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I'm certain this neck is DOA but maybe there's a chance?

commonplayer

commonplayer

Mar 7, 2006
756
2,098
#1
I found what could could be considered a dream bass (1970 Fender P bass) at a great price on Guitar Center's used site last week, and because of their return policy it made it easier to roll the dice and lessen any risk.

The bass showed up yesterday and the very first thing I noticed was how far sunken in the truss rod nut is. I've seen gaps before but this one beats them all by a mile. There's also not a ton of adjustability left ... there's still a fair bit of relief but nowhere else for the rod to move to get the action any lower.

I'm not a luthier and haven't taken it to one yet, but at least from first glance is something like this salvageable? I'm willing to invest a little to get this up and running as a 'never-sell' personal bass, but is this most likely a lost cause?
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#2
What's the neck like with no strings and no tension on the truss rod? Ideally it should be flat or nearly so. Curved indicates a warp which could be more than the truss rod would be happy overcoming. The truss rod nut being that far in could indicate the wood under it is being crushed from overtightening possibly from trying to overcome a warp. Washers can be added under the nut. Fender even sells washers for that purpose. That doesn't cure the warp however. Warpedneck.com has good reviews in the Hardware Setup and Repair forum and aren't terribly expensive.

So the first question is what's the neck like with no strings and no tension on the truss rod?
 
#4
commonplayer said:
As I should've suspected, that part doesn't pass the eye test either. There's a twist, a hump and a ski jump all somehow in different places on the same neck. I'm just going to return it and not invest any additional time/money on it.
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I get it. I understand that warpedneck.com can still fix all of that. The down side is by the time they get it, fix it and ship the neck back you may be out of the return period. I can't speak for them however. You'd want to contact the company for a turnaround time.
 
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#8
Matt Liebenau said:
I get it. I understand that warpedneck.com can still fix all of that. The down side is by the time they get it, fix it and ship the neck back you may be out of the return period. I can't speak for them however. You'd want to contact the company for a turnaround time.
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$75 to fix a warped neck? That sounds really inexpensive - does anyone have experience with their work?
 
#11
JIO said:
Wow - nice to know about this.
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I'm surprised that you've never heard of Warpedneck.com. With all of your crazy old instrument projects. Yes, they are very good at straightening out warped and twisted necks, usually without any harm to the fretwork or the finish. And it's surprisingly cheap, usually $75-$125 plus return shipping. And they are very honest up front about whether they will be able to fix your neck. We, here at the Secret Underground Lab use their service and recommend them.
 
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#12
Bruce Johnson said:
I'm surprised that you've never heard of Warpedneck.com. With all of your crazy old instrument projects. Yes, they are very good at straightening out warped and twisted necks, usually without any harm to the fretwork or the finish. And it's surprisingly cheap, usually $75-$125 plus return shipping. And they are very honest up front about whether they will be able to fix your neck. We, here at the Secret Underground Lab use their service and recommend them.
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Couldn't get a higher recommendation! I wish I would have known about them sooner!
 

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