What tool for this task?

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

Hi everybody.

My double bass master has a really old Fender Precision bass and he asked me to setup it. The truss rod (which is adjusted at the neck heel) has a "+" type of slot for turning it. A regular screwdriver would work for that (I think), but unfortunately the bass' body doesn't allow me to fit the screwdriver into the slot. What kind of tool should I use to adjust this? Thank you in advance!

[enigmabass]

a typical switchable screwdriver piece and a wrench possibly?

[Dave]

Do you have one of thse screwdrivers that is in kind of a allen wrench shape? Thats the only thing I can think of.

[WalterBush]

Go to your hardware store and ask for an offset screwdriver, or a zero-clearance screwdriver, or a ninety-degree ratcheting screwdriver. They're all basically the same thing. They look like a screwdriver tip mounted sideways on a super-slim wrench body. Sounds like just the ticket.

Worse comes to worse, you could unbolt the neck, though, right?

[seanm]

If it is an older Fender, you have to remove the neck, or at least loosen it enough to get at the screw. Then any old screwdriver will work.

Pain in the butt, but in the days of flatwounds you didn't change strings very often.

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

I thought of that before (it's a really old Fender). I'll try with the offset screwdriver first and then I'll remove the neck if necessary. Thanks a lot!

[62bass]

Yes, remove the neck. It's the safest way to do it if there is no channel routed in the body.

[vic_6]

i have a relatively old precision. a 78 and the only way i could adjust the rod was to unbolt the neck. took me a while but it's not bad. just a bit of a hassle, especially qwhen you're used to typical allen wrench types. and we dont have any angled screw drivers here (sucks). if you find one though, htat'd be great. much easier.

[rkmullen]

the ONLY way to adjust an older fender bass neck without a channel cut in the body is to remove the neck, so forget angled screwdrivers, unless your " double bass master" is a good friend and wont get pissed when you chip the finish or mar the pickguard, and just "loosening" the neck to get at the screw is another way to chip the finish(with the neck just "loose", it moves side to side in the neck pocket, chipping the edge, and sometimes the adj. nut is tight and wont turn easily, its even a good idea to remove the nut and lub it with "never seize"), If its just a cheap bass or a work bass, you can have a channel routed so it can be adj. without taking the neck off. When someone brings you their $10.000 fender p-bass for a neck adj. you better know what your doing