New Neck Advice Needed

[ryankself]

I've got a '95 American Standard Precision with a broken truss, and I need some advice. The bass is special to me, and I'm definitely keeping the body.

If I were to get an Allparts finished neck, how would I put my Am Std tuners on the new neck? They don't screw in, but they have little nubs on each tuner that fit into indentations on the neck, if you know what I mean. Should I just get a vise and press the nubs in?

Or should I just bite the bullet and repair the current neck? It's still got life in the frets and I like the feel of the thing.

What do you think?

[9mmMike]

If you liked the old neck, why not buy a replacement (used) Fender neck? Not sure how that stacks-up against a repair.

[Nev375]

Use a drill to make holes for the "nubs" on your tuners.

Don't use a vise for that. Ever.

[alexgeddy]

If you decide to drill holes for the nubs do your self a favor and go buy a drill stopp that attaches to your drill bit so u can't drill too far into the neck..... I learned from experience!!

Good Luck

[Nev375]

I use a rather simple and low tech approach for that. I just wrap a sliver of masking tape around the drill just beyond the depth I need to drill.

Then drill until you almost get to the tape.

The downside is that you need to watch for sawdust clogging in up under the tape and keep it cleaned out between holes. Replace if necessary.

[Benjamin Strange]

How exactly is the truss broken? Most times they can be fixed, you know.

[ryankself]

Can't say I know a lot about the details, but I believe the truss is stripped at the headstock end (adj at the heel).

[Benjamin Strange]

Originally Posted by ryankself

Can't say I know a lot about the details, but I believe the truss is stripped at the headstock end (adj at the heel).

Oh, that's an easy fix. Take it to a tech in your area - this should be a $50 repair, maximum. Or, buy this and do it yourself: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Sp...xst=3&xsr=1232

[ryankself]

Actually, I just reread my notes, and I was mistaken. The rod is stripped (it adjusts at the heel), and I've already had it repaired once using that tool you've mentioned. Is this something you can keep doing over and over? I'm assuming the reason my tech is saying it's a lost cause is because it already happened once and barely had enough thread left to repair it the first time.

Anyway, is this something you can do over and over?

[Benjamin Strange]

It seems that if it was repaired once, and it's still broken, it wasn't repaired correctly. It's pretty hard to strip metal threads.

Yes, you should be able to fix it again.

[ryankself]

You give me hope, Mr. Strange! Seriously, though, that's good information. Obviously I can't get into it with my luthier over the holiday, but I'll see what my options are more thoroughly when he gets back to work on Monday.