Fender copy / parts bass neck / string height issue.

[troubleshooter]

Hi everyone.
I recently was gifted a Fender copy/parts jazz bass. I looks great and some of the hardware is genuine Fender parts, but there is one catch... it plays really hard. The action is super high. The neck is almost set straight and the saddles are so low, they can`t go any lower. The nut has been filed/lowered a bit. Still crazy high.. Now I probably need to shim the neck, so I removed the plate and screws to take off the neck for the procedure. I realized is neck is GLUED to to the body with wood glue and that thing is not going anywhere. ( Don`t know what the idea behind this was ) The bass plays really hard and it would be great if I can sort this issue out. I don`t want to upgrade pickups unless this issue is resolved. ATM this bass is a good looking dud that actually injures one`s hands when used.. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Pictures? How sure are we that the neck is glued? Is it possible that the finish on the neck and/or body were still “soft” when assembled and that’s what’s holding things together? If that’s the case you could score around the neck pocket with a sharp utility knife and do whatever is needed to pop the neck out. Even with the scoring there’s a decent chance of finish damage.

If it is genuinely glued in you’ll need heat and steam to get it out. Look up acoustic guitar neck reset. It’s not going to be exactly the same but that would give you an idea of what’s involved.

Another option would be to route a recess into the body and lower the bridge. You didn’t post any numbers but a general rule of thumb when setting up an acoustic guitar is however far the strings need to go down at the 12th fret the bridge has to go down twice that much. As an easy, round number example, if the strings at the 12th fret needed to go down .5mm you’d have to figure how to lower the bridge appropriately 1mm.

 

[202dy]

If it is wood glue it will release with heat. White glue releases at ~175F. Yellow glue at ~225F. Hair dryer or heat gun. Keep it moving so as to not scorch painted parts. Alternatively, heat lamp. Use foil covered cardboard to protect paint.

Flexible putty knife or a cake spatula are good tools to separate the two parts.

 

[troubleshooter]

If it is wood glue it will release with heat. White glue releases at ~175F. Yellow glue at ~225F. Hair dryer or heat gun. Keep it moving so as to not scorch painted parts. Alternatively, heat lamp. Use foil covered cardboard to protect paint.

Thanks a lot for the advice, I`m pretty sure it`s the white Alcolin kind of wood glue used by the looks of it. I will most definitely try it tomorrow morning and report back asap.

 

[troubleshooter]

I

Pictures? How sure are we that the neck is glued? Is it possible that the finish on the neck and/or body were still “soft” when assembled and that’s what’s holding things together? If that’s the case you could score around the neck pocket with a sharp utility knife and do whatever is needed to pop the neck out. Even with the scoring there’s a decent chance of finish damage.

If it is genuinely glued in you’ll need heat and steam to get it out. Look up acoustic guitar neck reset. It’s not going to be exactly the same but that would give you an idea of what’s involved.

Another option would be to route a recess into the body and lower the bridge. You didn’t post any numbers but a general rule of thumb when setting up an acoustic guitar is however far the strings need to go down at the 12th fret the bridge has to go down twice that much. As an easy, round number example, if the strings at the 12th fret needed to go down .5mm you’d have to figure how to lower the bridge appropriately 1mm.

I`ll definitely take and post some photo`s tomorrow morning, but I`m pretty sure it`s glued and sloppy at that, dried glue smudges everywhere..Routing the body and lowering the bridge is definitely and option if all else fails. Thanks for the advice. I`ll keep you posted.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Sounds good. If you go the heat method still try to score around the neck route. It should help minimize finish damage although you’ll most likely end up touching up the finish. Also, keep in mind that it’s not so much out and out heat (I think Titebond starts to loosen at something like 240F) but getting the heat through the heel and to the glue joint. Hotter isn’t necessarily better, the right heat and patience are.