Neck Relief????
- Thread starter funkygeos
- Start date
lordie
New member
i have mine with a slight relief and it bow a bit to have a super low as low as possible action.
i think pressing the 1st fret and than the 5th or 9th ( i forgot) and slide thru a credit card to see how much allowance it has.
optimumly it be around the size of the credit card when u slip the card pass the 5th frets.
or something like that, i set-it up like donkey years ago and did not really did it again tho. its a 1 time set-up ;p
i think pressing the 1st fret and than the 5th or 9th ( i forgot) and slide thru a credit card to see how much allowance it has.
optimumly it be around the size of the credit card when u slip the card pass the 5th frets.
or something like that, i set-it up like donkey years ago and did not really did it again tho. its a 1 time set-up ;p
aquanaut
New member
you dont use a credit card or i/c. you use a business card/name card.
to check relief fret the 'F' and the last fret 22 or 24 and sight the space between the bottom of the strings and the top of the frets.
to adjust remember 'righy tighty, lefty loosey' and you must re-set the bridge height after adjustment and intonate accordingly.
a little relief is necessary as when the string vibrates, it is held at the nut and bridge and the profile will be somewhat elliptical.
to check relief fret the 'F' and the last fret 22 or 24 and sight the space between the bottom of the strings and the top of the frets.
to adjust remember 'righy tighty, lefty loosey' and you must re-set the bridge height after adjustment and intonate accordingly.
a little relief is necessary as when the string vibrates, it is held at the nut and bridge and the profile will be somewhat elliptical.
funkygeos
New member
Guys, thanks for the info, izzit pressing on the 2nd and 22nd fret, then move the card along the fingerboard? If there a slight bow, the middle of the fingerboard will have the largest different between the bottom of the string and the top of the fret, can i say so?
The more relief, the lower the strings can go?
The more relief, the lower the strings can go?
shinobi
New member
nope
without overcomplicating things,
action = saddle height (and also nut action, but that's another story)
now to complicate things,
the truss rod was invented with the intention of compensating for neck bowing. i don't believe neck bow is meant to be manipulated. but hey, i'm a believer of "whatever works (as long as you know what you're doing)"
if the action is too low, fret buzz could result;
a. on a perfectly straight neck, the fret buzz will occur all along the fretboard.
b. if the truss rod is too loose (too much neck relief), fret buzz will occur when you fret near the nut (lower frets) <--- take note of this point
you can sketch it out on a pencil and paper to help you visualize
increasing the saddle height will solve fret buzz. but that may cause (to an extent) the neck to bow further, because string tension increases due to the fact that the strings are at a hypotenuse to the plane of the fretboard. setup requires patience for good reason
the optimally lowest amount of action is the point where raising the saddle eliminates fret buzz.
the catch is that fret buzz in the first place is caused by the vibrating string, and the amplitude of the vibration depends on how hard your attack is.
now having mentioned the "take note of this point" point above, bowing the neck will lower action over the higher frets. however, the dreaded fret buzz occurs when you fret the lower notes. if this does not happen, it could mean that you have already compensated for this by having your saddles raised more than necessary. on a whole, your bass will not play well over the entire neck i.e. poor setup.
please correct me if i'm wrong. my knowledge of guitar setup comes from gary willis. of course not personally (i am what is known as 'kucing kurap') but through his site. i got his link somewhere but too lazy to find
. but i heard there's this good site called google.com
shinobi
New member
hmm... tightening the truss rod isn't really supposed to raise the strings
maybe you can try setting the net to be perfectly straight, and then lower the bridge saddles. then slowly loosen the truss rod until the buzz is eliminated. like what aquanut mentioned, there needs to be a little bit of relief for the strings to vibrate without buzzing. the kind of buzz that you are trying to get rid of is the sound of the string vibrating against the higher frets, not the buzz you get when you don't fret hard enough. you can allow a little bit of the latter because i don't think it's noticeable when plugged in
for reference: http://www.garywillis.com/pages/bass/bassmanual/setupmanual.html
maybe you can try setting the net to be perfectly straight, and then lower the bridge saddles. then slowly loosen the truss rod until the buzz is eliminated. like what aquanut mentioned, there needs to be a little bit of relief for the strings to vibrate without buzzing. the kind of buzz that you are trying to get rid of is the sound of the string vibrating against the higher frets, not the buzz you get when you don't fret hard enough. you can allow a little bit of the latter because i don't think it's noticeable when plugged in
for reference: http://www.garywillis.com/pages/bass/bassmanual/setupmanual.html
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