the way you can if you are experienced. You do it the safe way.

And as far as who should and can give advice: I personally was passing on advice from experienced guys who cauition to the inexperienced (like me and the OP) to loosen the tension to avoid stripping anything.

 

[bassbenj]

I'm going to assume I am one of the targets for the post above.

So what's so bad about playing it safe? You are basically saying if you have to play it safe, bring it to someone else. That's unrealistic. How else do you become experienced? You give it a try. Not by doing it the way you can if you are experienced. You do it the safe way.

And as far as who should and can give advice: I personally was passing on advice from experienced guys who cauition to the inexperienced (like me and the OP) to loosen the tension to avoid stripping anything.

Well, you do want to play it safe, but there is something bad about loosening strings to adjust. (I'll get to that)

But the advice about loosening strings if adjuster is having trouble moving is VERY good advice. I recall doing the truss rod on my G&L L2500 that apparently had not been moved since years before I bought it. I would torque on the wrench an you could feel the rod twisting under tension. Ooooh! A snapped truss rod is the LAST thing you (or I) want to fix. So if you feel that, then what I did was apply lots of penetrating oil as best you can (without getting it in the wrong places on the bass) and try to break it loose with short careful twists. Eventually I did! Whew! In that case you want EVERY advantage so loose strings are a must.

But once everything is working smoothly loosening strings to adjust things is a bad idea. Sure you DO need be aware of those adjustments that increase string tension (like raising saddles or tilting neck back). Just take it slow and raise saddles a little bit and then tune strings down etc. repeat. So to get to the crux of why pros adjust truss rod under tension, it's because when you change the truss rod/ string tension for any reason, the neck takes a certain amount of time to "settle in" to the new setting. The less you tweak it, the faster it settles in. So if you totally remove string tension and then adjust the truss rod it's going to take the maximum time for the neck to settle down. In my experience this can easily be a week or more. To a pro, time is of course money. For you that may or may not be the case. But just giving the rod an 1/8th turn this way or that, under tension can bring your bass right where you want it without destabilizing anything to any long term degree.

I've got a couple basses that respond quite nicely to weather changes, but the adjusters all work fine,so a quick partial turn one way or the other and a brief period of stabilizing and I'm on my way. Were I to detune the strings completely there would be a much longer stabilization period maybe even calling for a second truss rod adjustment to bring it right where I wanted it.

So that is the reason why removing all tension isn't as good unless something is really stuck.

 

[Hopkins]

I'm going to assume I am one of the targets for the post above.

So what's so bad about playing it safe? You are basically saying if you have to play it safe, bring it to someone else. That's unrealistic. How else do you become experienced? You give it a try. Not by doing it the way you can if you are experienced. You do it the safe way.

And as far as who should and can give advice: I personally was passing on advice from experienced guys who cauition to the inexperienced (like me and the OP) to loosen the tension to avoid stripping anything.

The fact of the matter is, string tension is not putting much strain on the threads at all by adjusting relief at string tension. The only time you have to worry about shearing a thread is if the rod is seized or bottomed out. Secondly, properly fitting tools used correctly will not strip out the nut, the rod will break before the nut will strip, and you should never be applying enough force to break a truss rod anyway. Adjusting relief at string tension lets you make a real time adjustment and negates the possibility of the neck moving after adjustment because of a change in string tension. Like I said before, the only reason to loosen a string, is if you cannot get at the nut with the string in place, like on a 5 string instrument where the A string is directly on top of the nut.

202dy and JLS, along with myself are professional techs, we would not give anyone information that would result in them breaking their bass if they follow said information correctly

 

[ofajen]

I usually loosen the A string when adjusting the SX P, but that is just so I can move it out of the way to make plenty of room for the wrench to make the adjustment. The Ripper and import Sterling have no clearance issues and the Wishbass has no truss rod and is very stable.

Otto

 

[guy n. cognito]

I'm going to assume I am one of the targets for the post above.

So what's so bad about playing it safe? You are basically saying if you have to play it safe, bring it to someone else. That's unrealistic. How else do you become experienced? You give it a try. Not by doing it the way you can if you are experienced. You do it the safe way.

And as far as who should and can give advice: I personally was passing on advice from experienced guys who cauition to the inexperienced (like me and the OP) to loosen the tension to avoid stripping anything.

What's bad to me in your postings is that you imply that doing it "like a pro" will cause damage, then you admit you don't know what you're doing. It does nothing more than spread misinformation