Truss rod nut misaligned - cannot adjust relief

[mrneoguy]

Hi all! I'm a guitarist first and foremost, so I apologise if I sound a bit clueless on here. After playing my friend's 5 string bass a few times, I decided that I'd like one of my own, and purchased a Wilkinson Advance 4+1 5 string bass online (possibly where I initially went wrong lol), having had good experience with the brand before. It was (or at least looked) brand new, and although it wasn't setup (noticeable buzzing when defretting a string, for example) I expected this; I wasn't too bothered by it and just enjoyed having a bass to play on.

2 months on, I've decided to have a go at setting it up and get it playing as best as it can. I noticed that the neck seemed to have too much relief in it, and as a result the first few frets had terrible buzzing (I had wondered if it was just my horrible technique that was causing this, but my bassist friend experienced it too). I went to adjust the truss rod slightly, and found that no keys seemed to fit. After looking at it under light, I've realised that the nut is misaligned to the point where I can't fit the allen key in! I can bend the nut back with a thin screwdriver, but it just reverts back to being off-centre. I don't THINK the truss rod is broken, but at this point I'm not sure. Does anyone know how I might fix this myself? I tried many times to take a picture of the problem, but it was far too fiddly and I haven't been able to. Let me know if you really need one though, and I'll do my best
Thanks!

[JLS]

Steeeeeeeeeeeeeeerike!

I noticed that the neck seemed to have too much relief in it, and as a result the first few frets had terrible buzzing

That sound like too little relief.

I tried many times to take a picture of the problem, but it was far too fiddly

?

Let me know if you really need one though, and I'll do my best

Yep, none of this makes any sense so far, show what you've got.

[mrneoguy]

Lol, I thought I might have had it the wrong way around. When I say 'fiddly' I mean that neither of my cameras can take a clear picture since the problem is in the truss rod cavity thing in the headstock. I'm not at home atm so I'll get on it in the evening, but I'll try describe it another way for now. The allen key cannot fit inside the nut because the rod/ seems to be bent towards the fretboard, so only half of the truss rod nut is visible/accessible. It's flexible in the sense that if I jam a thin screwdriver into what little of the truss rod nut I can see, I can bend it back into position temporarily. To be honest, I thought this might be a tricky one to get help for, because I've struggled to find anything else like it online!

[walterw]

you should be able to jam a wrench with a ball-end on it in there. (the ball-end lets it work even when it's not going straight into the hole.)

yes, if the first few frets are buzzing you need to loosen the rod a little to add a bit more relief.