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Mike Dirnt P - Stronger necks now or still bowing??

#21
Johnston said:
And whathas theheadstoc got to with bowing necks?

Or indeed a Rosewood board plenty of basses inc fenders have rose wood boards. sowhat makesit different thats going to cause it to bow?
Click to expand...

You're missing the point. The ONLY unique thing is the combination of headstock and rosewood.

Otherwise, it's a standard Fender neck...which has NOTHING to do with bowing.

Meaning - it's no more likely to bow than any other Fender neck, and there's nothing unusual about that.

You're so fixated on the neck bowing that you're unwilling to accept that it's just a Fender neck. Don't put strings on it that could be used to tow a battleship and you're fine.
 
#22
Pilgrim said:
You're missing the point. The ONLY unique thing is the combination of headstock and rosewood.

Otherwise, it's a standard Fender neck...which has NOTHING to do with bowing.

Meaning - it's no more likely to bow than any other Fender neck, and there's nothing unusual about that.

You're so fixated on the neck bowing that you're unwilling to accept that it's just a Fender neck. Don't put strings on it that could be used to tow a battleship and you're fine.
Click to expand...


I'm not fixated I am arguing the same point as your self.

although mine has needed a tweak this mornging has gotten me paranoid now :hyper::hyper::scowl:
 
#23
Simple explanation: a Green Day signature bass is more likely to appeal to younger, more inexperienced players who are more likely to blame the bass for the fact they can't play like Mike Dirnt. I would also imagine that these are the players most likely to make poor attempt at truss rod adjustments on their own.
 
#24
Wood is organic. It does things.

Some basses and neck material/construction (and strings too) are more susceptible to slight variances in temp, humidity, etc. I had a Ric 4003 and an Ibby SR535 strung with DR Marcus Millers, and a ten degree change between daytime and night was enough to tighten the strings and raise the action.

I really doubt Fender would make necks out of sub-par woods and it would be impossible for them to NOT know if wood was sub-par. They know how to measure moisture content and denseness prior to shaping.

If the YouTube videos about setup say "only turn the truss rod a little and wait", they mean it. Some people think a little is 3/4 turn.
 
#25
Just out of interest what exactly is supposed to be a fault.

I searched google earlier and I found mentions of warping, truss rods maxing out from bowing. Wood too soft to hold against the nut and the fret slots cut too deep weakening the neck.

The odd thing was. Most were in the line of "Oh yeah these things have problem. The neck....."

Very few in the line of "My bass ....."
The majority I seen with faults were actually talking about the squiers rather than the MIM.
 
#26
I didn't read ANY reviews about the Squire version. They were all MIM version reviews, plus some extra yip-yap on various threads.

I'd just love to see more people who own/have owned the MD-P (MIM version) chime in on this thread about how theirs held up (overall, not just the neck) and how it compared
to other basses they own (and what the other basses are!!)

Thanks for all the help, anyway!
 
#28
Nice to know, thanks!

I'm based in Sydney AU and you'd think that the MD-P would be in at least 3 stores (being the largest city in Australia), but NO stores are stocking them. Same situation when I visited Melbourne, which is also a large city with a ton of musos around.. No one has it in stock or keeps it on hand!!??

One store always kept a Hoppus on hand, but not the MD-P!!?? I think the MD-P would have a far broader appeal, being a Tele and a bit of a novelty?

I'm tempted to start calling stores in the States to ask if someone can pick me out one that is on the light-side, and ship it over. I'd rather have a light-ish one!! I really have to play one first, though. Grrrrrr, frustrating!!

You people based in the States are really lucky to have stores that stock 2 or 3 of the same bass, giving you the option of trying them all and picking one... Lucky indeed!
 
#29
For it's a Jazz bass with a Precision neck (which is the best combination out there... and remember I had a Mike Dirnt P and no Mark Hoppus Jazz, merely because of the "novelty")

But still:
a Jazz bass with a Precision neck and a reverse split pickup (makin' it more like Jackson/Spector/Warwick lookin' pickup) and stringthru body (but otherwise traditional lookin') bridge

The Mike Dirnt P is a slab body Precision bass (something capable of scarring somebody for an uncomfortable shape) with the, nowadays, unconventional Tele headstock again, almost "uncomfortable" for too many kids out there...

Cheers,
Wallace
 
#30
I hear ya, Wallace. I'm really annoyed that I can't just walk into a store, local or otherwise, and play an MD-P. Very disappointing! And I think it would be foolish to special order one and risk it not suiting me.

I think I'm going to have to tame the screaming child within and wait until I cross paths with one. I've bought too many things without trying them (especially guitar effects) and regretted it.

I'm too nervous about the weight and square edges, now!!
Let alone possible truss rod issues.. Ahhhh, sigh.
 
#32
Hey, thanks Straight.

I know about the arm contour..

How do you find the right-angle of the slab body against your abdomen??

I play with my bass slung about the same height as Mr Dirnt, maybe a few inches higher, so I guess it would be fine.

I imagine it could be a problem if you liked your bass slung high, with the square edge potentially becoming a pain.

I've read that the MD-Ps can be up to 12-13 pounds!!?
That would be too heavy for me. Up to 10 would be OK.
 
#35
I have had one MD P for about 6 months now. I had to shield it because the static noise was a no-go on my trace elliot AH600-7, shielding worked. I by-passed the vol-tone pots, had pickup connected straight to the jack, with good results for me.

about the neck,it kept bowing forward after perfect adjustment. I removed it about 15 times to get it where I wanted it (and I have some experience with truss rod adjustment). As I see it it does behave weirdly, when you tighten the truss rod it back bows dramatically, but as you tension the strings one by one again once you put the neck back, it keeps bowing forward as you tighten, to finally settle on its definite position, so you got to guess right on your truss rod turns. I had never seen this behavior on a neck probably because on "regular" truss rods you don't have to remove the neck, hence, not having to loose the strings entirely.

another thing I find strange is that when your strings are tensioned, if you pull back on the neck from the headstock while holding the body, it does moves back very easily, cant tell if its normal or not as my experience is not that vast.

truss rod is TOTALLY maxed by now. I'm just hoping that the neck will resist forever on the position it has now, because the action and intonation is just perfect and it hasn't bowed any forward for a month or so by now (it wasn't resisting not even a week before it settled).

if it keeps bowing I would definitely say my MD P has a faulty neck, truss rod wont go any further and i dont even know if the washer thing will help, we would be talking about planing it and thats just wrong for a 2012 instrument
 
#38
RamonCorral said:
I have had one MD P for about 6 months now. I had to shield it because the static noise was a no-go on my trace elliot AH600-7, shielding worked. I by-passed the vol-tone pots, had pickup connected straight to the jack, with good results for me.

about the neck,it kept bowing forward after perfect adjustment. I removed it about 15 times to get it where I wanted it (and I have some experience with truss rod adjustment). As I see it it does behave weirdly, when you tighten the truss rod it back bows dramatically, but as you tension the strings one by one again once you put the neck back, it keeps bowing forward as you tighten, to finally settle on its definite position, so you got to guess right on your truss rod turns. I had never seen this behavior on a neck probably because on "regular" truss rods you don't have to remove the neck, hence, not having to loose the strings entirely.

another thing I find strange is that when your strings are tensioned, if you pull back on the neck from the headstock while holding the body, it does moves back very easily, cant tell if its normal or not as my experience is not that vast.

truss rod is TOTALLY maxed by now. I'm just hoping that the neck will resist forever on the position it has now, because the action and intonation is just perfect and it hasn't bowed any forward for a month or so by now (it wasn't resisting not even a week before it settled).

if it keeps bowing I would definitely say my MD P has a faulty neck, truss rod wont go any further and i dont even know if the washer thing will help, we would be talking about planing it and thats just wrong for a 2012 instrument
Click to expand...
Good thing it has a life time warranty.
 
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#40
I’m pretty late to the party here but I currently have a 2001-2002ish Mike Dirnt MIM P in my garage that has a bow in the neck and a maxed out truss rod.
It served me well for quite some time, and was only ever set up by professionals.
All I know is that it has a bow and I am heartbroken.
 

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