Spring & truss rod adjustment

[Jeff Scott]

The humidity answer raised a couple of questions in my mind:

1) The neck on a Rickenbacker, such as my '15 4003, which needs seasonal adjustment, is sealed up pretty well; even the fingerboard has a heavy coat of finish. I don't think there is any part of it without finish on it. Does the humidity cross the finish barrier and still absorb into the wood?

2) Then why does my '83 4003 with the old-style hairpin truss rods never, ever need adjustment?

Not sure why in your first question, other than the open ends of the truss rod channels, perhaps, but probably that finishes used (in musical instruments) may still be somewhat hygroscopic?

As for your second question, two very different truss rod designs. The old style rods hold the neck in position in a way that provides a lot of stability, from my own experiences. All the 4001 basses (and 4005) I owned over the years never needed adjustments once initially set, whereas the modern truss rod designed basses I've had/have require seasonal adjustments.

 

[Rallypoint_1]

Ok...so I was noodling around and neck and string height seemed a tad off. Measured the relief and it was over .012” Its been warmer now that it’s spring. So I had to adjust 2 of 3 basses to get back into the specs that work for me .010” of relief. A 1/4 turn of the truss to tighten and it was all good again. That made the strings a little low so up they went.

So ya they need a slight adjustment here in SoCal.

 

[corndog]

Yup, the Stingray every spring and fall.

My 4003, We'll see..

 

[bulldean]

The thing that I found strange was that one of my basses needed a slight bit of tightening while one needed a turn to provide relief.

 

[Mpcorb]

Just acquired a Tanglewood acoustic bass & the action is way too low; to the point where the 12th fret notes cannot be played. Is this a simple case of acquiring a generic truss rod and doing a quarter turn backwards, then leaving it for 2 hours, as is suggested on youtube?

 

[msb]

My Rics with the old style rods don't move a bit , and my Dano Longhorn is also incredibly stable , but the Fender style ones with bolt on necks require an adjustment twice a year with the humidity change .