Loose Neck

durarl · #1 04-24-2008, 11:32 AM

I found a new problem last night at practice. While I was standing and playing I but a little bit of pressure on the edge of the neck directly down towards the ground. I heard a noticeable creak and felt my neck move just a little bit. I pulled directly up, and it wiggled back. My neck screws were about half a turn loose. Is there anything that I can do to prevent this from ever happening again? Is there a thread lock for wood screws?, could I take the screws out and fill the holes with a hard wood?, or should I not worry about it, and tighten my neck screws every now and then. Thank you for any help (It is a 60th anniversary MIA P-Bass with 4 neck screws)

peterbright · #2 04-24-2008, 11:35 AM

Check & retighten regularly.

Matthew Bryson · #3 04-24-2008, 11:36 AM

There are two things you can do.

Check you neck screws every so often.

Stop randomly pulling on your neck.

Sorry, had to.

Matthew Bryson · #4 04-24-2008, 11:37 AM

Seriously - the most important thing IMO is to resist the urge to over tighten.

bwsailer79 · #5 04-24-2008, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matthew Bryson

Seriously - the most important thing IMO is to resist the urge to over tighten.

This may be a dumb question... but how do you know i've you've over tightened the screws, and what happens if you do that?

dbcandle · #6 04-25-2008, 05:55 AM

I'm sure more seasoned pros will weigh-in, but in the meantime...
...don't overtighten the screws. They should be hand-tight, but don't "torque them down". I can't be more specific without knowing how strong your arms/wrist is.

If you overtighten the screws, over time, you may get a "bulge" on the highest frets, requiring you to raise your string-height or get some frets filed.

As for the slippage, sometimes in the neck joint you get two finished surfaces "slipping" against each other. One common trick is to put some (thin) drywall sandpaper in the neck joint - the type that has abbrasive on both sides.

You don't want it too thick, though, and you want to have it evenly applied in the entire neck joint. If you just put it on one side (tuner-side or bridge side), you'll be "shimming" your neck; changing the neck angle.

This will probably require you to raise your bridge saddle height slightly, and maybe even shim to get the optimum neck angle.

In any case, when tightening your neck screws, be sure the bass or treble string isn't too close to the edge of the fretboard. With some basses, there's a lot of slack in the neck-joint, allowing you to adjust how close the bass or treble string is to the edge of the neck. Too close, and it "falls off the edge" when you play.

durarl · #7 04-25-2008, 12:33 PM

So, is it better to put in the drywall sanding paper, or should the neck be pulled off and scraped until the joint fits better? I would rather have it right, then a quick fix, so the extra work doesn't scare me.

PS. I am normally very gentel with my bass, but sometimes I need to swing it at drunks to keep them off stage.

dbcandle · #8 04-25-2008, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by durarl

So, is it better to put in the drywall sanding paper, or should the neck be pulled off and scraped until the joint fits better? I would rather have it right, then a quick fix, so the extra work doesn't scare me.

PS. I am normally very gentel with my bass, but sometimes I need to swing it at drunks to keep them off stage.

I realize the sandpaper sounds like a "joke", but some basses come that way from the factory (something like that; maybe fiberglass drywall tape). In thinking, to reduce the chances of changing the relative string-height (or even neck-angle), you'd probably be better-off with metal window-screen, since it is thinner than sandpaper. You just want something thin that will "bite into" the finish on both the body and neck.

The window-screen (or sandpaper) can be combined with "roughing-up" the finish where the neck meets the body, but don't remove all the finish; it would soak-up moisture over time and raise the highest frets (over years).

As far as "scraping", I don't think you need to enlarge your neck-pocket; the problem seems to be that your neck-pocket is already too large. I'm guessing you have a Fender...

Again, when you tighten the screws be careful to first make sure the bass or treble string is not too close to the edge of the fretboard.