Big Neck Problem

Omnipharious · #1 03-14-2010, 08:44 PM

Okay, well, I bought a Silvertone Revolver Bass (Fender P bass knock-off, but it's my first so I didn't have a problem with that) about a month ago, and it was working pretty damn well. It's been hitting the frets on the E and A string whenever I hit an open string, or first fret on the A, so we took it to some music store around us, and they adjusted the neck, and they said it was all fine. My friend Sean, who has been playing bass for close to 3 years, and is pretty much a bass-aficionado came over to my house about 2 weeks ago and he said that the neck was warped, and there was something wrong with the bridge too. I've just been dealing with the buzzing from it hitting the fret, but it started to annoy me pretty bad yesterday.

I thought I'd do some... 'exploratory surgery'. I took it all apart, and took pictures of everything as I went along (at least 15), and I made sure I tried to put everything back exactly how It was. Well... now it's doing this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oi9qCdWPqyA
As you can see, the neck is right on the strings.

I have to go like right now, I'll be back with more info in about an hour or two.

Slax · #2 03-14-2010, 09:05 PM

Is the bridge adjustment maxed out? Can you raise the saddles?

Does the neck have no relief of backbowed? Are you able to loosen the truss rod to give it some relief?

Also, when you screwed the neck on, did it thread through the body and the neck? The SX's I have did that (before I drimmeled the body holes a little bigger) and it would make a gap between the neck and the body causing the heel of the neck to be way too high and do something similar.

I'd suggest probably taking it to a tech though if your not comfortable.

hama · #3 03-14-2010, 09:54 PM

maybe there was a tiny shim at the lip of the neck cavity that fell unnoticed when you took the neck off?

**edit** if manufacturer had installed shim it would have been tucked in at the heel-most end in neck pocket, not by the lip. (A quick search in TB forum for "neck shim" will bring up good assistance... I clearly should have done same before giving my "cents", sorry)

Omnipharious · #4 03-14-2010, 10:51 PM

I can raise it more, but before I took it apart, and put it back together, it didn't have to be raised more than just slightly; while now, I raised all of the strings, and they all are touching the neck from 7th fret up.

It seems to be too relieved, because the neck is like almost straight, and that seems to be why the strings are almost completely on the frets.

When I screwed the neck back in, it went all the way through the body to the neck.

I would take it to someone, but I have literally no dollars, and I'd rather not have to tell my dad or mom that I finally bought something with my own money, and then screwed it up; even if it's fixable.

And what do you mean a shim? There are 5 holes in the neck; the 4 around the outside are for the screws, and there is one big one in the middle that I didn't see anything in.

Guys, I really need help with this. I hate to make it a problem of pride up to this point, but I really don't want to have to tell my dad I was just being my stupid self and now he has to pay to get it fixed.

Omnipharious · #5 03-15-2010, 01:26 AM

Okay guys, I guess I fixed the problem by myself, but I think the neck was still the problem. I adjusted the bridge. The strings are all as far up as possible. I still think I shouldn't have had to have done that though... Whatever though, I'm just happy to be able to play Sylvia again.

Pilgrim · #6 03-15-2010, 09:08 AM

What you're dealing with is all related to setup issues - it would be a good investment of time to surf the stickies in this forum and look for info related to your need.

From the video, what I see is that:

1) The strings are essentially laying on the higher frets
2) Bridge saddles are as high as they'll go

And that's about all I can tell....but here's where I'd start.

- Pull the neck and see if there's a shim in the neck pocket on the bottom end. if so, remove it - this will add relief for the strings immediately.

- If no shim, using tools that fit precisely and with the strings slack, loosen the truss rod one-half to a full turn (a little bit at a time) and then re-tighten the strings. I hope this will allow the strings to pull the neck forward slightly, adding relief.

- If you get minor improvement, do #2 again.

- If the truss rod is already completely loosened (nut turns freely) or there is no change, post again and let us know.

A neck warp is when the neck twists from side to side. Your video doesn't show any views that tell us about that. What I see at this point is a neck that is either improperly/excessively shimmed, or it's back-bowed so that the strings aren't far enough off the fretboard.

The worst that could occur is to need a replacement neck, and for a Fender style instrument it is neither difficult or expensive to find used replacements.