Fender MIM 70's Jazz Bass Neck/Truss Rod Issues?

[LedBelli Bass]

I have the above mentioned bass, with the "silver bullet" truss rod adjustment at the nut.

Purchased new, Oct. 17th 2009.

It is impossible to set the proper relief (0.014"/8th fret) because the truss rod won't work right.

This is the second neck, replaced under warrantee for this same problem.

You try to tighten the truss rod to remove excessive relief, and run out of adjustment long before you get the neck set. the best I've been able to achieve is 0.040" of relief; nearly triple the recommended relief!!

Second neck, second go around with the same issue.

Anybody else running into this or who has a solution??

[pacojas]

hmmm,.. how can one be so unlucky!??? i've been playing Fenders almost exclusively for three decades. i have never had a neck problem. try a little manual pressure in the direction you are trying to go and give the t-rod a little help. some might tell you not to, but your under warranty anyway. i don't mean monkey-fist it. just a little pressure seems to work for me when i have a stubborn neck.
if your not confident, take it back and tell the salesman to have it set-up professionally. gl.

[LedBelli Bass]

Originally Posted by pacojas

hmmm,.. how can one be so unlucky!??? i've been playing Fenders almost exclusively for three decades. i have never had a neck problem. try a little manual pressure in the direction you are trying to go and give the t-rod a little help. some might tell you not to, but your under warranty anyway. i don't mean monkey-fist it. just a little pressure seems to work for me when i have a stubborn neck.
if your not confident, take it back and tell the salesman to have it set-up professionally. gl.

Thanks, but given that I build custom basses from scratch, I'm fairly well experienced with instrument set-up. The only reason I would take this bass to a tech is so that Fender would recognize the warrantee work.

Apparently, your experience is the exception. I have a number of others telling me all kinds of similar stories.

Also, this is the second neck with the exact same issue. The neck was changed out by a certified Fender tech, and today the Fender tech looked at the second neck and came to the same conclusion.

BTW, with the new neck in place, there is 1/16th inch of slop in the neck pocket.

My feeling is that Fender's quality level is plummeting as their marketing methods advance . . .

[pacojas]

"Also, this is the second neck with the exact same issue. The neck was changed out by a certified Fender tech, and today the Fender tech looked at the second neck and came to the same conclusion."

that sounds like an incompetent tech. i wonder why he didn't recognize that the replacement neck was also flawed! you must be pissed!!!

[tedd63]

Hey this is an old thread but ran into the same issue with a brand new 70's jazz bass I got. In fact I adjusted it so much to get the .014 gap and the first fret cracked. Taking it back today to get a replacement hopefully they will honor it. I was just following the instructions fender had provided. Silly me I guess.

[Musiclogic]

Tedd, in case someone has this continuing problem, returning it is always the best solution, but if this is not an option, you can get some small washers to add to the truss rod which will give you a little extra for adjustment, 1 washer is usually all that is required.

[Bobster]

Hi Tedd63,

I had exactly the same thing happen with mine. I really loved the feel and sound of the bass, but could never get the neck to stabalize. It finally split the inlay on the first fret. The split ran headstock toward bridge. The fret splitting was apparently an issue with the original bullet truss/blocked Jazz basses as well.

Fender did a warranty replacement and ultimately I returned it for store credit.

Get lots of pictures and go to an authorized Fender repair center/dealer.

Pacojas, this isn't something you can tell by just looking at it once. The neck needs to be adjusted, it will initially look good, but will then settle with more bow, etc, etc... Finally, the inlay will split if it goes on that line

Best of luck!

Bob

[tedd63]

Well fender is warrantying the neck but it will be 60 days before they send a replacement.