Adjusting Truss Rod on Jazz

[faceman]

Hey guys,

My sexy new Jazz bass has arrived and I need to setup the neck. It came with TI Flats, which although lovely are not what I'm looking for. I've put on a pair of DR Marcus Miller roundwounds which are obviously higher tension and I have forgotten which way I need to adjust the neck?! There is a lot of fret buzzing, the saddles are high and the neck appears to be bowed backwards slightly. Should I loosen the truss rod and lower the sadles?

Thansk!

[Ou7shined]

If that's the case then it sounds like your DR's have [b]less[/b] tension.

Just try slackening off your [url="http://www.garywillis.com/pages/bass/bassmanual/trussrod.html"]trussrod[/url] first. Small steps though.

[redstriper]

I had a similar issue with a jazz bass and found it suits me best with a slight forward bow in the neck, acheived by loosening the truss rod - it seemed to reduce fret buzz and allow a lower action, but there are many variables and every bass is different.
It might be worth getting it set up by someone who really knows what they're doing.

If you want to sell the old TIs, I would be interested.

[mikhay77]

Best way I find on most truss rod adjustments>On the E string hold down the string on the 1st and say 14th fret and then check the gap around the 7th fret between string and fret board,if a large gap you would need to tighten the truss rod to straighten the neck to get an approx 0.5mm gap,if no gap then do the other way.Then adjust your saddles down to get a super low action etc.Finally intonation,use a tuner to check the strings for tune at open and at 12th fret,if at the 12th it is sharp then move the saddle forward,retune and recheck,opposite for flat
I think they are the right directions but I was gigging till 2 this morning,if u wanna b really good with intonation check it at the 17th fret too,on each ie on the tuned open E string then on the 17th check using A if that makes sense,dont forget to retune the open note after each adjustment,hope this makes some sense.

Edited May 8, 2010 by mikhay77

[7string]

Always loosen a truss rod first. Left to loosen, right to tighten.

I'd say that if you could measure the relief, then that helps to know how your adjustments are going. As [b]Ou7shined[/b] said, if you loosen by small steps (1/8th turn) you should see this measurement gradually decreasing.

Here's the link to the [url="http://www.fender.com/support/bass_guitar_setup_guide.php"]Fender Bass adjustment guide.[/url] The directions there will help you out.