My Bass Neck is Hosed and I Want to Cry

[selowitch]

The repair tech at my local Fender authorized dealer says the neck on my not-terribly-valuable but very unique MIM Fender 60s Reissue Jazz Bass is hosed, irreperable. I'm pretty sad. I bought this thing on eBay in July 2005 for a little over $400, it's from I think 1994 and has the most wonderful finish on the shaft and headstock and I just loved playing it.

I realize I should probably invest in another bass rather than trying extreme measures (and expense) to save a well loved bass that has no vintage value to speak of. Any advice, other than to sell the body and use the neck as wall decoration?

[leswatts]

What happened? Did the truss rod snap or strip?

Les

[xJasonSmithx]

Buy a new neck?

[stflbn]

Get a different 60's reissue neck?

If your bass is 'net terribly-valuable' and 'no vintage value' than a neck shouldn't be back breaking.


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[funkboy5]

Originally Posted by selowitch

The repair tech at my local Fender authorized dealer says the neck on my not-terribly-valuable but very unique MIM Fender 60s Reissue Jazz Bass is hosed, irreperable. I'm pretty sad. I bought this thing on eBay in July 2005 for a little over $400, it's from I think 1994 and has the most wonderful finish on the shaft and headstock and I just loved playing it.

I realize I should probably invest in another bass rather than trying extreme measures (and expense) to save a well loved bass that has no vintage value to speak of. Any advice, other than to sell the body and use the neck as wall decoration?

You could replace the neck with another sweet piece of wood. There are plenty of sources for replacement necks. You could get Fender neck complete with decals.

[rollcall]

send it to me I can fix them all. what are the symptoms?

[ctmullins]

Get a new neck.

Seriously - isn't this exactly why Leo built them that way in the first place?

[agreatheight]

What ctmullins said. Bolt on = replaceable neck!

[scottyd]

What does your repair guy considered irrepairable? Whats the damage?

[selowitch]

Well, I was too upset to fully absorb what the tech told me (and my two-year-old daughter was needing attention at the time), but basically he couldn't get enough bow into it to make it playable beyond the twelfth fret because the truss rod was maxed out or something. He was suggesting I send it to Fender for replacement, but I'm not about to spend $250+ to replace a Mexi neck, no matter how nice, since I could invest that toward a whole new instrument.

Actually, if I thought a good luthier could resurrect this neck for not a lot of money, I might do that.

[NickInMesa]

Is it possible to remove a fret board and replace the truss rod?

Or is too much bother?

[selowitch]

My current thinking is that, well, I've lost way more money than this when my cars have died and it caused me less anxiety. So, I think I'll just sell the body and pass the neck around to whoever cares to futz with it to see if they can fix it.