It's that time of year again - Truss Rods on the move

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For any of our newer folks out there, if you are starting to wonder why your bass plays a bit weirder lately, or you are getting more fret buzz than normal (or feel like your strings are higher than normal for our south of the equator folks) - it’s normal.

I thought I would add a post here just to remind folks that especially in the spring and autum, your neck will start to adapt to the less (autumn) or more (spring) humid conditions.

If it is feeling different, just give your truss rod a nudge…
Flatter - tighter
More curved - loosen
I remember this by the phase 'Flat Tight".

I haven’t been home for a few weeks and picked up my blue Aerodyne PJ and instantly heard buzzing around fret 7 of the E, which always tells me my neck is too straight. A quick loosening of the truss rod and back in business.

Generally does not take much, and you may need to make a few adjustments over the coming weeks. Even if you have a room with a humidifier/dehumidifier, this will still occur.

Hope this helps someone.

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Is my action too high? Will it buff out?

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Just loosen that truss rod, it’ll be fine.

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“That time of year” is monthly for me. Humidity and seasons move fast here.

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:rofl:

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well, that’s one way to get the drugs out of there…

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I thought he was looking for his pick…

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^^ so true

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Thanks for that.
I actually played yesterday and was like: “What? I just did a setup a month ago, why do I have fret buzz there?”.

Another setup sigh I’m not having fun with setups.

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My 1005 has a slight buzz, and I found something to complain about. The truss cover won’t pivot far enough for me to get a wrench in. It’s not a problem wit the 204, but the G strings peg is in the way on the 5 string. I’ll have to remove it entirely. Shame, didn’t get a setup today as a result

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FWIW out of four guitars/basses with truss rods at the headstock, 100% required removing the cover completely. So not so unusual.

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That’s good to know, but the 204 made me hopeful. 204 is a cracking good bass for the money

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I had to adjust my Streamer over the weekend for precisely this reason.
It’s actually playing better than ever after the setup so that’s a bonus.

On this side of the pond our humidity goes up in the Winter.
Same result in terms of jaunty neck angles though. :slight_smile:

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Fortunately, here in Arizona it’s dry as a bone all year round, so I don’t have to fret about such things.

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I see what you did there :wink:

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My sense of humor is dryer than the desert in which I live :smiley_cat:

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You can truss that she did it on purpose.

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On what data do you bass that theory?

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(Far too much effort for too little return that I’m not sure works, but I’m going for it.)

It was a practical application of string theory.

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You guys are all nuts.