5 piece neck vs 1 piece and dual truss rods vs single

[Drill Head]

Hi Folks.

I'm a new user but have been reading and getting good advice from Talk Bass for years. I've searched this topic but did not find what I'm looking for so hear goes:

What is the benefit (if any) of a 5 piece neck vs a single piece neck?

also

What is the benefit of (if any) of a dual truss rod neck?

I ask because I recently purchased a bass (Traben Array 5 Limited) that was not set up very well. I think it is a Vietnam made instrument and I understand that perhaps the quality control is not so good there...

Anyways I put on new strings and set it up and went to tweak the truss rods and found that the lower rod is sticking up further and is more loose than the top one. I gave them both a tweak to take a little of the relief out of the neck and the top one seems normal (I've been doing my own set ups for a while). The lower rod turns but the wrench turns back against the string tension above the nut. So I feel like I didn't get a very good adjustment on that one. The neck did adjust. the relief did lower and this thing plays and sounds terrific considering what I paid for it (~$200).

Should I be concerned about the truss rod? I don't want to end up needing to adjust it again over time only to find out I can't.

What is the best way to tell if the rod is broken stripped or something else wrong?

Thanks for the advice. Both on this and all the other issues I've searched on here over the years!

[cfsporn]

Generally, the more laminations in a neck, the less prone to warping it is. Dual truss rods? Well, their value is not really known to me. Still hasn't stopped me from picking up two Alembics and a Rickenbacker.

[Jeff Scott]

Originally Posted by Drill Head

The lower rod turns but the wrench turns back against the string tension above the nut.

Be very careful with that rod, there is a good chance it will break. Find out why it is binding (I have some experience with this sort of thing).

[Turnaround]

First, concerning multi-piece necks...

If you get a piece of suitable wood for the neck that is truly straight grained and well-seasoned, it will be stable. If the grain is uneven, or of the wood is not well-seasoned, you will get better stability by slicing the wood and reversing every other piece and regluing the whole.

Some manufacturers attempt to achieve the same effect by laminating woods of different species together. I, for one, don't think that this is a good solution. I understand the reasoning, but I feel that marrying woods of different species can introduce other problems. The foremost problem is that different species will react to RH changes differently. If you put them together you are asking for conflicts in dimension change when cycling through the seasons. In my book t is better to stay within the same species - in fact I would stay within the same lumber cut.

All of the best basses I own have once piece necks made of well cured, straight grained, and well cut wood of the same species - likely the same board. All are stable.

On to dual trussrods...

I am not sold on the value of dual truss rods. To me they are more trouble than they are worth. Once gain, I understand the reasoning behind them. But I haven't found any that corrected a problem that wouldn't be handled by a single, well-designed rod in a well constructed neck.

Others may have had different experiences, but I've been at this for about 50 years now, and have tried it all.

[darkstorm]

Generally 5 peice necks are stronger and more stable then 1 peice. Of course there are very stable 1 peice neck basses. But these also generally cost a good deal more then there budget counterparts. When dealing with slim necks like Ibanez Sr and Esp Ltd, 3-5 peice is better way to go imo.

Id rather have good well made single truss rod neck then a two trussrod one. Easier to work with. Never liked rickenbackers trussrod system. But those are diff then most two rod necks anyway.

[BassChuck]

Anyone with experience on dead spots with one piece vs. laminate? Any thoughts about trussrods and their impact on dead spots?