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I broke a Fender neck by taking the strings off

#21
BBassBassington said:
Seems ridiculous right? Wrong.

I own a 2019 Player Jazz. It's always played great but recently I decided to do some neck swaps and the Player Jazz neck was the leftover one. So I loosened the truss rod and put it up for sale. The person who bought it was unable to get the truss rod to tighten again, so we talked and I agreed to pay a repair if he brought it in. Luthier says the neck is unrepairable.

How badly made are these things that taking tension off the neck seems to break it?

This isn't even my first broken MIM neck. I had the truss rod try to jump out the skunk stripe on a Player Precision neck.

At the end of the day I'm not buying another MIM Fender bass. They make them out of spaghetti apparently. And it's a shame because I love Fenders but if a bass can't survive a gentle life with me it doesn't deserve to be on sale.
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This happened to me this summer with a 2020 American Performer... Bought it "used", but not used. First time I was to adjust the truss rod it was a little tight at the start, then swoopsh, spinning with nothing happening. It turned out to be the grooves on the truss itself, and after getting the shop it was originally bought at to send it to fender, they wanted to replace the bass entirely. That would have been OK with me, but they didnt have any in stock.
I ended up getting the full refund for the original purchase price. Not the price I paid, but the price paid by the guy who bought it new. It was fine by me, but I lost some faith in the QC, I gotta admit... Factory errors happen, but it's kind of ridiculous to have such a major error on a 1200+ $ instrument.
 
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#24
Guess I got lucky with my ‘21 MIM player. Neck was adjusted when I brought it home and hasn’t moved. It’s also quite wonderful to play. Sounds like the buyer broke it and now everyone is acting like necks are so fragile they expect such a thing to happen.
 
#25
Gustopher said:
Guess I got lucky with my ‘21 MIM player. Neck was adjusted when I brought it home and hasn’t moved. It’s also quite wonderful to play. Sounds like the buyer broke it and now everyone is acting like necks are so fragile they expect such a thing to happen.
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I've got a 2019 or 20 player jazz that I absolutely love. Got it "as new" for 300$ because the seller thought the neck was a goner. Turned out he'd just worn out the unside of the nut completely by using the wrong hex wrench. Managed to get it out and popped in a 3$ new one. Perfect! Use that bass as a main now.
 
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#27
Question for all the peeps that sell necks here on TB all the time, is it common to adjust the truss rod when you are leaving it off to sell it? Are new necks from Fender or Warmoth left loose until you install the neck and tighten the rod yourself? I’ve never purchased a new or used neck before. I did sell a real cheap squire neck once and didn’t loosen the truss rod and it sat for months before it got reinstalled and it was fine.
 
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#28
BBassBassington said:
Thanks. I assume unrepairable means not worth it. It'd be a process to remove the fretboard, replace the truss rod, and re-install the fretboard. Cost-wise that's probably only worth it on a vintage and high-value instrument. Not a basic MIM Fender neck.

I'm gonna check out that video, thanks for posting that.
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A new neck from Fender costs 250. Paying a luthier to fix the rod is probably either that, or 3 something.
 
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#29
I’m going to say it’s fair to assume fender didn’t break the neck, someone else did.

The only truss rod I’ve ever had break was on a Hondo bass in 1984, and I’m think the shop I took it to broke it trying to adjust it to rapidly.
 
#32
Mrtoodamnsabre said:
I’m gonna say it again lol, the buyer probably repeatedly turned the truss rod, didn’t see the action lower, assumed that the truss rod didn’t turn and broke the truss rod. He got a neck that didn’t perfectly fit the pocket, and shoulda shimmed
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I just want to point out that the truss rod should never be used to adjust the action. The truss rod should only be used to adjust the relief, and no, that's not the same thing at all, although it will of course slightly affect the action too.

The action should be adjusted at the saddles and by filing the nut slots (or a shim if the instrument has serious issues but with modern CNC manufacturing that kind of problems really should be a thing of the past in the Fender MIM price range).

But yeah, this seems to be a case of user error. I would definitely want the neck back for inspection before giving a refund. If the truss rod is blown the buyer is responsible IMO.
 
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#34
BBassBassington said:
Seems ridiculous right? Wrong.

I own a 2019 Player Jazz. It's always played great but recently I decided to do some neck swaps and the Player Jazz neck was the leftover one. So I loosened the truss rod and put it up for sale.
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Why didn't you put the old strings back on the bass to be sold.
Then you wouldn't have seen the need to loosen the trussrod.
 
#35
I don't get the title of the thread. A bit misleading.

BBassBassington said:
I decided to do some neck swaps... I loosened the truss rod...

This isn't even my first broken MIM neck...
I had the truss rod try to jump out the skunk stripe on a Player Precision neck...

I'm not buying another MIM Fender bass...
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Also seems funny to assume that this is a Fender problem, or a problem with your buyer...

shadven said:
Why did you loosen the truss Rod in the first place?
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Good question.
 
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#37
Gustopher said:
Question for all the peeps that sell necks here on TB all the time, is it common to adjust the truss rod when you are leaving it off to sell it? Are new necks from Fender or Warmoth left loose until you install the neck and tighten the rod yourself? I’ve never purchased a new or used neck before. I did sell a real cheap squire neck once and didn’t loosen the truss rod and it sat for months before it got reinstalled and it was fine.
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The Warmoth necks I've ordered came with the truss rod loosened.
 
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#39
As others have mentioned, and I put in the OP I just sold the neck. No bass or even tuners attached.
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The buyer emailed me within a few hours of getting it home. Said the truss rod would no longer tighten. The luthier, who I don't know personally but has a good reputation seemed to go through the same experience.

I'm going to inspect it when the buyer brings it back before giving a refund. If there's no signs of physical damage I'll take it back. If it's a case of I can fix this than I will.

I work retail so I see just how cheaply everything is made now. It's just how capitalism works. I'm willing to say I broke the neck, I even put it in the title. The conclusion thus far is it's my fault. I'm just blown away by how I broke it. Makes sense though. Quality doesn't really exist in the market anymore. Not until you spend real money so that someone actually sources quality materials and takes the time to install them properly.

But I've had 2 Fender necks go on me, both because of the truss rod. That's enough for me to call it quits on the brand.
 
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