Flexing a neck after truss rod adjustment normal?

[PhilaCPJ]

I took my Spector Euro 5 to someone who appears to be a knowledgable tech in Southern NJ (graduated from a luthier school out in AZ). I watched while he performed a routine setup and I thought my head was going to explode when he rested the headstock on the bench, grabbed the neck in the middle and near the end of the body, and leaned on it to flex the neck -- this was after he adjusted the truss rod. It's not like he was about to snap it in half, but it DID creak a bit.

He noticed the look of utter horror on my face because he said "It always freaks people out when they see me do this." He rationalized the neck flex by saying that truss rods sometimes have a tendency to bind, particularly when they're new and the glue used to put the neck together ends up in the truss rod cavity. Sort of like a trying to open a window that's been painted shut, I suppose.

Is this even a remotely sensical practice? Or is this dude a complete charlatan in danger of killing my $1600 bass?

[Tony G]

Interesting....I've never heard of this being done before. It is certainly not something I've ever done to my basses, but if he is a knowledgable tech that graduated from a luthier school, then I would hope you can trust him. Maybe he learned the trick there from a top luthier at the school?

[Rodent]

if your tech knows what they're doing and has a good feel for how much pressure is too much - no prob ... if your tech is just a wannabe who has no hands-on experience

the explanation makes sense to me, and is in-line with what I've seen others do.

personally, I like to work a neck over my knee while sitting on a stool. ya don't need a whole load of pressure to work it, but ya do want to aide the movement after a fresh adjustment. I also like to work the trussrod adjustment over a couple of days so that I'm sure that everything is stable before returning the bass to it legal guardian

all the best,

R

[cptnhook]

Gary Willis' website on truss rod adjustment (sticky-ed in this forum) has something on flexing the neck. I recall that he recommends doing it at least before adjustment.

[avast_bass]

i 'perform' this on necks sometimes, but never ever apply much pressure. It's one of those things where you just know how much you can give, and then take it back a few notches. How did the bass feel after he set it up? If it felt better than ever then its likely you can trust him, but if you still have your doubts, then see if you can find anymore info/feedback about him.

[Hookus]

I flex mine all the time adjusting them, but I don't use a ton of force, just sitting there, and tweaking it like an 80's heavy metal neck dive...