NBD Woe's - neck and bridge

[scolba]

Hey Guys,

So I finally ventured into the world of 5 strings yesterday. I picked up a supposedly rare 80's 5 string Squier HM (1989, i think) yesterday. Its a metalic red one w\ lace sensor pups (i have read, nothing on the covers to indicate that though), and the goofy headstock that you could impale somebody with. It was an ebay bass that was about 40 min from where I live, and it was cheap, so i thought why not.

The first issue i have is there is a pretty substantial amount of relief in the neck. I figure...no big deal, take some of it out w\ the truss rod, and go to town. Well, as it turns out, it was almost completely bottomed out. It's a nut at the top of the neck, not an allen. I can back it all the way off, but going the other way, theres nothing left. It took a tiny bit of relief out, but not nearly enough. So do I have any alternatives here? Or is it pretty much just time for a new neck?

The 2nd issue is with the bridge. All of the saddles are angled off to the g string side, putting that string very close to the edge of the FB, and the B string quite far away. There are no grooves in the bridge for the saddle screws like on some that i have seen. What could be causing this? is this an indication of another issue, or could i just need to losen things, straighten it up, and retune? Hmm...in retrospect, maybe i should have tried that before asking on here......


thanks for any advice!

[Turnaround]

Too soon to abondon that neck. Remove the truss rod nut and put two or three washers on the end of the truss rod before re-installing the nut. That will give you a bit more room to adjust the rod.

If the strings are not aligned on the fingerboard properly, loosen the strings, then loosen the neck bolts a bit, move the neck to where the strings align properly, then retighten the bolts. Retune and see if further adjustment is required.

[scolba]

well the washers def helped!! its a lot closer to playable now, so thats good. Thanks for the tip. I might add in another 1 or 2 washers to see if i can do any better, but this neck actually feels pretty flexible, so it may be just the way it has to be.

The tip on the neck worked too! Thanks a lot!