Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I am curious to know what is the consequence of removing the strings for extended periods of time. It has always been my practice to never remove all of the strings at once, even when replacing strings

What is an 'extended' period of time?

days +

Once the strings are off, back off the truss rods until the neck is FLAT. Check it occasionally to be sure it's remained FLAT.

Why do you need to do this? Is it some sort of project? Guitars are designed to have the strings tuned to pitch, so unless you've got some sort of project in mind where the strings would off for day +, then you also need to loosen the truss rods to relieve the back pressure as already stated by Sean.

Came across a bass for sale and the strings have been removed. Was curious to know what kind of damage this could cause if not done correctly.

Ask the seller why the strings were removed. Does this indicate there is a problem with the bass?

jps wrote:Ask the seller why the strings were removed. Does this indicate there is a problem with the bass?

+1!

It probably depends on the brand of bass, the scale, the type of truss rods, how stable the neck is, and how high the tension was on the strings that were removed.

I removed the strings on my 1980 4001 for a few years without touching the truss rods. When I re-installed them, the neck was still perfect. Maybe I was lucky. I know that you're not supposed to do this, but I have done it with no problems.

Usually when I change strings, I'll take them all off and clean the fretboard etc., and then replace all of them. Again this is not the recommended way to do it, but I haven't had any problems doing it this way.

It seems to be the opinion of most luthiers (at least of those whose opinions I have seen and read) that leaving the rods under tension with no strings for weeks or months is not a big deal at all for most basses (not RIC-specific opinions). However, I don't know if the extra oomph you get from RIC's dual truss rods might make them a special case. The context in which these opinions were presented was that of someone who was not used to adjusting truss rods, so the feeling was that it was better to leave the rods at tension than to have to re-tighten the rod(s) during re-stringing and risk damage due to over-tightening.

So, certainly if you're used to adjusting rods, it's likely better to remove the tension when removing the strings, however, I have also removed the strings to clean the fingerboards on my 4001 and 4003 and did not remove the rod tension. For the 20-30 minutes or so it took, I had no problems on either a '73 4001 or an '08 4003.

rickaddict wrote:I removed the strings on my 1980 4001 for a few years without touching the truss rods. When I re-installed them, the neck was still perfect. Maybe I was lucky. I know that you're not supposed to do this, but I have done it with no problems.

This is probably less of a big deal with the old style truss rod that just paralyzes the neck than the new one that actually applies force to it. (As you implied.)

It appears to have not been a problem. Check it out.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWAX:IT

I'd be more concerned about losing the bridge in the meantime.