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What does too much relief indicate?

AudioDwebe

AudioDwebe

Guest
Dec 21, 2011
888
805
Pacific Northwest
#1
Hi all,

Not sure I even worded my question correctly in the title but my basic question is this: What, if anything, does it indicate when a bass with its truss rod completely loosened (Carvin BB75) has the strings almost a half an inch off the fretboard and when tightened (possibly) completely it's still about an eighth of an inch off the fret when capo'd on the first fret, held down just to the body side of where the neck meets the body (checking the string height at about the 7th fret area?

I just bought this from GC and it came in yesterday. The strings on it were so dead that I couldn't hear the treble pot work at all. The mid and bass pot sounded identical. I thought the preamp was shot.

I changed to a newer set of strings I had laying around to do a quick check of the controls. Preamp fine. But with the strings on the bass before, there is no way they would have known if the preamp was functional or not. Hmm.

The strings were so high off the fretboard and when I tried to tighten the truss rod, even maxed tight (at least as tight as I could with the tool I had available, there is still way too much relief. I am taking it to the tech at GC to see if he can straighten out the neck some more.

What does a neck with this much relief indicate? Is this something (even if he is able to adjust it) that should cause me to rethink this purchase and return it?

Please advise.

Thanks

Mamoru
 
#2
they should have went over it and set it up for you .. !! if not , insist they do so ... or return it ... !

many things can effect the neck ... fret board might be dry and need oiled , climate change , string change with different tension ... and broken/loose truss parts ...

something you should not have to fight with in a new Store Bought instrument ... !! that's the kinda crap we run into buying sight unseen stuff on Ebay ... !!
 
#3
An dry fret has absolutely nothing to do with anything.

OP,

Did you actually check the truss rod to see if the neck relief was correct, or were you using the action as an indicator that the neck was out of adjustment?
 
#4
The truss rod functions correctly in as far as it straightens the neck some.

As soon as I picked up the bass I knew the action was way too high, but my immediate concern was with the preamp. I figured if something was amiss with that the bass was going back.

When I discovered the pre to be okay, my next concern was with the action. I tightened it until it pretty mush stopped, which didn't require me to turn it much at all. I then checked. Still way too high.

Then I loosened and tightened, trying to see if the truss rod was stuck without actually hitting its limit.

Still too high. And it didn't seem to have changed much.

I was then curious to see if the truss rod was functioning so I loosened all the way until I felt no tension as I was turning it. I didn't need to capo or do anything. I could clearly see the strings were damn near a half inch off the fretboard.

I then re-tightened. Hit it's stopping point. Checked action. No difference. Too high.

I've taken another bass to the tech...same issue, but not nearly to this level. I just wanted that bass to be a wee bit closer to the fretboard since it was a fretless. The tech tightened it with no issues. I was afraid of busting the rod.

So this might be a similar case.

My concern is even if the tech can bring the action down, need I be concerned that the rod may be at its end of adjustability, as I might not be able to tighten it any more if the weather causes it to need another adjustment.

BTW, this is a used bass.
 
#5
Get it set up by someone who knows what they're doing. The truss rod does one thing ... and ONLY one thing ... adds or reduces neck relief. Once the relief is correct, there are other things to consider ... saddle height, nut slot height, and even the gauge of the strings. Frets should be checked and leveled if required. I've never bought a bass (new or used) that I didn't spend an hour or two to set up to my specs.
 
#6
AudioDwebe said:
The truss rod functions correctly in as far as it straightens the neck some.

As soon as I picked up the bass I knew the action was way too high, but my immediate concern was with the preamp. I figured if something was amiss with that the bass was going back.

When I discovered the pre to be okay, my next concern was with the action. I tightened it until it pretty mush stopped, which didn't require me to turn it much at all. I then checked. Still way too high.

Then I loosened and tightened, trying to see if the truss rod was stuck without actually hitting its limit.

Still too high. And it didn't seem to have changed much.

I was then curious to see if the truss rod was functioning so I loosened all the way until I felt no tension as I was turning it. I didn't need to capo or do anything. I could clearly see the strings were damn near a half inch off the fretboard.

I then re-tightened. Hit it's stopping point. Checked action. No difference. Too high.

I've taken another bass to the tech...same issue, but not nearly to this level. I just wanted that bass to be a wee bit closer to the fretboard since it was a fretless. The tech tightened it with no issues. I was afraid of busting the rod.

So this might be a similar case.

My concern is even if the tech can bring the action down, need I be concerned that the rod may be at its end of adjustability, as I might not be able to tighten it any more if the weather causes it to need another adjustment.

BTW, this is a used bass.
Click to expand...

I'd say return it; a maxed-out trussrod ain't gonna get any better.
 
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#9
The bass may have very well been bad, but you are still using action as an indicator of neck relief. They are two different things, did you ever actually check the neck relief or did you just keep tightening the truss rod expecting the action to get lower? I have seen plenty of basses where the neck moved to do a climate change, and the owner raised the action to make it quit buzzing, and so on and so forth. By the time I worked on it, the action was a mile high, even after the relief was set correctly.
 
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#13
AudioDwebe said:
The truss rod functions correctly in as far as it straightens the neck some.

As soon as I picked up the bass I knew the action was way too high, but my immediate concern was with the preamp. I figured if something was amiss with that the bass was going back.

When I discovered the pre to be okay, my next concern was with the action. I tightened it until it pretty mush stopped, which didn't require me to turn it much at all. I then checked. Still way too high.

Then I loosened and tightened, trying to see if the truss rod was stuck without actually hitting its limit.

Still too high. And it didn't seem to have changed much.

I was then curious to see if the truss rod was functioning so I loosened all the way until I felt no tension as I was turning it. I didn't need to capo or do anything. I could clearly see the strings were damn near a half inch off the fretboard.

I then re-tightened. Hit it's stopping point. Checked action. No difference. Too high.

I've taken another bass to the tech...same issue, but not nearly to this level. I just wanted that bass to be a wee bit closer to the fretboard since it was a fretless. The tech tightened it with no issues. I was afraid of busting the rod.

So this might be a similar case.

My concern is even if the tech can bring the action down, need I be concerned that the rod may be at its end of adjustability, as I might not be able to tighten it any more if the weather causes it to need another adjustment.

BTW, this is a used bass.
Click to expand...
Adjust the neck until it has the amount of relief (curvature) you want. For a fretless, I like the neck real close to straight with just a hair of relief. Once you've done that, lower the saddles and see if you can get the action as low as you want it without buzzing. If you can't, you may need to shim the neck.
 
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