Bent neck from hanging on the wall?

[T-Bird]

Hi.

Looking at the pics, that's quite normal sloppy fretwork.

Just leveling and recrowning may work, but more likely than not the frets will pop up one by one as the humidity changes.
No biggie though, pretty easy to replace the frets.

BTW, no offense what so ever intended to anyone, just general curiosity, but since when LTD's are thought to be ESP's?
I don't mean just over the 'net either, not that long ago a friend of a friend was boasting about the nice ESP he had bought.
My friends shot him down pretty bad, almost felt sorry for him. Almost .

Perhaps it shows my age, even though the fellow in my example was older than me, but to me LTD is somewhat the same to ESP what Epiphone is to Gibson, and what Squier is to Fender.

Not that much experience about ESP basses save for a few noodlings in a store, but I have had some upper end LTD guitars passing through my hands, and while nice enough instrments, definitely not ESP quality or craftmanship.

Regards
Sam

 

[Zephrant]

Maybe the convention is to refer to them separately, but the ESP guitar company builds the LTD line. Yes, they are the cheaper mass produced line, not the hand made ESP line. I don't say the old Ford LTD station wagon I grew up with was made by LTD, so I guess I just see LTD as meaning "limited". But I think I see your point, and thanks for bringing it up. And thanks for looking at the pictures, your second opinion is greatly appreciated.

With your data in hand, I think I'll try to file the high ones down and see how it holds. They really are only a few thousands off, in fact no worse than the factory stock 5 string Squire I have on loan. I've not done a refret yet, but I am willing to try it if required. The bass is playing significantly better now.

 

[Thrash3r]

BTW, no offense what so ever intended to anyone, just general curiosity, but since when LTD's are thought to be ESP's?
I don't mean just over the 'net either, not that long ago a friend of a friend was boasting about the nice ESP he had bought.
My friends shot him down pretty bad, almost felt sorry for him. Almost .

I'd say they're ESP LTD, even dealers call them that for example http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SURVEYOR5MBLK/

 

[karl_em_all]

Never heard of that being an issue with any basses or guitars, for that matter. I have several guitars and basses that hang from my wall in my man cave and have had no issues.

+1 Same here.

 

[groooooove]

doubt it..


all of my basses have been hanging on wall hangers for many years. never had a problem. it's the easiest way to store an instrument that gets played regularly

 

[elBandito]

E and A string nut slot on my 5 string b335 were low out of the box. They touched the 1st fret while fretting 3rd. Frets needed a leveling job, and that lowered the frets just enough for clearance at 1st fret.

Got it delivered today. Spent an hour adjusting it, and it is not bad. Fret 2 is a little high, and a few others are just a smidgen off.
I'm letting it settle in with the new adjustments for a day or two. It definitely needs some fret work though.

I see no real evidence of a bent neck, at least not to the bare eye. I've not pulled the strings and taken measurements yet. I'm guessing if I relax the truss rod all the way with the strings off, I should be able to tell easier.

The nut slots seem low to me. I'll have to figure out how to measure it. It is such a crap piece of plastic, maybe I'll just replace it. Very little clearance on the first fret, even with enough relief and the action set high.

Pictures tomorrow, when the sun is up.

 

[DavC]

I had an ESP LTD model ... which also had a few high frets , but in the upper range ...

I second the Fret Rocker ... I used the diamond coated fret leveler , cheap fret crowner , a few different methods to smooth/polish ... I'd rather buy some cheaper tools and give it a try on a ' not to expensive bass ' ... after 40 yrs of playing bass , I prefer to do most of my own maintenance type work ...

a couple high frets is easier than a couple ' low frets' ..!!
I have that problem on my Strat ... just started leveling the other 20 frets down ... pain in the butt ... and ordered a radias block to make sure they all have the correct curve .. then crown , polish ...

I think it's fun to work on my basses /guitars ... !!

glad you're giving it a try ..! you might try to 'tap' the fret down ..!?!? plastic headed small hammer , I've down it with a small hammer and a piece of wood , so I didn't make any dents in then fret ... just re-seat it a bit .!?

have fun ..!! hang it high when your done..!!

 

[Zephrant]

Sounds good- I have been using the fret rocker, and worked on a CL special Peavey Millennium BXP two weeks ago, so I've at least tried it once. Came out OK, but I think I can do better. (Thread: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f18/w...t-down-when-do-you-file-1043508/#post15335915 )

I've decided to keep the bass, so that means I can try destructive fixes now. It actually plays OK now, as far as I can tell with my limited experience. With a little more TLC, I think it will be in the "Good" category.

I do like the idea of a new nut- This one looks to be soft black plastic. I'll try to find a new one. The ESP LTD catalog says "43mm Standard Nut".

I'm going to play on it for a few days, and give the leveling a try this weekend. By then I should have a better idea where to work on first.

Thanks for the ideas/help!

 

[Lownote38]

I agree. The GC tech has no idea what's he's talking about.

Par for the course.

 

[Zephrant]

OK, I've gone though and set it to factory spec. again, four days later. Took out a 1/8 turn on the nut, and lowered the action on two strings a touch to compensate. I'm not at exactly 0.015" clearance at fret 9, when I have a capo at 1 and am holding the string down lightly at the neck (19).

Open strings have a clearance at fret 12 of .078" on G to .109" on B, +/- a thou or so.

Fret two is still high- With the rocker, I can get a .0025" shim under the high side, but not a .003". So a touch high, but not much. Here are three pictures of fret 2 from G to B, followed by one of another fret for comparison purposes.

It looks like fret 2 is sticking out a little. I've tapped it down before, so is it time for glue or filing next?

 

[Zephrant]

Funny- The web page only lets me attach two pictures, but the talkbass app lets me do four per post.

 

[JLS]

Par for the course.

Should be: GC, "tech".

 

[Zephrant]

So finally got time to level the frets. 3 was really high, and 8 was high too.
It's a totally different bass now. I was able to lower the action a lot. My playing is far more smooth, I don't get the buzz unless I really land wrong in between frets.

So I think a got a good deal- pretty happy with the setup now.

So like everyone said, no, the neck did not bend from hanging on the wall too long. But I don't think I'll call GC and tell them. I may want to buy another bass at cost again. : )

 

[Zephrant]

Of course now that it is all tuned and intonated, I'm thinking of getting flats...