Leaving Strings Off

[adamg67]

I went to swap pickups on a bass today and as expected I need to just make a little bit more space in the bottom of the pickup cavity, which shouldn't be a problem but I'm a bit stuck for time, want to do it carefully, need to sharpen chisels... all of which is fine, but now I'm wondering if the bass will be okay with the strings off for a few days? Or should I loosen the truss (which means setting it up again afterwards)?

Whenever I start jobs like this I always get reminded how little I really know.

[hooky_lowdown]

Strings off is fine. Necks are primarily affected by climate, swings in temperature and humidity especially. Keep it in a room where the temperature doesn't change too much and it'll be perfectly fine.

You could keep the strings off for many months, even years, and you may or may not only have to adjust the truss rod only a very tiny bit.

[Geek99]

I’ve done that often - don’t change the ambient temperature much 

[adamg67]

👍 Cheers for that, the room stays the same temp so should be fine. Thinking back it was a geetarist that told me the thing about not leaving strings off, I should have known better than to believe him 😄

[Beedster]

I’ve been sent basses by sellers who’ve said ‘I loosened the string to stop the neck being damaged in transit’. Strange logic  

[adamg67]

1 minute ago, Beedster said:

I’ve been sent basses by sellers who’ve said ‘I loosened the string to stop the neck being damaged in transit’. Strange logic  

Yeah, I never understood that one either. Putting something between the strings and the neck maybe. Never seen a shop do the string loosening thing, including people who I know know their stuff.

[Supernaut]

On 17/03/2021 at 18:55, adamg67 said:

I went to swap pickups on a bass today and as expected I need to just make a little bit more space in the bottom of the pickup cavity, which shouldn't be a problem but I'm a bit stuck for time, want to do it carefully, need to sharpen chisels... all of which is fine, but now I'm wondering if the bass will be okay with the strings off for a few days? Or should I loosen the truss (which means setting it up again afterwards)?

Whenever I start jobs like this I always get reminded how little I really know.

The bass neck will be fine... this is another one of those myths that does the rounds from time to time. 

[PlungerModerno]

It should be OK indefinitely, with the truss rod loose, or tensioned pretty tight. Just might take longer to settle in when you set it up if it's pretty tight and the neck is more flexible.

I'd look along the neck, if it's flat or has a slight bow in either direction, I'd leave it. If it has a substantial back bow without the strings I'd give it a few turns to loosen the truss rod, count them carefully and write them down so you can get it close to that state when you're setting up again. In my experience a neck that needs a good bit of truss rod tension will need a couple of passes to get the relief right while it settles in anyway, unless you get lucky. If it has major forward bow, now would be a great time to take some or all of that out, without the string tension, by the truss rod or by clamping if needs be.

If it's a dual action rod be careful, you don't want to clamp it when the rod is under any sort of tension! If in doubt, don't - especially if it's not a neck you can easily replace!

EDIT: You shouldn't use clamping pressure unless you have to on any neck, you risk marking the finish, or worse, and I guess a single action rod, especially a DIY or low quality one might be even more fragile than all common dual action rods.

Edited March 22, 2021 by PlungerModerno