So glad that at least some of you find the significance of being naked. Yes indeed, a far better way for your fretboard to be whilst cleaning and conditioning it. However - your bass, your home - do it how ever you want. 
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Removing Strings for Repair Work
- Thread starter selowitch
- Start date
That would mean that the ski jump would only be occurring between F17, usually where the headstock side set of mounting screws are, and the end of the fingerboard. It would also be limited to the thickness of the shim, and the clamping force of the body side mounting screws. Since ski jumps almost always start at F15, I don't see how this can be so.
I made this tool to be able to look at relief at various places on the neck, for example at F7, indexed at F1/F15, F15, indexed at F10/F21, and so forth.
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nice!
you're right now that i think about it, the ramp usually happens where the neck goes from rounded to square in the back, before it hits the pocket.
i'd still think you could exacerbate the problem, putting a "ramp on the ramp" in the last few frets, by unsupported shimming.
i'll usually just find a thinner shim than the primary one i'm setting the angle with, and slide it along the pocket with a straightedge held down over it til it hits, whereupon i'll glue it in place. that way, it serves as a "step", taking the clamping pressure along with the primary shim.
you're right now that i think about it, the ramp usually happens where the neck goes from rounded to square in the back, before it hits the pocket.
i'd still think you could exacerbate the problem, putting a "ramp on the ramp" in the last few frets, by unsupported shimming.
i'll usually just find a thinner shim than the primary one i'm setting the angle with, and slide it along the pocket with a straightedge held down over it til it hits, whereupon i'll glue it in place. that way, it serves as a "step", taking the clamping pressure along with the primary shim.
First off, I always remove them all when changing strings, pickups, or just cleaning the fretboard. I have oil finished neck-thru basses that had them off for weeks w/o truss rod relief and they have ALL been fine. A bud of mine happen to find one of those "closet classics" (63 P Bass) that hadn't had stings on it for many years. He put on a fresh set, and it was good to go.
My basis was that since the purpose of the rod(s) is to counteract the upward forces of string tension, the opposite tension produced by the rod(s) would no longer be needed. I concluded that the opposite tension could either be left there (i.e., don't loosen the rod(s)) or removed (i.e., loosen the rod(s)) and that if any damage were to occur, it was more likely that leaving the rod(s) under tension might cause damage (e.g., induce back-bow), loosening them would not. I've done this with at least four or five of my guitars and/or basses over the years with no ill effects.
To me, it was useful to gain an understanding of how the rod(s) produced the proper amount of counteracting tension when the instrument is strung to pitch. As a result, I have become facile with adjustment of my Rickenbacker, Fender, Warwick and Ken Smith basses and guitars.
It would appear from other responses that there is no need to loosen the rods if the neck is unstrung for a relatively short period of time (up to several weeks or even more). So be it; that's good to know, and I've done that while changing strings and oiling my FL boards, which only takes about 30 minutes tops. For me, it was useful to loosen the rods, as I was able to "reconstruct" the tension from scratch. I suppose the only risk of damage in this scenario is if you restring and forget to add any tension to the rods, but I wasn't going to let that happen.
I would add that since I am not under the time pressures that a commercial luthier or guitar technician would be, I had the luxury of loosening the rods and figuring out how to re-tension the rods to get the desired relief. So tell me, is there any inherent risk (other than what I mentioned) in loosening the rods when unstringing the neck, or is it more a case of "you don't need to waste your time doing that"?
IMO - the biggest risk is someone who knows nothing or very little about what they're doing. Lots of issues can pop up that could have be avoided by not messing with the rod unless necessary for set-up. Lots of rods on older guitars have been abused and misused and are nearly impossible to move without lots of experience and patience. Even then, striping and breakage happen probably more than you might think. 
- Aug 5, 2005
- 7,243
- 92
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: J.C. Basses
I presumed it was a response to refinishing and projects that take a while. If it's for a string change, I too call "nonsense."
I think many people forget just how resilient wood actually is.
- Aug 5, 2005
- 7,243
- 92
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: J.C. Basses
The latter, especially for short jobs. Although, if I were dealing with a very old, dried out acoustic from a century ago, I might do it as a precautionary measure. Typically, though, your bass' neck is incredibly strong and if you're one to oil your neck/fretboard, you already take much better care than half of the folks out there. You have nothing to worry about.
