Is Neck Tilt the Answer?

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Rayzorxbass
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Is Neck Tilt the Answer?

Post by Rayzorxbass » Tue Dec 04, 2018 9:43 pm

Hi all,

I had my 94 Foundation V bass professionally set up with DR Black Beauties 125 - 45. ( I love the look of the black strings against the maple neck). Everything played great, but I really prefer a flat wound string. At the time I couldn’t get my hands on the strings I wanted, the La Bella Deep Talking black wraps 135 - 50.

I finally got the La Bellas and put them on, fully expecting the extra tension to require a truss rod adjustment. To my surprise, the neck seems to not have bowed at all, but I’m now getting strings rattling on the frets, all along the neck.

I’m assuming that I may need to raise the nut maybe 1 or 2mm, but at that point will I also need to adjust the neck tilt?
Any advise is appreciated!

RayK

Classic30inCincy
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Re: Is Neck Tilt the Answer?

Post by Classic30inCincy » Wed Dec 05, 2018 1:47 pm

Recommend you take bass back to the pro for neck adjustment.

Chances are he adjusted for the "black strings" !

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Rayzorxbass
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Re: Is Neck Tilt the Answer?

Post by Rayzorxbass » Wed Dec 05, 2018 3:10 pm

Classic30inCincy wrote:
Wed Dec 05, 2018 1:47 pm
Recommend you take bass back to the pro for neck adjustment.

Chances are he adjusted for the "black strings" !
Thanks for the reply Classic30, but I was looking for more of a technical answer.

RayK

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Re: Is Neck Tilt the Answer?

Post by Classic30inCincy » Wed Dec 05, 2018 5:33 pm

Neck tilt definitely can cause BUZZING !

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kodiakblair
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Re: Is Neck Tilt the Answer?

Post by kodiakblair » Thu Dec 06, 2018 12:41 pm

Chances are you got the neck tilt sitting way too high.

If the nut was poorly cut you already have had trouble. Slacken the bottom 2 neck screws and wind the micro tilt grub screw back,tighten screws again.

You say the neck is flat, could be it needs more relief. Capo on 1st fret,finger 15th (some folks do 13th,some 17th). If you can fit a credit card between top of 6th fret and underside of string,you should be good for relief.

If you plan on messing with the nut,buy a spare from ebay etc. Do your experiments on the ebay nut. It goes pear-shaped you still have the original to fall back on.
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tele twister
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Re: Is Neck Tilt the Answer?

Post by tele twister » Tue Dec 11, 2018 3:26 pm

Rayzorxbass wrote:
Tue Dec 04, 2018 9:43 pm
Hi all,

I had my 94 Foundation V bass professionally set up with DR Black Beauties 125 - 45. ( I love the look of the black strings against the maple neck). Everything played great, but I really prefer a flat wound string. At the time I couldn’t get my hands on the strings I wanted, the La Bella Deep Talking black wraps 135 - 50.

I finally got the La Bellas and put them on, fully expecting the extra tension to require a truss rod adjustment. To my surprise, the neck seems to not have bowed at all, but I’m now getting strings rattling on the frets, all along the neck.

I’m assuming that I may need to raise the nut maybe 1 or 2mm, but at that point will I also need to adjust the neck tilt?
Any advise is appreciated!

RayK
A nut cut too low will be evident as a rattle, only on an open string note.
Rattles from the first fret and upward is dependent on neck relief and saddle height.
If it played clean on the open strings with the round wounds on it, I doubt you'll have to do anything to the nut.
You probably need more neck relief, and maybe a saddle height adjustment, to compensate for the different free vibration of the different strings, to decrease the rattles.

Neck tilt is normally used to find the optimum range for the saddle height adjustment range.
(IE, if the grub screws are sticking out, and scratching at your hand, you may want to tilt the neck back, so the grubs can be screwed in further)
Unless you have to drastically change the saddle height, I would leave the neck tilt be.

Consider every different string material/gauge/maker/attack/etc., has a different free vibration space requirement.
And usually, changing one variable, changes two or three others :shock:
Not an easy answer, but I'd start with a little more relief.

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Re: Is Neck Tilt the Answer?

Post by hamm426 » Sun Dec 27, 2020 10:08 am

NO, use shims! My fingerboard on my T20 started cracking after a "tech" used it.

VSW
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Re: Is Neck Tilt the Answer?

Post by VSW » Sun Dec 27, 2020 2:15 pm

Peavey has a section on their website with pdf versions of older owners' manuals. (https://peavey.com/c/Archived-Manuals-0-9) The manual for the Foundation V is located at https://peavey.com/manuals/Foundation5.pdf. The section on neck tilt is on Page 8. There is a lot of information in the manual, including string clearance specifications. [Clearance should be no less than .012" and no more than .025".]

It is important to pay attention to Steps 2 & 3 and loosen the two neck screws closest to the headstock before adjusting the neck-tilt screw to change the angle. Failure to loosen the four neck securing screws before tightening the tilt grub screw is what causes necks to split or crack. (A legitimate case can be made for using shims to adjust the tilt instead of the grub screw. That is how it is done on instruments that don't have a tilt-screw in the first place anyway; and may enhance sustain.) However, when properly adjusted, Peavey necks that use the tilt-screw last for years without problems. It's the strain placed on them by not following the instructions that results in the damage. And yes, a tech that doesn't understand how the tilt-screw mechanism works as a system can cause damage just as easily as anyone else.
Vaughan

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