If so, that indicates a need for adjustment. While you're at it, work the volume and tone controls, checking for noise. Are there any hardware-related rattles? Take notes on all your observations and list any issues you need to address.
Tip: Because the adjustments that control playability are affected by string gauge and tension, be sure your bass sports the type of strings you plan to use. If you change string gauge, you'll need to do a fresh setup to accommodate the new strings.
Photo 2: To gauge the amount of relief in your neck, use both hands to simultaneously fret the 4th string at the 1st fret and somewhere between the 14th and 16th frets. At the mid point between these two fretted notes, look at the gap between the bottom of the string and the top of the frets. To get another perspective on this gap, bounce the string against the frets with your picking-hand index finger.
We start with checking the "relief" or amount of bend in the neck. I often see people sighting down the neck from all angles and making some very ballpark assessments about neck relief. But the precise and accurate way to measure relief is to use the strings as a straightedge. Here's how to measure neck relief:. Tip: Make sure you continually check the tuning of your bass so it stays at pitch. This is crucial for making accurate measurements and adjustments.
This is very important: If you don't feel comfortable adjusting your truss rod or don't have the proper tool, take this to your local qualified repair technician.
You can really mess up your instrument by stripping the threads on your truss rod or over tightening and breaking this critical part of the neck. Whether the truss rod is adjusted via a male hex nut, a female socket, or a Phillips nut at the neck heel, make sure your tool has a snug fit so you don't strip out this vital part. Photo 3: To remove the neck to expose a truss rod that's installed at the heel, take off the strings and back out the screws at the neck plate.
Photo 4: Once the screws have released the neck, gently pull it free from the body being careful not to scratch the neck on the exposed screw tips. The vast majority of truss rods adjust clockwise to tighten and counter-clockwise to loosen. If your truss rod is located at the headstock, look down the neck from headstock to body to determine clockwise and counter-clockwise direction.
If your truss rod adjustment is at the heel of the neck, you'll need to remove it Photos 3 and 4. The movements will be the same when you look from the heel down. Tip: If you have any doubts about how to adjust a truss rod, get a guitar repair book or study the manual that came with your instrument. Many manufacturers offer free online instructions for adjusting the truss rods on their guitars.
Continue the process until you get the desired gap between the string and fret. Again, unless you have a specific gap in mind, shoot for the thickness of one or two business cards. Photo 5: Truss rods accessed at the neck heel are often adjusted with a screwdriver. Photo 6: Whether the truss rod is installed at the headstock or neck heel, the vast majority adjust clockwise to tighten and counterclockwise to loosen.
If your bass requires adjustments at the neck heel Photos 5 and 6 , rather than the headstock, you'll face the tedious prospect of reinstalling the neck and restringing to check each adjustment.
Tip: If your truss rod seems very difficult to adjust, or stops moving, or makes a loud noise, see a local repair tech. Although adjusting a truss rod may be foreign to you, all qualified technicians understand how it functions. It's definitely worth paying the price to have this done right.
There are several adjustments that affect action, but they need to be done in the correct order. Because your decisions about all the other action-related adjustments are based on neck relief, it's important to deal with the truss rod first. Once you've made any necessary truss-rod adjustments, you're ready to move on to the other factors that control playability. Photo 7: To reattach the neck, carefully place the heel into the neck pocket and then insert the screws by hand, slipping them through the body and seating the tips into their respective holes.
Photo 8: Tighten the neck screws securely. As you do this, use your free hand to control the screwdriver tip so it doesn't slip out and mar the body. If you've removed the neck to make truss rod adjustments, reattach it now Photos 7 and 8 , restring, and retune. Photo 9: Checking action at the 1st fret while holding the string against the 2nd fret.
In addition to eyeballing the clearance, tap the string against the fret to determine the distance between them. Photo Deepening the 2nd-string nut slot. For bass guitar, a good middle-of-the-road clearance over the 1st fret with the string still pressed against the 2nd fret would be the thickness of one business card. If the string has more than that amount of space, the respective nut slot may need to be deepened Photo 10 so the action at the 1st and 2nd frets is low enough to play comfortably and you don't pull the strings sharp trying to press them against the frets.
Anyone can get nut files from Stewart-MacDonald stewmac. It needs to be exactly the proper size for each string. The slot must hold a string firmly in place so it can't move around or sympathetically vibrate against the sides of the nut slot, but not be so tight that the string binds and hangs in the slot and then goes out of tune when it's stretched or played. Photo A slot needs to be gently angled downward as it points back toward the headstock and the string must "speak" from the nut's front edge—right where the nut touches the fretboard.
Photo When deepening a nut slot, recheck the 1st-fret action after a few light strokes with the file. Also, the slot needs to be gently angled downward as it points back toward the headstock Photo The string must "speak" from the nut's front edge—right where the nut touches the fretboard and not somewhere inside the nut slot.
If a string rests on a point inside the slot, rather than at the leading edge, this can create a "sitar" effect or cause a string to play out-of-tune along the fretboard. If you deepen a nut slot, work very slowly and frequently recheck the action at the 1st fret after a stroke or two of the nut file Photo If a string touches the 1st fret when you press it against the 2nd fret, then the nut slot is too low.
The offending slot will have to be filled and then fine-tuned with a nut file, or the nut itself shimmed to gain more height, or you need to fabricate a new nut. Sonically and mechanically, the latter is the best option. If you're not comfortable tackling this project, see your repair tech. Photo Measuring the distance between the 4th string and 12th fret with a precision metal ruler.
Photo Measuring the distance between the 1st string and 12th fret. Photo Adjusting saddle height for the 1st string. Photo Another view of saddle-height adjustment.
Here, the 2nd string is being raised. The goal is to gradually make the strings go from higher to lower as they cross the fretboard from the bass to treble side. With multi-string basses 5, 6, and more , continue this concept across the strings by adding some height for lower strings and shaving a little off for higher ones.
Photo Once the neck relief, nut slots, and basic saddle height have all been adjusted, it's a good time to check fret condition. Once you have the strings close to their proper height with the instrument at pitch and the previous adjustments dialed in, you can really see if the frets are level all the way along the fretboard.
We're now at the stage in the setup where fret problems will be revealed Photo High or low frets, loose frets, and even dead spots from the buildup of gunk and funk that gradually seeps between the frets and fretboard over the years can create inconsistent string vibration, so be on the lookout for these problems.
Speaking of fret condition, if you notice that even after being tuned to pitch and intonated which we will get to in a moment , your bass does not play in tune with itself on some notes, check to see whether your frets have a nice round crown on top or if they're flat.
Frets that are worn flat will allow the string to read from either the front edge of the fret and play sharp, or read from the back side of the fret and create a sitar-like sound. Having your frets in level, crowned, tip-top condition is essential for optimal playability, focused sound, and spot-on intonation. Fretwork is definitely the domain of a trusted repair technician. Photo A strobe tuner or pedal with strobe functions provides superior visual feedback for setting intonation.
Photo Properly wound strings wrap from the top of the post to its bottom. The wraps should lie tight against one another and not overlap. Now we're ready to check and adjust intonation. Unless the strings are fresh, install a new set before going any further.
Intonating your instrument involves individually adjusting the length of each string so its notes are in tune along the entire fretboard. To do this, it's best to use a strobe tuner Photo 18 because it lets you visually track incremental pitch changes in both a note's fundamental vibration and its overtones. Before we start, here are some tuning tips to consider. In my experience, you'll end up with a more stable tuning if you come up to pitch from below.
By tuning up, you reduce the possibility of slack being in the string that could release while you're playing. Also, be sure the windings progress around the post sequentially from top to bottom—with no overlapping—and that these winds are snug or butted up against each other so they can't move around Photo Stretching is important too.
If the neck is too convex strings too close to the fingerboard , turn the truss rod nut counter-clockwise to allow the string tension to pull more relief into the neck. Check your tuning, then re-check the gap with the feeler gauge and re-adjust as needed. Adjustment at neck joint phillips screwdriver : Sight down the edge of the fingerboard from behind the body, looking up toward the headstock of the instrument.
Note: In either case, if you meet excessive resistance when adjusting the truss rod, if your instrument needs constant adjustment, if adjusting the truss rod has no effect on the neck, or if you're simply not comfortable making this type of adjustment yourself, take your instrument to your local Fender Authorized Dealer.
Players with a light touch can get away with lower action; others need higher action to avoid rattles. First, check tuning. Using a 6" mm ruler, measure the distance between bottom of strings and top of the 17th fret. Adjust bridge saddles to the height according to the chart below, then re-tune. Experiment with the height until the desired sound and feel is achieved. Shimming is a procedure used to adjust the pitch of the neck in relation to the body. A shim is placed in the neck pocket, underneath the butt end of the neck.
On many American series guitars, a Micro-Tilt adjustment is offered. It replaces the need for a shim by using a hex screw against a plate installed in the butt end of the neck. The need to adjust the pitch raising the butt end of the neck in the pocket, thereby pitching the neck back of the neck occurs in situations where the string height is high and the action adjustment is as low as the adjustment will allow.
To properly shim a neck, the neck must be removed from the neck pocket of the body. For guitars with the Micro-Tilt adjustment, loosen the two neck screws on both sides of the adjustment access hole on the neckplate by at least four full turns. Retighten the neck screws when the adjustment is complete. The pitch of the neck on your guitar has been preset at the factory and in most cases will not need to be adjusted. Note: If you feel that this adjustment needs to be made and you're not comfortable doing it yourself, take your guitar to your local Fender Authorized Dealer.
Setting pickups too high can cause a number of unusual occurrences. Depress strings at last fret. Using a 6" mm ruler, measure the distance from the bottom of the first and fourth strings to top of the pole piece. A good rule of thumb is that the distance should be greatest at the fourth-string neck pickup position and closest at the first-string bridge pickup position.
Follow the measurement guidelines from the chart below as starting points. The distance will vary according to the amount of magnetic pull from the pickup. Note: Larger string gauges need wider vibrational allowances.
If you have a five-string bass or are using heavier-gauge strings, your measurements must be increased accordingly.
Shop Pickups. Adjustments should be made after all of the above have been accomplished. Set the pickup selector switch if your bass has one in the middle position, and turn the volume and tone controls to their maximum settings. Check tuning. Alternatively, attach a capo at the first fret or hold down the G-string at the 1st fret with your left index finger.
Press the G-string down at the end of the neck with your elbow. Use a feeler gauge to measure the gap between the bottom of the string and the top of the 8th fret. If the gap exceeds 0. If there is no gap, the neck needs more relief. The truss rod needs to be adjusted if inspection of the neck indicates that it needs either more or less relief.
Part 3. Remove the truss rod cover on the headstock, just beyond the nut. Depending on the model of your bass, you will need a small Phillips screwdriver to remove the screws securing the truss rod cover or a small flat-blade screwdriver to "pop" or pry off the truss rod cover.
Use an appropriately sized allen wrench to adjust the truss rod. If the neck needs more relief, you will turn the truss rod nut counterclockwise. Test your truss rod adjustment by fretting each string of the bass at each fret. If there is fret buzz when playing at any of the first 5 frets, the neck is too straight and the truss rod needs to be loosened.
If there is fret buzz only above the 12th fret, there is too much relief in the neck and the truss rod needs to be tightened. If there is fret buzz consistently up the neck, the truss rod is likely set properly and the bridge needs to be raised to adjust the action. Part 4. Raise or lower the bridge or the individual string saddles on the bridge. There are many bridge designs, each with its own specific adjustment features.
Select the proper tool for the adjustment hardware on your bass. Typically, tightening turning clockwise bridge height adjusters will raise the action and loosening turning counterclockwise bridge adjustment adjusters will lower the action. If your bass has individual saddle height adjusting screws, make general action adjustments by raising or lowering the entire bridge, then make your final adjustments by changing the height of the individual string saddles.
Individual string saddles are generally adjusted with allen wrenches. You have lowered the action too much if you hear fret buzz. There are many different products made for wooden instruments. Go to your local music shop and tell them the type, age, and brand of your instrument and they should be able to advise you. Not Helpful 13 Helpful What size Allen wrench do I need to raise the individual string saddles on the bridge?
Each instrument is different. You can get the proper tools from the manufacturer. If that is not possible, buy a set of Allen wrenches and try the different sizes to see which one fits your instrument. Not Helpful 10 Helpful Not Helpful 2 Helpful 3. Not Helpful 3 Helpful 2. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.
0コメント