bass truss rod access

[dbw]

I have a G4 body that I'm getting ready to get a neck for.  It does not have the channel for a truss rod adjuster, but I would like to get a Jazz neck, which adjusts at the heel, so I'd have to take the neck off every time I want to adjust it.  How often will I have to do that?  Not a bassist so I don't know much about bass maintenance  :help:

 

[jackthehack]

I found an old school Warmoth Flame Koa Jazz Bass that didn't have the truss rod relief channel like you see on new ones, so I just routed out one, no big whup...

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

I have a G4 body that I'm getting ready to get a neck for.  It does not have the channel for a truss rod adjuster, but I would like to get a Jazz neck, which adjusts at the heel, so I'd have to take the neck off every time I want to adjust it.  How often will I have to do that?  Not a bassist so I don't know much about bass maintenance  :help:

The bass shouldn't require the seasonal adjusting like a guitar.  For whatever reason, it just doesn't.  Unlike a guitar, a bass with action a tad high or low is a bit more forgivable.  Now, my Warmoth body does have the route in the body, however the pickguard does not.  This was a concern about adjusting, but I think you'll be surprised how little attention it needs.  My neck was shipped flat, as is the practice because the frets are applied with it flat.  In standard E-A-D-G tuning with .045 to .105 gauge strings, just tuning to pitch put the neck at optimal curvature.  I've had it a summer, fall, winter, and now spring, have gigged and practiced heavily with it, and guess what?  The truss rod has never been touched, and hasn't needed it.  I've followed all appropriate setup techniques as far as setting action and intonation (it's actually setup fairly low and has no buzz or fretting out).  Fretting at the 1st and 21st frets simultaneously on the E string, I could not fit a dime between the string and 11th fret.  Maybe others have had different experiences.

 

[line6man]

The truss rod slot is absolutely worthless unless you remove the neck. At least on my build.

On my Jazz Bass, The 21 fret extention covers up the slot. Actually for some reason Warmoth did the slot on my pickguard a bit shorter than the slot on the body, so the slot would be slightly longer without the pickguard. This is only about a quarter inch though, so i still think the slot is useless with a 21 fret neck.

Here is a picture of my bass...
You can see what little is left of the slot.

 

[SkuttleFunk]

as Jack noted above, if you don't have a slot route yourself one ... if you don't know how, take it to a qualifies tech and have one installed. with the adjustment slot properly installed it will hang out past the end of a 21-fret fretboard overhand (see it in the image below?)

then, when you order the pickguard - DON'T have a slot cut in the pickguard. this way you'll never see an obnoxous looking slot until you remove the pickguard to make an adjustment. (see how clean the pickguard looks with the slot in the image below? by simply removing the pickguard, there is total access to the adjustment slot like the bass above has ... NO NEED TO REMOVE YOUR NECK FOR ADJUSTMENT!!!  :hello2: :blob7:  :cool01

all the best,

R

 

[Phrygian]

I have a G4 body that I'm getting ready to get a neck for.  It does not have the channel for a truss rod adjuster, but I would like to get a Jazz neck, which adjusts at the heel, so I'd have to take the neck off every time I want to adjust it.  How often will I have to do that?  Not a bassist so I don't know much about bass maintenance  :help:

The bass shouldn't require the seasonal adjusting like a guitar.  For whatever reason, it just doesn't.  Unlike a guitar, a bass with action a tad high or low is a bit more forgivable.  Now, my Warmoth body does have the route in the body, however the pickguard does not.  This was a concern about adjusting, but I think you'll be surprised how little attention it needs.  My neck was shipped flat, as is the practice because the frets are applied with it flat.  In standard E-A-D-G tuning with .045 to .105 gauge strings, just tuning to pitch put the neck at optimal curvature.  I've had it a summer, fall, winter, and now spring, have gigged and practiced heavily with it, and guess what?  The truss rod has never been touched, and hasn't needed it.  I've followed all appropriate setup techniques as far as setting action and intonation (it's actually setup fairly low and has no buzz or fretting out).  Fretting at the 1st and 21st frets simultaneously on the E string, I could not fit a dime between the string and 11th fret.  Maybe others have had different experiences.

My recent Jbass build required a lot of initial truss rod tweaking, much more than my Strat build.  :icon_scratch:

 

[rockskate4x]

Don't you hate feeling like the exception to the rule? (jk) :icon_jokercolor:

 

[line6man]

DON'T have a slot cut in the pickguard. this way you'll never see an obnoxous looking slot until you remove the pickguard to make an adjustment. (see how clean the pickguard looks with the slot in the image below? by simply removing the pickguard, there is total access to the adjustment slot like the bass above has ... NO NEED TO REMOVE YOUR NECK FOR ADJUSTMENT!!! 

I disagree with you. I think the slot adds a classy and functional look to the instrument, which is why i specifically requested it on my pickguard.
My neck has to come off either way, but why the hell would i want to have to take the pickguard off to adjust the truss rod, when i have the option to not have to?
I really don't understand why you would want to cover up the slot and have to remove the pickguard to use it, when you could just route out the pickguard and have full functionality to begin with.

 

[SkuttleFunk]

I route a properly sized adjustment slot in the body so I DON'T need to remove the neck to make trussrod adjustments, even with a fretboard extension styled neck. with a properly designed configuration you should never need to remove the neck to make a trussrod adjustment. why give opportunity to stripping out the neck mounting holes with unnecessary and repeated removal/attachment of the neck when you can eliminate it by simply installing a proper trussrod adjustment slot?

I don't route a slot in the pickguard so that you don't have to see the visually distracting body color glaring thru at the end of the neck where the eye visually expects to see continuity in the pickguard. a big gaping hole in the pickguard detracts from a nicely grained fretboard and coordinating pickguard IMO.


the mounting screws for a pickguard are nonstructural. if you strip the hole for one it can easily be fixed with a little glue and a piece of toothpick. most any owner can remedy a stripped pickguard hole without any special tools or skill

in contrast the mounting holes in a neck are very structural. if you strip one it requires remedy by drilling and plugging with a hardwood dowel, and then re-drilling a properly sized pilot hole.  repairing a stripped neck mounting hole cannot be easily remedied without a drillpress and a significant amount of woodworking skills - skills that most players simply don't have. repair for a stripped mounting hole then becomes a significant task requiring the skills of a repair tech, time with the instrument out of service, and considerable repair cost


while we can disagree on the cosmetics, the functional aspect of eliminating neck removal for trussrod adjustment cannot be so easily dismissed. I'm not sure how much experience you have repairing instruments, but after you've repaired a significant number of stripped neck mounting holes I believe you'll also come to the conclusion that unnecessary and repeated removal of a neck attached with woodscrews is not a good thing (unless you make a living repairing stripped mounting holes  :icon_tongue

all the best,

R

 

[dbw]

Thanks Rod.  As I said this is a G4 body so no pickguard.  The body does not have a slot routed in it.  Is it worth looking at a tilt neck just for the easier adjustment?  Are the tilt necks the same shape as the P/J ones?

 

[line6man]

this is a G4 body so no pickguard

Duh! :doh: :doh: I probably should have read that first.
:toothy11:

 

[SkuttleFunk]

well, do you like the W angled headstock look?

if you don't have router skills and/or a router (or a friend who does), the angled headstock will be significantly easier to adjust the trussrod on since it's at the headstock.



as an aside - do you know what wood configuration you're looking for? I have a couple W necks I'm about to let loose of that I could make a sweet deal on. These necks were used in my testing room to A/B different pickups, bodies, and neck wood combinations. All but one are multi-lam construction, finished by W prior to leaving their shop, and are in as near to new condition as a used neck can be ... I'd be surprised if any neck has even four hours of playing time on it.

if you're interested in taking a no obligation look drop me a PM and I'll toss you an image or two. I'm in a house claening mood in prep for a re-opening of my shop on May 1st, and I'm looking to clear out several necks and bodies that I no longer need for customer configuration (physical and sonic) examples. I'll also have a couple Bart NTMB's that gotta find a home somewhere in case you need a good, nearly unused pre-amp on the low $$$

all the will be in the GFS section in the coming week or so

all the best,

R

 

[dbw]

PM sent

 

[Bob Hoover Ross]

The truss rod slot is absolutely worthless unless you remove the neck.

+1

Slot or no slot, you'll have to remove the neck to tweak your trussrod.

While I understand the reasoning behind why many neck builders have gravitated away from putting the trussrod adjustment nut up at the nut, I still find it one of the more infuriating developments in instrument design!

 

[rockskate4x]

I'd say that you would have to get the warmoth neck unless you wanted a ghetto looking hole in ur bod. I'd go with the w neck for sure....

 

[SkuttleFunk]

The truss rod slot is absolutely worthless unless you remove the neck.

Slot or no slot, you'll have to remove the neck to tweak your trussrod.

absolutely INCORRECT!

I never have to remove a neck to adjust a trussrod on my basses (basses I make, and basses from other manufacturers that I personally own). there is absolutely ZERO NEED to do so because they all have an adjustment slot that is properly designed. same holds true for Sadowsky and MusicMan basses (spoke wheel adjustment), Lakland basses (proper adjustment slot design), Fodera basses (proper adjustment slot design), etc ...  I don't think I need to go on with additional examples of instruments where neck removal for trussrod adjustment is not required

if you don't have a trussrod adjustment slot, install one and you will ELIMINATE the need to remove your neck when making trussrod adjustments.

if you have an instrument with a poorly designed trussrod adjustment slot that requires you to remove your neck, do a little mod work to FIX IT and you will ELIMINATE the need to remove your neck when making trussrod adjustments.

end of story.

period.

While I understand the reasoning behind why many neck builders have gravitated away from putting the trussrod adjustment nut up at the nut, I still find it one of the more infuriating developments in instrument design!

it's all about eliminating breakage potential at the weakest part of the neck (headstock-neck shaft transition area) - responsible luthiers are improving the quality of their instruments by eliminating this flawed (albeit convenient for users) design

all the best,

R