Removing twist from neck?

[Busker]

Has anyone successfully removed a twist from a neck?

I assume it involves heating, but how in the world would you clamp it? I saw a thread a while back where a guy hung a weight off one side of the peg head in an effort to remove a twist.

Oh yeah, it's on a vintage S.D. Curlee bass and the neck is laminated maple with walnut stripes. Would heating soften the glue joints on the laminations? Cause uneven shrinkage to where it would have to be sanded to level the lamination joints?

Your thoughts? Maybe I ought to simply sell the bass and let someone else mess with it.

Thanks

[1958Bassman]

I just saw your thread- did you have any luck with the twist? I have one of the older ones with the big DiMarzio pickup and laminated neck, but mine doesn't have any walnut stripes. Are these between each piece of maple or were you referring to the "skunk stripe" that covers the truss rod?

How well does you truss rod stay put when you adjust it? I bought mine after the rod started sliding around and the inside of the pocket was all boogered up. I'm in the process of making it hold in place reliably, along with refinishing it. It's a great sounding bass and if it hadn't been so cheap, I wouldn't have bought it but I'm too much of an optimist to think it's un-repairable. I talked with Denny Rauen, who is a local, nationally recognized luthier and he basically just said "good luck with it". He also said that the first thing he changed when he became the production manager at Curlee was to make the truss rod work, reliably. The refinishing process is going well, the hardware is looking good and once I attempt to remove the twist, I'm going to take it to him for an opinion.

One thing I was thinking of doing to reverse the twist is use strings with heavier core wire on the top and lighter core on the bottom strings. Lack of truss rod involvement is a big factor in the amount of twist, I'm sure. Also, the neck is very thin.

Do you still have yours or did you give up on it?

[Busker]

Thanks for the reply.

I gave up on it.

Truss rod staying put? It's not moving around as far as I know. The truss rod isn't broken, but it will not take the relief out of the neck when string tension is on it. Maybe a heat straightening will fix that, I don't know, I didn't attempt it.

As far as the twist, its slight, but its there. If the neck would be otherwise playable, I think I could have lived with the twist and just played it.

It has full-length maple/walnut/maple laminations. Glued up pieces. I thought that heating up the neck enough to try to straighten might loosen the glue joints, which would be an additional problem.

When I was a kid I worked for a while in a music store that sold Curlee basses. I thought they were nifty and I wanted one but never got one, until this one. LOL