I bought a 2010 USA P-Bass in 2011 used from music123. I've been playing it throughout that time, with no problems. I've experimented with a few different strings, heavy-light, flat and round. I've vocally stated in a number of threads that its the best bass I've ever owned. My wife's guitar teacher is a locally known veteran rock-star-type. I trust her implicitly and she reckons he's a good guy, reliable and diligent. She's really fond of him and making fantastic progress in her playing. This is all part of rich tapestry of my dilemma.
She had her guitar set-up by him and was encouraging me to do the same. I'd noticed that after messing about with different string types and tensions the neck wasn't true anymore so I thought I'd give it a go. I've been playing for 20 years and had never had any instrument set up. When I started I wanted to be Dee Dee Ramone, but over time learned how to play by accident. My set-up has remained fairly simple throughout, Fender bass, tube-amp, growl. What I'm trying to say is I'm not a delicate flower and have played happily on absolute pigs of basses in the past. But is it possible that I've been playing with a disaster of a bass all this time and not known?
After I drop it in he tells me he's had serious problems getting it into true. He also tells me he's never experienced anything like this before. I get the bass back and it's fine, except for crazy fret-buzz on the A string on every fret up to F#. There is no sustain and the buzz comes through the amp.
I send the bass back and he's very gracious. After a few days he tells me this wasn't fret-buzz, but that the truss rod is loose inside the neck and vibrates at certain frequencies. He tells me I need a new neck and he'll happily set me up with an all-parts/warmoth replacement (for a fee).
I conclusion:
Before I gave it to him this wasn't an issue (or was it?)
I've gone from having an awesome bass that had some resale value to having a POS with no resale value.
If I confront him and say the things I want to say to him I'll threaten the good student-teacher relationship that's so helpful for my wife (and if it was broken before he got it that's not fair and I'll look like a jerk).
And I'm in the middle of writing a master's thesis and really don't have time for this poopie.
Your thoughts?
She had her guitar set-up by him and was encouraging me to do the same. I'd noticed that after messing about with different string types and tensions the neck wasn't true anymore so I thought I'd give it a go. I've been playing for 20 years and had never had any instrument set up. When I started I wanted to be Dee Dee Ramone, but over time learned how to play by accident. My set-up has remained fairly simple throughout, Fender bass, tube-amp, growl. What I'm trying to say is I'm not a delicate flower and have played happily on absolute pigs of basses in the past. But is it possible that I've been playing with a disaster of a bass all this time and not known?
After I drop it in he tells me he's had serious problems getting it into true. He also tells me he's never experienced anything like this before. I get the bass back and it's fine, except for crazy fret-buzz on the A string on every fret up to F#. There is no sustain and the buzz comes through the amp.
I send the bass back and he's very gracious. After a few days he tells me this wasn't fret-buzz, but that the truss rod is loose inside the neck and vibrates at certain frequencies. He tells me I need a new neck and he'll happily set me up with an all-parts/warmoth replacement (for a fee).
I conclusion:
Before I gave it to him this wasn't an issue (or was it?)
I've gone from having an awesome bass that had some resale value to having a POS with no resale value.
If I confront him and say the things I want to say to him I'll threaten the good student-teacher relationship that's so helpful for my wife (and if it was broken before he got it that's not fair and I'll look like a jerk).
And I'm in the middle of writing a master's thesis and really don't have time for this poopie.
Your thoughts?
), something about this doesn't add up, if "the truss rod is loose inside the neck" then the neck should have a major noticeable bow, like the Bently I once owned....
