Fender CS 64 NOS Jazz neck - relief issues

[FunkyFrosty]

Bought this bass just about 2 months ago and I love it to death.

From the get go the bass had too much relief probably around 1/16" with an E string action height of 5/32 - 3/16" at the 12th fret.

So I decided to undertake the setup myself, removed the neck, removed the truss rod nut, cleaned the truss rod threads, lubricated the nut, assembled / made all equipment to clamp the neck into a slight back bow, tightened up the nut in this position, reassembled the bass, tuned a new set of 50-105 D'addario nickel roundwounds up to pitch and checked the action.

It improved but only marginally, the tensioned neck relief went to maybe 3/64 from 1/16 - still way too much IMO.

So I let it sit for a couple of days and repeated each time going 1/4 - 1/2 turn more on the truss rod nut. I have done this now 5-6 times over the last 2 weeks, the relief is still too much and the nut has started to travel into the neck - now it's 2-3mm from being flush with the base of the neck. There are still threads left and clearnce room in the nut, but of course I am really concerned - should I keep going or quit trying to reduce this relief.

Sorry for the long post, but I would really appreciate any advice from you experienced setup guys.

[pkr2]

Originally Posted by FunkyFrosty

Bought this bass just about 2 months ago and I love it to death.

From the get go the bass had too much relief probably around 1/16" with an E string action height of 5/32 - 3/16" at the 12th fret.

So I decided to undertake the setup myself, removed the neck, removed the truss rod nut, cleaned the truss rod threads, lubricated the nut, assembled / made all equipment to clamp the neck into a slight back bow, tightened up the nut in this position, reassembled the bass, tuned a new set of 50-105 D'addario nickel roundwounds up to pitch and checked the action.

It improved but only marginally, the tensioned neck relief went to maybe 3/64 from 1/16 - still way too much IMO.

So I let it sit for a couple of days and repeated each time going 1/4 - 1/2 turn more on the truss rod nut. I have done this now 5-6 times over the last 2 weeks, the relief is still too much and the nut has started to travel into the neck - now it's 2-3mm from being flush with the base of the neck. There are still threads left and clearnce room in the nut, but of course I am really concerned - should I keep going or quit trying to reduce this relief.

Sorry for the long post, but I would really appreciate any advice from you experienced setup guys.

Stop tightening the TR. In fact loosen the TR nut. The nut sinking into the wood is a danger signal. As the nut is sinking, it's crushing and shearing the fibers in the wood.

Are you sure that there wasn't a washer between the TR nut and the bottom of the TR nut pocket?

If not, it needs a washer under the TR nut to spread the load on the neck. A very thin coat of vaseline on the face of the washer facing the nut makes everythng work smoother,

[FunkyFrosty]

I'm going to slacken it some tonight - but it has a washer that already had some lube on it. I think that I'll have to take it to a luthier as I don't want to screw it up. No pun intended!!!

Without nut:-



With nut:-

[pkr2]

Originally Posted by FunkyFrosty

I'm going to slacken it some tonight - but it has a washer that already had some lube on it. I think that I'll have to take it to a luthier as I don't want to screw it up. No pun intended!!!

Without nut:-



With nut:-

Better safe than sorry!

Good luck.

[FunkyFrosty]

Thanks for the advice.

Anyone else experienced this? before I spend some cash with with a luthier (that's what I'm going to do anyway but I'm very curious as to what might be the problem?).