Shaky Truss?

[stetto]

A local kid came by the other day to show me his new bass and ask for advice...So now I come here...

It's an older Kramer 4 string, nuthin' fancy, but plays ok. What caught my ear was a loud buzzing that occured when certain lower notes were played. Can't hear it through the amp, only when playing "unplugged". It's in the neck, has me thinking it's the truss rod. Open "A" and "F" are the worst, causing a damn-near rattle to commence. I physically shook the thing (no, NOT like a two year old squallin' brat), but no sign of loose parts.

The question is, if it IS the truss rod, is there a fix? I put a wrench to it just to check for tension, which there seems to be, but I wasn't prepared to actually start cranking on the thing and getting his neck out of whack...

...Closest tech is 50 miles away, and I'm not heading that direction anytime soon...

Eric

 

[TragikRemix]

hmm. thats a problem if never had before..

well, does the truss rod bolt have any give, ie, can you put the wrench in and move back and forth without tightening or loosening?

check the bridge, look for loose screws on the saddles.

check the whole thing for loose screws. is it a buzz like the action is too low? i would raise the action and see if it goes away because it might not look like it's hitting the fret(s) but you never know.

theres gotta be something...

 

[ocnor]

Check the neck to see if it is bowed forward. If so then the truss rod needs to be tightened. Try tightening the truss rod 1/4 turn and see if the tension changes. Then check the neck again to see if has gotten any straighter. Repeat until it looks straight.

 

[ggunn]

A local kid came by the other day to show me his new bass and ask for advice...So now I come here...

It's an older Kramer 4 string, nuthin' fancy, but plays ok. What caught my ear was a loud buzzing that occured when certain lower notes were played. Can't hear it through the amp, only when playing "unplugged". It's in the neck, has me thinking it's the truss rod. Open "A" and "F" are the worst, causing a damn-near rattle to commence. I physically shook the thing (no, NOT like a two year old squallin' brat), but no sign of loose parts.

The question is, if it IS the truss rod, is there a fix? I put a wrench to it just to check for tension, which there seems to be, but I wasn't prepared to actually start cranking on the thing and getting his neck out of whack...

...Closest tech is 50 miles away, and I'm not heading that direction anytime soon...

Eric

Check every screw on the instrument before you start cranking on the truss rod. Noise from a rattling part can propagate through the wood and sound like it is coming from somewhere else entirely. I have had noise like you describe come from loose tuning key knobs, strap buttons, etc.

 

[stetto]

Yeah, it's a tight unit, I checked 'er over, checked machine heads, nuts, pickup screws, jack nuts, all of it. Thing is, I can feel the rattle with my fingers...

The neck has real good action, just the slightest bow. The truss rod does not turn easily, so I'm assuming that it's not too loose...I turned it about an eighth one way, then back.

The rattle feels like it's coming from the dead center of the neck, against the back of the fretboard.

Being as it's not translating through amplified play, I told the guy to live with it till he can get it to a tech, or, if he can't live with it, go get his money back...

Thanks guys

Eric

 

[Zaphod B]

That's interesting.

It's possible that the truss rod channel in the neck is just wide enough to allow the truss rod to vibrate a bit....never heard of it before, though.

 

[Light]

Yeah, the truss rod might be rattling. It is uncommon, and with out seeing it I can't say for sure, but it is possible. Try rapping on the back of the neck with your knuckles, and see if you can hear it that way.

As for the fix, if the instrument has face dots you can pull one or two of them out, and drill through the fingerboard down to the truss rod slot. You can then glue in a dowel rod, pushing it down while you clamp it in to put pressure on the truss rod. You then replace the dots, and when your done no one will ever know the repair has been done. That works most of the time. If it doesn't, then you need to remove the fingerboard and the truss rod filler strip, and fix it from there.

Either of these are, of course, repairs with great possibility for major damage to the guitar, so they should only ever be attempted by experienced repair people.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[Thurgood]

Friend of mine way back had a Kramer 6 string that did the same thing. Now I am not implying that his prob was the same as yours but the truss rod had come loose at the heel, all the turning in the world did nada. had to ahve truss rod replaced. Bummer. Seek professional help. (for gtr)

 

[Slowrider]

Seems you checked everything else, so snug up the tension, don't be afraid of the truss rod; tighten it about 1/4 turn and smack the neck while holding the body tight. Fixed quite a few with the "rattling rod".

 

[stetto]

Yeah, I gave it a couple raps on the back of the neck--definitely something shakin' inside. I referred him to a luthier in Fargo...

Thanks again guys...

Eric

 

[TragikRemix]

yeah, im pretty sure the only way to fix the truss rod (if its coming loose from the bottem) is to remove the entire fretboard.

i dont think a fret board is used again once it's taken off either.

looks like it's gonna be too much to fix it. probably not worth it, let him live with it.

luthiers charge mega $$$... and they have a right to. my guy luthier who deals with my store wanted $175 to fix a large crack in a violin. well, the violin was worth about $60 so we just sold the guy a new one, for around $200.

 

[Light]

yeah, im pretty sure the only way to fix the truss rod (if its coming loose from the bottem) is to remove the entire fretboard.

No, there are several other ways. Removeing the fingerboard is not even a preferable option. It is much easier and cheaper to make a hole in the fingerboard above the anchor and deal with it all through that hole. If you make the hole go between two frets, the fill will all but disapear on a rosewood fingerboard, and will completely disapear on an ebony fingerboard.

i dont think a fret board is used again once it's taken off either.

Sure they can be. You just have to get rid of all the old caked on glue, and make sure you get the alignment right.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi