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Fender Precision Professional II neck & truss rod weirdness

David Wood

David Wood

Jan 27, 2022
8
12
38
KC, MO
#1
I have been setting up basses and their inferior smaller siblings :) for 16 years and have never come across this issue.
I purchased and received a brand-new Fender Precision Professional II (dark night) and am having issues with the neck straightness. It seems either there is an issue with the neck or the truss-rod.
Doing a setup with no string tension. I had to snug up the truss-rod well beyond my comfort levels and leave the bass over night before any straightening occurred. I then tightened the strings up to tune (flat wounds standard E) and the neck sort of held straight from a back bow position, but after just a few hours the forward-bow has come back.
The truss-rod is really tight in there. Not sure how far in the travel it is, but I was already "sweating bullets" doing even the last small turn and leaving it overnight.
Is anyone else experiencing this with a Professional II Precision? My Professional I Jazz and Stringray 5 don't have this issue and even the various Squires and Epiphones I have had over the years didn't. (Though their neck relief was very shifty while traveling around the US anyways).
 
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#4
Turnaround said:
How is the neck without any string tension and a totally slack truss rod? If it's not flat it's defective.
Click to expand...
With no string tension it seems to not be flat when pressing strings to it. About a credit card thickness of relief between frets 4 and 9. I will take a straight edge to it this evening for a more accurate measurement.
Would suck if the neck is defective, but I guess that is what factory warranties are for.
 
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#5
David Wood said:
With no string tension it seems to not be flat when pressing strings to it
Click to expand...
Mmm...you mean you try to use slack strings as a straight edge? No way you could be accurate that way.
@Turnaround asks you to remove strings and fully loosen the TR. Then flex the neck back and force to remove stress and put it into "neutral" position. And only then check the flatness with some tools or against flat surface.

P.S. I sounds like bowed neck from description, although I don't get the idea of setting up with no string tension...
P.P.S. I agree it sucks if the neck is defective indeed. Warranty is good, but it may took several months for replacement to come.
 
#6
Let it set over night, no strings attached, no truss rod tension. Still can slide a credit card between 4th and 8th under the straight edge. It's not too far off and I am debating if it is just something I can live with.
 
#7
It sounds like the neck has what would be excessive relief with no strings or truss rod tension. That’s not something that’s going to get better on it’s own. If you’re lucky it might stay the same but it is likely to get worse over time. As a new, factory neck you should see about a return.
 
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#8
Matt Liebenau said:
It sounds like the neck has what would be excessive relief with no strings or truss rod tension. That’s not something that’s going to get better on it’s own. If you’re lucky it might stay the same but it is likely to get worse over time. As a new, factory neck you should see about a return.
Click to expand...

I suppose so. Just a bad hand this time around. :(
 
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#12
Matt Liebenau said:
Yeah, I hate to be “that guy” but there’s no sense in fooling with something if you paid for a new, functioning unit. If it was mine and it was used I might “experiment” on it but you dropped good money for something new and, presumably, functioning.
Click to expand...
Yep he paid for a product that is supposed to function to the Fender standards. Be that guy and get what you’re due. Roll on and in a short while it will be resolved.
 
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#16
So... Update:
Contacted Fender Customer Service a couple of days ago and they looked around my area (KC, MO) and couldn't find any shops near me that are certified Fender repair locations for basses and guitars. St. Louis seems to be the closest which is about 3 to 4 hours away. The warranty location in Lee Summit is only for Fender Amps... seems to be that Fender is highly underrepresented for warranty repairs in my location for guitars and basses. This seems to be turning into a hairball of a mess.
They are going to contact me today to see if we can work out for one of the certified shops somewhere to look at the bass and determine if the neck is actually bad for warranty repair.
 
#17
David Wood said:
So... Update:
Contacted Fender Customer Service a couple of days ago and they looked around my area (KC, MO) and couldn't find any shops near me that are certified Fender repair locations for basses and guitars. St. Louis seems to be the closest which is about 3 to 4 hours away. The warranty location in Lee Summit is only for Fender Amps... seems to be that Fender is highly underrepresented for warranty repairs in my location for guitars and basses. This seems to be turning into a hairball of a mess.
They are going to contact me today to see if we can work out for one of the certified shops somewhere to look at the bass and determine if the neck is actually bad for warranty repair.
Click to expand...
How did it end? Did Fender give you any solution?
 
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#18
David Wood said:
I have been setting up basses and their inferior smaller siblings :) for 16 years and have never come across this issue.
I purchased and received a brand-new Fender Precision Professional II (dark night) and am having issues with the neck straightness. It seems either there is an issue with the neck or the truss-rod.
Doing a setup with no string tension. I had to snug up the truss-rod well beyond my comfort levels and leave the bass over night before any straightening occurred. I then tightened the strings up to tune (flat wounds standard E) and the neck sort of held straight from a back bow position, but after just a few hours the forward-bow has come back.
The truss-rod is really tight in there. Not sure how far in the travel it is, but I was already "sweating bullets" doing even the last small turn and leaving it overnight.
Is anyone else experiencing this with a Professional II Precision? My Professional I Jazz and Stringray 5 don't have this issue and even the various Squires and Epiphones I have had over the years didn't. (Though their neck relief was very shifty while traveling around the US anyways).
Click to expand...


Hi, Yes: Just purchased a new Fender Precision Professional II. Same truss rod problem. The truss rod will not tighten enough to flatten the neck. I have taken it back to the retailer. My Jazz Bass has a fully functional truss rod. No problem removing camber. Should hear from the retailer tomorrow.
 

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