Weird neck action change in my Orion 6 bass

[NachoGomez]

Hello Alembic family, it's been a long time since my last post

I have this weird issue with the action of my bass that I'm not sure how to describe it, so bear with me please

I removed the strings to oil the fretboard of my Orion 6 strings bass and stored in a closet for a couple of months and forgot to put the strings back before that. When I took it out and put new strings (using the same D'Addario EXL-170), I had to leave it for a week or so until it reached a point of being playable again (during this time, the strings were buzzing against the frets too much). But now I'm facing a new issue. I noticed that around the 10th fret, there's something that looks like a "ramp", where the action decreases between the 9th and the 11th fret and it is an even action change along all the strings on the same fret. The bass has been set with these new strings for a couple of months now, and the issue hasn't changed at all (for better or worse).

I'm attaching a picture of this where the issue is visible, but is really hard to catch in pictures, you'll probably need to zoom around the red circle where the arrow points.

To give a bit more of context, the weather is a bit extreme here in Querétaro, Mexico where I live (semi dessert @ 2000m above sea level with a temperature change of around 20° Celsius during the day).

Is this expected to happen? Would this get fixed if I just adjust the truss rods normally?

Thank you very much for your feedback and help, it will be really appreciated.

I have another question about protruding frets, but I'm going to open a new thread for that

[bigredbass]

NEVER store any stringed instrument with a truss rod UN-strung for any length of time past what it would take to remove all the strings and replace them, 15-30 minutes.

What you describe is the truss rods were set more or less properly (if I'm understanding that it played well before unstringing it), and with the tension of the strings removed for several months, the truss rods (with no string tension against it) actually raised the middle of the fingerboard, which is exactly what it would do without the normal string tension, or without loosening the truss rods for an unstrung storage (another bad idea).

A possible troubleshooting step would be to leave it unstrung, find a metal straight edge that would span the length of the fingerboard (the long side of a carpenter's square would work in a pinch), and see IF you can loosen the truss rods to get some relief and remove the hump,  then slowly tighten the truss rods a little at a time to set the neck dead straight.  Then restring and fine tune the setup from there.  They may or may not allow the neck to go back into relief.

I would do the setup with your new strings tuned to pitch, and give it a few days to a week to see if this hump goes away permanently.

If it doesn't, I would take it to a qualified, experienced guitar repairman for a proper evaluation should you lack the experience to do it yourself, or certainly if you're not comfortable in doing any of the suggestions.

[edwardofhuncote]

Adding to Joey's suggestions, I'd induce some humidity. Put your bass in a sealed case (not a gig bag) with a humidifier. If the frets are sprouted, for certain the wood has contracted some. Neck beams do crazy things sometimes if they get dried out. My guess is, it will go back to its former state, but it will take a long, protracted effort. Might need to be heat-pressed. I'd swell it back up with some natural humidity first, and see what that did.


That picture is amazing.

[NachoGomez]

Quick update:

After removing the strings and loosening the truss rods, I let the bass sit for about an hour. Then, because it was getting late, I reinstalled the strings with the intention of continuing with the suggested procedure tomorrow morning. However, I found that the hump had completely disappeared. I played for about an hour without tightening the truss rods (they were barely tightened before removing the strings), and the hump has not shown up so far.

I'll check it again tomorrow morning (and throughout the rest of the week) to see if anything has changed. Currently, there's almost no buzzing at all. I just want to see if I can adjust the action a little lower and follow the standard set up procedure to fine-tune my bass.

I'll be sure to keep you informed about any further developments or changes that I notice. Catch you later!

 

[gearhed289]

Happy ending, phew! That photo was scary looking. Glad it worked itself out.

[NachoGomez]

Well, with good daylight I can still (barely) see the hump, not as pronounced as before, but still there. Luckily the same daylight didn't bring the fret buzzing it had before

I haven't started fine tuning the bass yet, I wanted to let it rest for a few days to see if anything changed before that so, I will probably end up doing it during the weekend.

I will try to catch the hump in a new picture just before I start working on its action and fiddling with the truss rods again.


Nacho

[hammer]

When you “fiddle,” with the truss rods, make gradual adjustments (i.e., 1/4 turn) and then wait a day or two to judge the impact before further adjustments. It takes these necks some time to adapt when you make truss rod adjustments.

[fivestringdan]

This was a new phenomenon in my experience with truss rods. Alembic basses are different. Wait at least a couple of days before adjusting again. I completely agree.

When you “fiddle,” with the truss rods, make gradual adjustments (i.e., 1/4 turn) and then wait a day or two to judge the impact before further adjustments. It takes these necks some time to adapt when you make truss rod adjustments.

[NachoGomez]

Another Quick Update:

First of all: THANK YOU all for sharing your experiences and advises with me, this is an invaluable source of information and a learning experience. I got the book "The Guitar Player Repair Guide" by Dan Erlewine and is AMAZING! (I found a recommendation of this book by Joey in a different thread in this forum and he's absolutely right about it)

Now, about my progress:
I'm taking the setting of my bass very seriously so; I wait at least a day or even two after every adjustment to the truss rod before doing anything again to it.

I also (re)discovered a really heavy buzzing when I press the 4th fret in the high C string that makes it almost impossible to get a clear note. If I move to any of the rest of the string on the same fret, it disappears completely. This happened after I lowered the bridge on the high side to reach Joey's recommendation of 5/64” clearance under the two outside strings over the last fret, now I remembered why I set it so high last time Upon close inspection I can see a little hump on this side around the 4th fret, not as pronounced as the one that was on the low side of the neck, but it is there. If I get the bridge high enough, that buzzing disappears completely, but it gets really hard (at least for my taste) to play the bass comfortably. I tried to fix this by adjusting the truss rod, but on the high side it is completely loose (just tight enough to keep the adjusting nut from rattling), making impossible to give it more relief by this method.

The buzzing on the low B string between the 7th and the 9th frets is still there, but much less that it was before, even with the bridge set at 5/64" clearance under that string over the last fret.

Now, I have to admit that I was excited to see the hump (almost) gone when I removed the strings and let the truss rod completely loose, so I didn't try to set the neck dead straight by tighten the truss rod as Joey suggested and I just re-strung the bass at this point. I think I need to start over and follow his suggestion step by step and come back again with my progress in a few of days.

As a side note: When reading Dan Erlewine's book, I found something that caught my attention, the so called "rise in tongue". My bass has it and it's been there since I received it 25 years ago. I've always seen it as a curiosity of my bass, but don't know if this could be the symptom or cause of something else. See the attached pictures of the drawing from Dan's book and from my bass.

In the meantime, if anyone has any insight or suggestions, please share them here

Regards...

[adriaan]

As a side note: When reading Dan Erlewine's book, I found something that caught my attention, the so called "rise in tongue". My bass has it and it's been there since I received it 25 years ago. I've always seen it as a curiosity of my bass, but don't know if this could be the symptom or cause of something else. See the attached pictures of the drawing from Dan's book and from my bass.

In the meantime, if anyone has any insight or suggestions, please share them here

The "rise in tongue"' from the illustration is for a set-neck acoustic guitar, where you have a neck that is a separate construction that is attached to the body, and the neck deforms under the string tension, but the end of the fingerboard (the "tongue" in question, with litlle or no neck material underneath it) remains in position on top of the guitar body, creating a break angle.

On your Alembic, the neck runs underneath the whole of the fingerboard. However, the neck is set at a slight angle, which is the same angle that the straight line between the neck and the fingerboard makes coming off the guitar top, so looking from the side you see more of the maple neck near the end of the fretboard than a few frets down the neck.