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I broke a Fender neck by taking the strings off

#41
I thought I was the only one, based on what I read online, but I've just never had good luck with MIM Fenders. I've owned several MIM Fender guitars and never had one that did anything for me, while a number had problems straight from factory. I get it, if you want the best quality you have to pay more than this, but I also wonder if many get out of the factory with finish problems, screw alignment problems, or poor fret finishing like I have received, how many under-the-surface problems they are missing.

In this case you would think the buyer probably did it and is trying to scam his money back, but quality and MIMs are not two things I have had much luck putting together.
 
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#42
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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Not sure about loose necks, but I figure the same applies. Whenever I sell or buy a bass, I loosen the strings to the point where there is no tension at all, and the truss-nut. This is because of temperature/moisture swings it might experience when shipped. I ask the sellers to do it when buying. It might be overkill but, better safe than sorry.
I imagine a neck with no strings to pull it one way, and a truss left tight, could "adjust" to the tension in the truss, requiring you to tighten it even more when strings are applied again. That might cause you to get to the point where there is no more room to tighten it. But this might all be hocus pocus or as they call it in the gym; bro-science.
 
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#44
COYS said:
I thought I was the only one, based on what I read online, but I've just never had good luck with MIM Fenders. I've owned several MIM Fender guitars and never had one that did anything for me, while a number had problems straight from factory. I get it, if you want the best quality you have to pay more than this, but I also wonder if many get out of the factory with finish problems, screw alignment problems, or poor fret finishing like I have received, how many under-the-surface problems they are missing.

In this case you would think the buyer probably did it and is trying to scam his money back, but quality and MIMs are not two things I have had much luck putting together.
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I too have begun to wonder about the "under the hood" work from MIM Fenders. I've seen several builders build multiple instruments and when they're installing the truss rod it's always a careful procedure. Not that they need to be delicate or it's rocket science. If you mess up the truss rod install bad things could happen. For instance you have to tape off the rod before gluing down the fretboard. Otherwise you'll get glue in the rod and jam it.

Or in the case of my Precision neck I think they positioned something wrong so the rod ended up popping out the back slightly. It doesn't help that MIM basses seem to need to have the rod as tight as it'll go to keep a neck straight under tension. I've setup at least 100 basses in my life and MIM necks have always felt the most limited.

Where as I had a Squier VM P 5 and a SBMM Ray 5 where the truss rods both had lots of room to work with at pitch, and were extremely stable. My MIA Fender Dimension is the same.
 
#45
You can do a lot of damage to a truss rod "within a few hours of getting it home"...

I somehow missed the part about a luthier inspecting it but I still think it must have happened after the buyer got it. It may not have been the buyers fault of course, the truss rod may have some kind of issue that made it an accident waiting to happen.

There are lots of tricks that can be used to fix a truss rod that's stuck or doesn't work properly but if a well-reputed luthier has inspected it and found it to be broken beyond (cost effective) repair I think we can probably forget about those.

If a luthier has given up on it I guess you're gonna have to give the buyer a refund and hope you can somehow bring it back to life. If all else fails, maybe you can use this neck on a bass with ULTRA low tension strings. TI Jazz Rounds are AMAZING and I usually need to loosen the truss rod completely to get enough relief when using them on Fender basses with single action truss rods. You may need some time to adapt to these strings though, they really take "low tension" to a whole new level but who knows, you may end up loving them. I certainly did!
 
#46
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.
View attachment 4626331 View attachment 4626330
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I don’t know about what Fender MIM basses are made from today, but my son still has his MIM Fender JB I bought him in 1996. Neck has been straight as an arrow, and it’s been through a war from the looks of it. Actually, it’s been through a war in Iraq.
 
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#47
Jim C said:
Just for the record, I never loosen my truss rods. When I buy a bass (or just a neck), once the instrument is set up, the truss rod NEVER gets touched for anything other than minor adjustments for weather.
I always keep them strung and up to pitch too (including shipping). I think it keeps the entire instrument more stable.
.02
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Yep. It took me a while to break my dad from loosening the strings on the MIM J I leave at his place. He said I shouldn't leave it sitting out tuned up. I told him that might have been true at one time but i’d been doing the same thing at home for years when I always have a few basses sitting out on stands and never had any issues. TBH I’ve had necks removed from basses sitting in a closet for a few years with the truss rod right where it was when I removed it and they were fine. I’ve also bought plenty of MIM necks and basses and have never had one that could not be set up to my preferences and I like a really low action.
 
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#48
BBassBassington said:
As others have mentioned, and I put in the OP I just sold the neck. No bass or even tuners attached.
View attachment 4626896 View attachment 4626897

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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You haven’t seen the neck yet, but you’ve already diagnosed it? Why not wait to bash a brand until you’ve actually checked it out?
 
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#51
Long time builder/repair guy here. This reeks of fishiness. No mention of the truss rod's ability to be loosened? Sometimes you have to loosen to tighten. Not being able to tighten is odd, I mean, are we talking about the nut galling on the threads? How could this just occur between sale and receipt? Did you hear directly from the luthier? Or was it translated or communicated through the buyer?

My strong suspicion is the buyer has done something, like way overtightened it by trying to adjust action through relief or something. I'd want to speak directly to the luthier and hear precisely what he thinks the problem is, and how he diagnosed it. All of the luthiers I know would have no problem explaining this in detail. :thumbsup:
 
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#52
Beej said:
Long time builder/repair guy here. This reeks of fishiness. No mention of the truss rod's ability to be loosened? Sometimes you have to loosen to tighten. Not being able to tighten is odd, I mean, are we talking about the nut galling on the threads? How could this just occur between sale and receipt? Did you hear directly from the luthier? Or was it translated or communicated through the buyer?

My strong suspicion is the buyer has done something, like way overtightened it by trying to adjust action through relief or something. I'd want to speak directly to the luthier and hear precisely what he thinks the problem is, and how he diagnosed it. All of the luthiers I know would have no problem explaining this in detail. :thumbsup:
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It was communicated through the buyer. I've just sent him a message asking to get the diagnosis straight from the luthier. Thank you!
 
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#53
Fender_Bender said:
I guess it’s a miracle that my two mim basses have not crumbled like matchsticks. Even more of a miracle that I haven’t needed to adjust the rods in many years.
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I must be blessed too. I share the same miracle. How odd. My guess is that the Fender factory in Mexico makes tens of thousands of instruments and only a few of us haven't had a problem. I thank my lucky stars!
 
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#57
James Collins said:
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my teacher when i was a teenager was a really knowledgeable dude about this stuff..

he taught me to push the neck into a backbow by laying it down on the floor, strings facing away from you. using your chin (lol, it works!) and either the chair or your knee, push the center of the neck into a back bow for your adjustment.

way easier this way. i've never had a problem.
 
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#58
groooooove said:
my teacher when i was a teenager was a really knowledgeable dude about this stuff..

he taught me to push the neck into a backbow by laying it down on the floor, strings facing away from you. using your chin (lol, it works!) and either the chair or your knee, push the center of the neck into a back bow for your adjustment.

way easier this way. i've never had a problem.
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Unless you have to remove the neck to adjust it. Then it would be hard to get enough force.
 
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#59
Phillip McKnight just talked about Fender's QC being terrible as of late. It's not just a few of us who love to bash Fender. It really is true that many MIMs develop fret sprout in all kinds of climate whereas Squiers don't.

My personal experience is that there's no difference in wood and manufacturing quality between the Players and the Vinteras. The hardware and electronics are a bit better on the latter. Both are affected by unfinished fret ends and fret sprout. Everything else is very well made IME.

Anyway we're all waiting to hear straight from this luthier and we all want to see pics of the dead truss rod.
 
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