Jazz Bass headstock bending forward?

[abowers]

I'be stumbled upon an old MIM jazz bass with a few issues. The thing that strikes my concern is that the headstock comes forward, actually passing the fretboard at the end.

It's also worth noting that without the assistance of the string tree, the G string comes up nearly a full centimeter above and off the side of the fretboard, while the D and A strings barely stay in their not slots.

On my Strat, all the strings sit firm in their slots and the string tree just improves the break angle. That is what seems normal to me, but on the other hand, this bass has a longer headstock and (presumably) more tension than a guitar string with a set of .010s. Is this kind of tilt common or is it indicitave of some sort of structural flaw?

 

[ScarfFace]

That is a structural flaw for sure!

 

[PortlandBass77]

I think this is pretty common actually....

 

[Jamvan]

What does it look like at the bridge end? Is your bridge angled or off center by chance? How about the neck pocket? Any gaps between the neck and the body? The strings should pull (mostly) straight through the nut on a Fender. It's hard to tell without a straight edge but the angle of the headstock doesn't look that abnormal front to back as they do tilt forward from the initial drop just beyond the nut.

 

[Frozen J]

Flat sawn vs quarter sawn? Should not be 'normal'. Definitely a defect/bad neck.

 

[abowers]

The neck has a lot of flame figuring and doesn't look at all like the quartersawn neck on my Strat.

 

[joeeg33]

Got to love that fast growth wood! Do a little reading on old growth vs fast growth (gmo) wood. You'll probably get a better picture.

 

[mapleglo]

Yeah, that doesn't look right to me. The headstock on my MIM Precision is pretty flat & straight.

 

[abowers]

Old vs. fast growth. Is that sort of like the trunk of the tree vs. the little sapling things with green wood that spring out off the side? If that's the case, I definitely get the point. The break angle on the A string is so poor that it rattles every time I play it as a result of popping out of the but slot and returning again. It is an earlier MIM, after all. I know the ones that were made around 2010 or later are pretty solid (the "MX" period as opposed to the "MZ"). This serial dates it when?

EDIT:

It seems quite snug in the neck pocket, although I've yet to take it apart and really check.

As for the bridge end, it doesn't seem to be off center relative to the pickups.

However, using the G string itself as a straightedge, it follows over the neck exactly as it should until it nears the nut, which tells me that the tuner for that string may not have been mounted in the correct spot. Not to mention, all the other strings follow through exactly as they should.

 

[bholder]

Got to love that fast growth wood! Do a little reading on old growth vs fast growth (gmo) wood. You'll probably get a better picture.

Yup, same since Stradavarius was walking through the northern Italian forests choosing trees - narrow growth rings = strong with great tone, wide growth rings, well, not so much....

(and those forests still exist, and there's still folks going through them choosing tree by tree - the good ones lived through the "little ice age" and have large areas of very very slow growth from that time period).

 

[abowers]

Fascinating! It's a good thing that It isn't mine. Fortunately, all I need to do with it is set it up, adjust pickups, etc. I was curious as to the prevalence of this kind of problem with the MIM basses. I'm speculating buying a new fretless JB and was wondering if I'd run into this with one of the new quartersawn necks.

 

[fretno]

I think this is pretty common actually....

me too

 

[blowinblue]

As someone who will only own basses with angled headstocks, all Fender headstocks look like they're bending forward to me.

M. M.

 

[Bill Whitehurst]

It's not that uncommon.
Earlier ones had thinner headstocks,
so a lot more of them have that.
Of course, they have also had a lot longer to get that way.

 

[GretschWretch]

Witness point problems with the E and A can be attributed to those tapered tuner drums. My 2013 Mexi-P has them and I hate them, but I hate the stock strings even more. When I do mods
those strings will be the first things to go.

 

[edencab]

doesn't look tilted forward too much to me........why is your D & G not under the string tree in the 2nd pic?.....and I know, this sounds goofy, and I have to check my MIM Jazz when I get home but, does your G string need to be wrapped around the post the other way?
(please, no "that's what she said" jokes )

what gauge are those strings ? ......looks like the nut slots need filing, especially E&A?

 

[iiipopes]

Nothing new. No big deal. Fender headstocks have been doing this since there have been Fender headstocks, on all models, guitar and bass. Use the string trees, and make sure you have enough leader on the A string to wind it down to just barely clearing the tuner bushing, and you will be fine.

 

[tjh]

doesn't look tilted forward too much to me........why is your D & G not under the string tree in the 2nd pic?.... does your G string need to be wrapped around the post the other way? ...

.. it is explained in the first post, he is illustrating the issue for picture purposes ...

... huh? ...

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

No, really. MIM Fenders are every bit as good as MIA.

Really.

 

[BassFishingInAmerica]

The irregularities I see should not cause any significant issues with playability, although they are defects. The string tree issue is common in many basses, but the headstock looks terrible. All of it is mainly aesthetic.