Bass Problem

[anty]

Just got one of these and since tuning down to half step (d#) ive noticed a little more fret buzz and some dead notes. its probably inotation but being a guitarist ive always thought the truss rod was at the top of the neck. On this guitar it seems to be at the bottom of the neck where it meets the body.

Is it safe for someone who doesnt have a clue to attempt to make it better or hand it into the nearest music shop?

[Low Down Dave]

Yep as you detuned you have lowered the string tension, and the neck has straighten out a little dropping the string action and causing fret buzz, so you need to loosen the truss rod. It is not difficult to do just take it easy and do a quarter turn or less at time, retune and check for fret buzz. Once it’s OK let it settle over night then check it again. You may find some helpful videos about truss rod adjustment on youtube.

Dave.

[budget bassist]

what he said ^^ if you're careful, you should be fine to adjust the truss rod yourself, i've done it before a few times.
Here's a useful diagram:

[Buzz]

"Lefty looosy, righty tighty".

Loose, as noted above, means the truss isn't exerting as much pressure so you get forward bow, right and tight makes it extert more pressure to counteract the pull of the strings -> flatter.