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Neck Issues

Egg250

Egg250

Jan 10, 2022
951
1,672
#1
Got a new to me ESP B4E bass a month or so ago. It was set up well, no buzz and intonated. It did have (still has) some fret sprout. I noticed some tuning issues, it is really sensitive to environment. I'll play at home then go to band practice, tune and play a song or two, and have to tune again. I've applied lemon oil to the fretboard and waxed/polished the neck and body. Played Saturday, picked it up Tuesday to play and noticed significant buzzing on all strings between the 1st and 9th frets. I looked at the neck and it had very noticeable backbow. I adjusted the truss rod about 1/4 turn and reset the string height to get the buzz out.

My thoughts are the wood was a bit dry and shrunken. The oil absorbed into the wood causing it to swell and, with no place to expand, the neck developed backbow.

Has anyone experienced this? Am I thinking right, or is it just something that happens?
 
#2
Truss rod is made of metal, it does't shrink or expand. The wood does. So if the neck's wood expands, the TR tension increases, which means backbow. And vice-versa. Also wood itself may want to go one or another direction. The extent of this depends on exact piece, some has greater movement, some is more stable.
 
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#5
AEVAREX said:
Are you dealing with winter/spring climate change right now? I live in New England and need to adjust most of my basses in the spring and fall due to this. Not unusual as far as I'm concerned.
Click to expand...
Spring is springing here, this bass is at least a year old. I was mainly curious if the thirsty wood was soaking up the oil. The bass played perfectly Sat. Just a few days later, buzzing and back bow. I didn't know if this is something that occurs all of a sudden or if it would coje on slowly.
 
#7
Egg250 said:
My thoughts are the wood was a bit dry and shrunken. The oil absorbed into the wood causing it to swell and, with no place to expand, the neck developed backbow.

Has anyone experienced this? Am I thinking right, or is it just something that happens?
Click to expand...
Lemon oil will not cause the wood to swell. Water vapour does. Where I am, the relative humidity is on the rise as we approach Spring. Basses will start to backbow as a consequence. Looks like yours has too. It could be that you have a very reactive neck, in which case you may find you need to adjust it fairly often.
 
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