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What to do with neck while it's off bass for a while?

Sundogue

Sundogue

Apr 26, 2001
8,795
481
65
Wausau, WI
#1
I'm going to be working on my bass and in the process it will be taken apart and stay apart for at least two weeks.

What should I do with neck while it's off the bass for a while? Should I loosen the truss rod to keep it straight without string tension? Or should I even concern myself with that?

Just curious. I've done it both ways. The neck is really nice and perfect on my bass and I want to make sure it stays that way. Thanks.
 
#6
Sundogue said:
I'm going to be working on my bass and in the process it will be taken apart and stay apart for at least two weeks.
Click to expand...

You'll be totally fine. I had the neck off one of my basses for seven years, and when I finally got around to putting it together it still was good as new. (I did loosen the truss rod during those seven years though.)
 
#7
I think I'll just leave the truss rod as is while it's off. If I find it's taking me a bit longer than a couple of weeks before I get it back together I'll loosen the rod up a bit to keep it flat. It's not that what I want to do is going to take me that long...it's just finding the time to do it, so it will be apart while I work on it a little here and there.

Thanks for the feedback.
 
#9
I think its better to be safe than sorry. While doing nothing to it might be fine, I think loosening the rod a bit might be a better option. I think problems could vary from neck to neck. Mine is a 5 laminate neck and very stable so I'm not terribly worried about it.
 
#11
String tension acting against truss rod tension keeps the neck (and its relief) in equilibrium. No string tension to act against the trussrod tension will produce a backbow...almost immediately. No big deal I suppose if you're changing strings, or doing some work on the guitar but I'm not sure how long I'd want to leave a piece of wood in that condition.

For short or long term storage I vote for release of tension by loosening the rod once the strings are off. The neck should stay nice and straight.
Count the number of turns and write it on a piece of masking tape attached to the neck...somewhere. It'll give you a good starting point when you reassemble the instrument and string her up.
 
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#12
quickfix said:
String tension acting against truss rod tension keeps the neck (and its relief) in equilibrium. No string tension to act against the trussrod tension will produce a backbow...almost immediately. No big deal I suppose if you're changing strings, or doing some work on the guitar but I'm not sure how long I'd want to leave a piece of wood in that condition.

For short or long term storage I vote for release of tension by loosening the rod once the strings are off. The neck should stay nice and straight.
Count the number of turns and write it on a piece of masking tape attached to the neck...somewhere. It'll give you a good starting point when you reassemble the instrument and string her up.
Click to expand...

This makes very good sense.
 
#16
Sundogue said:
Neck was off for about two weeks. I didn't do anything with it. Put it back on, tuned up and everything is just fine.
Click to expand...

Another piece of evidence to add to the pile. For short term storage it's just unnecessary work.

Loosen or not loosen: It's up to you. If it makes you feel good, have at it.
 
#19
^ Good gravy! I don't get it. 4 pro setups? Find another pro.

Now I'm not espousing this is the thing to do but I had my 1975 G3 neck off in the case for over 10 years before I resurrected it. No loosened truss. Took me about 20 minutes to fully set it up after assembly. Required a truss tweak at the advent of summer two months later. I can't think of any reason a setup would be that far off so many times in a row other than a rubber neck.
 

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