Newbie, 75'er 4000 and a stupid question

palmann · Post by **palmann** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 6:50 am

Sorry,

it's me again. Well I got the truss rod wrench from Northcoast Music. I tried to loosen the nut, but the wrench is to bulky. What do you recommend, should I take away some of the wood (and the finish) or should I try to reduce the wrench?

I hope I used the correct words here. :-}

Gruesse, Pablo

jps · Post by **jps** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 12:19 pm

Are you sure you got the correct wrench? can you post a pic of it?

palmann · Post by **palmann** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 12:39 pm

The pictures are really bad. Especially the 2nd picture is confusing. The material is not *that* thick. It is a 1/4" wrench, even if it doesn't look that way.

EDIT: I ordered it here:
http://www.voxshowroom.com/northcoast/r ... index.html

EDIT2: The printing says ,,L8 1/4 Xcelite USA''

Thanks + Gruesse, Pablo

jps · Post by **jps** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 12:43 pm

Can you show how the truss rod nut and the cavity look? Sometimes a bit of wood around the nut has to be shaved away for the wrench to fit.

palmann · Post by **palmann** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 1:02 pm

rickfan60 · Post by **rickfan60** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 2:32 pm

That is the right tool. The rod ends may be bent down a bit. It happens a lot on 4001 especially when improper neck adjustments have been done. Most techs just don't know the proper way to adjust the old style RIC rods. Try this.

1) Take the strings out of the tuners.

2) Use a soft jaw clamp or a metal clamp with wooden cauls and clap just below the nut.

This prevents the next step from popping your fingerboard off.

3) Using a flat screw driver, gently (Sachte bitte!) pry the nuts away from the wood until the tool fits.

palmann · Post by **palmann** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 3:31 pm

Ok, I try this. But not tonight, it's very late on this side of the pond...

The most (if not the only) comforting aspect of this little adventure here is, that I've got some good advice, otherwise I'd be in some trouble now.

Gruesse, Pablo

palmann · Post by **palmann** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 1:00 am

Ok, I did that. I pried the nuts away from the neck and managed to loosen the nuts. After that I tightened them again. But when I try to pull off the wrench (still jamming), both truss rods move away from the fingerboard as a whole with this little plate, you see in the pictures above. Even if I tighten the rods completely, the whole thing seem to be loose.

The neck is still in the clamp, the nuts tightened. What else can I do? BTW, it didn't make any weird sounds yet. I consider this a good sign.

Thanks for your help once again.

Gruesse, Pablo

palmann · Post by **palmann** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 3:17 am

It seems to work now. I managed to lower the string action for approximately 1mm. I pushed the truss rods as far as possible into the neck, pulled the neck backwards, tightened the nuts and, after that, tuned the strings to standard tuning.

So I'll see, if it starts to bend the next hours.

Gruesse, Pablo

rickfan60 · Post by **rickfan60** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 3:51 am

I should have asked earlier. Do you know the proper way to tighten the old style truss rods? The old rods were not designed to move the neck but to hold it. The new rods, for the most part, can move the neck but the old ones can not. I do it this way. Sit in a chair and stand the bass on its end button in front of you. Turn the bass so its back side rests against your left knee. Lightly squeeze the bottom part of the bass between your feet. Don't wear ski boots when doing this.

Grab the neck near the first fret with your left hand and gently pull the neck against your left knee until the strings lie flat against the frets. At this point the load has been mostly or completely removed from the rods and they can be adjusted. Hold the neck in this position while tightening the nuts. Release the neck and retune. Not doing this causes all kinds of nasty things to happen liked popped off fingerboards, cracked necks, and bent rods.

palmann · Post by **palmann** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 3:57 am

Thanks Ted,

people already told me about that, if you check some older postings in this thread. I think I got that right. The only thing I'm a little concerned about, is the moving of the complete truss rod construction, when loosened. But when I tighten the truss rods they do not move any longer.

Thanks especially for your help, Ted.

Gruesse, Pablo

rickfan60 · Post by **rickfan60** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 4:12 am

If it still rattles, make sure the tape between the rod halves is still there. Loosen the rods and slide them out of the neck. There should be a piece of thin electrical tape on the inside face of each rod half. Also, the rods should be more or less straight. Bend them back into shape if needed.

palmann · Post by **palmann** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 4:51 am

It does not rattle, it's that you can move it completely even when the nuts are tightened. I tried to outline it in the picture. Is that normal?

Gruesse, Pablo

palmann · Post by **palmann** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 5:24 am

Oh, I did contradict me.

The latter is true, even when the nut is tightened you can move the complete truss rod construction. This can happen, when the wrench sticks on the nut and you try to remove it. It's more easy to move, if the nut is loosened, of course.

Sorry, it's a little complicated to explain for me.

Gruesse, Pablo

rickfan60 · Post by **rickfan60** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 9:54 am

They can move a bit. It is ok as long as they are not flopping around in there. Are they holding the neck in place?