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Truss Rod adjustment cutout?

Discussion in 'Luthier's Corner' started by 343 Salty Beans, Jul 18, 2013.

  1. Jul 18, 2013 #1
    343 Salty Beans

    343 Salty Beans

    Jan 24, 2006
    Welp, I've got a slight conundrum. I have a WD Music BEF fretless neck. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to do a cutout to adjust the truss rod. I don't want to have to take the neck off every time I want to adjust the truss, and it's underneath the bottom of the fretboard. How would you folks suggest going about this? My only other bass has kind of a a quarter-sphere concave cutout, but the fretboard isn't extended like on this neck.

    2013-07-18171957_zps0ca47229.jpg
     
  2. Jul 18, 2013 #2
    mrbell321

    mrbell321

    Mar 26, 2012
    N. Colorado
    Do you plan on ever plan on playing that very last fret? You could remove at least part of that fretboard....
     
  3. Jul 18, 2013 #3
    noiseguy

    noiseguy

    Apr 1, 2013
    How often do you expect to adjust the truss rod?
     
  4. Jul 19, 2013 #4
    343 Salty Beans

    343 Salty Beans

    Jan 24, 2006
    I've thought of that, but I'm still not sure how I'd even go about shaping that cutout.

    As far as how often I feel I would need to adjust it, I honestly don't know. I set my fretted bass up every 9-12 months, but I can't imagine needing to set up a fretless very often after the initial setup, but it seems like a hassle to have to remove the neck to adjust it. Are there a lot of fretless basses like that?
     
  5. Jul 19, 2013 #5
    bigmoosepi

    bigmoosepi

    Oct 1, 2012
    Tasmania, Australia
    Removing the neck is easy if you stick a capo on the first fret. Loosen strings, pop off the 4 bolts and it's off, takes less than 2 minutes.
     
  6. Jul 19, 2013 #6
    343 Salty Beans

    343 Salty Beans

    Jan 24, 2006
    Ok, so this is a standard thing for some basses? Just seems odd to put the truss adjustment where it's inaccessible. If that's the case, I just won't make a cut and leave it as-is. Thanks!
     
  7. Jul 19, 2013 #7
    mrbell321

    mrbell321

    Mar 26, 2012
    N. Colorado
    semi-standard.

    Some basses have the truss rod like this, and I agree, it's silly.
    Other basses have the truss rod where it's useful. :)
     
  8. Jul 19, 2013 #8
    Floyd Eye

    Floyd Eye Inactive

    Feb 21, 2010
    St. Louis
    I wouldn't do that. Taking the neck off the bass to adjust the truss rod is a PITA.
     
  9. Jul 19, 2013 #9
    343 Salty Beans

    343 Salty Beans

    Jan 24, 2006
    But the question is, how often will I need to adjust the rod on a fretless? If its once a year, I'm willing to not potentially screw up the body for a long cutout.
     
  10. Jul 19, 2013 #10
    P Town

    P Town

    Dec 7, 2011
    I don't think I would ever need to make use of the finger board up that high, and so I would just remove that part of it.
     
  11. Jul 19, 2013 #11
    JustForSport

    JustForSport

    Nov 17, 2011
    "Some basses have the truss rod like this, and I agree, it's silly.
    Other basses have the truss rod where it's useful."
    But some people insist on 'silly'.
     
  12. Jul 19, 2013 #12
    Ironfingers

    Ironfingers

    Dec 3, 2010
    Woodbridge, VA
    In my experience these people are usually from a strange land called Marketing. I don't know where this land actually is, but I do know it has no connection to our physical plane of reality.

    I feel like you kind of have only 2 choices. Remove the end of the fretboard and route an access into the body, or take the neck off once a year (or possibly less) to adjust it. Pick whichever one annoys you less... :)
     
  13. Jul 19, 2013 #13
    Beej

    Beej

    Feb 10, 2007
    Vancouver Island
    You might need a pretty deep and long access route to get to that nut - I'd probably just leave it and take it off when it needs adjusting using the capo method. Pretty common, albeit cumbersome way of doing things...