Possible Warped Neck And Screw Issue

[WilliamJames]

Hey, I bought an old Roth fiberglass bass the other day and it has a couple issues.

First of all, the action is funky. It starts out low at the nut then quickly rises to its highest point about eleven to thirteen inches down. Then it lowers back down towards the end of the fingerboard.

The action in first position is just a tad too high for comfort and down the most used part of the fingerboard it is not real good. Makes playing difficult but not impossible.

Whats up with this? Is it just funked from being strung up for so long. (Its a 60s era bass) It has ancient steel strings that are very thick on it. I have it tuned down a half step to alleviate the stress.

I ordered the lowest tension strings I could find (nylon ultra lights) and will have them in a few days. Are there any other ways to help this issue?

Also near the top tuning machine on the treble side, two of the small screws are sticking out and will not go in. They just turn in the holes without driving. Any fixes that are not "take it to a luthier" would be appreciated. I cannot afford that and will not be able to any time soon.

It stays in tune for days and there is no apparent damage to anything.

Thanks

[uprightben]

Your finger board sounds like it has been planed with a lot of relief, some players prefer this and it can work well with gut strings. To change this will take a trip to a luthier.

Your screw issue sounds like the holes are stripped out. One easy trick to address this is to take the screw out and stuff a toothpick in there. Cut the toothpick flush and put the screw back in. Voila!

[robobass]

Low tension strings are better suited to high relief boards, so those ultralights may just solve the problem. It's doubtful that you could remove the relief without replacing the board, as the existing board is probably too thin to plane. Considering the value of the bass you probably shouldn't be throwing money at it, so just make due for the moment and save for an upgrade down the road.