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Minor issue with Player series P bass neck

LCBurt

LCBurt

May 2, 2011
60
8
Michigan
#1
I have an issue with my P bass where the skunk stripe on the back of the neck by the headstock feels slightly raised. It feels like it didn't quite get sanded flush after it was installed. It is raised for about 2 inches and then is smooth going up the rest of the neck.

I have had the bass for 4 years now and it has felt the same since I bought it new so I don't believe it has moved. I should have had it taken care of when I bought it but I thought the warranty was longer than two years. It doesn't bother me when I play, in fact I don't feel it at all as I must not be making contact with it when I'm playing. It only bugs me when I run my fingers over the back of the neck. If I use my nail I can feel it's not quite flush and hangs up a bit. I cannot see the flaw with the naked eye.

What would be the best way to go about fixing this issue? I'm afraid I know the answer, It should be sanded and then refinished professionally. I believe I could carefully sand that seem and make it feel better but would it need refinishing? If it does that would be beyond me and I would have the whole thing done by a repair shop.

I included a pic of the offending are. It's not my bass but shows where the problem is.

Thanks in advance for the help.

1767033550280.png
 
#2
I've had good luck (carefully) sanding out the finish in this situation;

I typically start with 800 grit to flush it out, and then sand out the rest of the neck moving up the grits to 3000 (or more).
Finish with white 3M synthetic steel wool with a little mineral oil for lubrication, and it'll look brand new.
It's not a lacquer finish, so with a little care, you should be just fine....

Amazon fine sandpaper
 
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#4
LCBurt said:
I have an issue with my P bass where the skunk stripe on the back of the neck by the headstock feels slightly raised. It feels like it didn't quite get sanded flush after it was installed. It is raised for about 2 inches and then is smooth going up the rest of the neck.

I have had the bass for 4 years now and it has felt the same since I bought it new so I don't believe it has moved. I should have had it taken care of when I bought it but I thought the warranty was longer than two years. It doesn't bother me when I play, in fact I don't feel it at all as I must not be making contact with it when I'm playing. It only bugs me when I run my fingers over the back of the neck. If I use my nail I can feel it's not quite flush and hangs up a bit. I cannot see the flaw with the naked eye.

What would be the best way to go about fixing this issue? I'm afraid I know the answer, It should be sanded and then refinished professionally. I believe I could carefully sand that seem and make it feel better but would it need refinishing? If it does that would be beyond me and I would have the whole thing done by a repair shop.

I included a pic of the offending are. It's not my bass but shows where the problem is.

Thanks in advance for the help.

View attachment 7398289
Click to expand...
How tight is the Truss rod? Does it feel overly tight to you? The only reason I ask is because I ran into both a Squire at one time as well as an MIM where the skunk stripe was slightly raised in the area that you were talking about. What had happened was that the truss rod was sloppily installed and it ended up being so tight it was pushing against the skunk stripe. This was causing the filler wood stripe to raise out of the slot a bit. BTW the truss rod worked in both basses but was very tight when adjusting.

My advice is if you have owned the bass for that long and the neck has remained stable and didn't require too frequent adjustments and since you said that it doesn't really bother you that much I would just leave it alone. I have one that does the same exact thing and I quit worrying about it long time long ago. It's never raised up any more and to me it wasn't worth cracking through the factory finish on the neck in order to sand it down so I just left it. If the finish eventually wears off the neck from playing it then I will take care of it at that time.
 
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#5
I don't remember anything being off when I last adjusted the truss rod. I would like to think I would have noticed if it felt overly stiff. I think I have only adjusted the truss twice though. Once when I got it and when I put the previous set of strings on I believe about a year ago. I just put a fresh set on maybe a month ago.

It has been rock steady. I like a low action so variation really shows itself and living in Michigan the difference between winter and summer humidity is pretty drastic.
 
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#6
LCBurt said:
I don't remember anything being off when I last adjusted the truss rod. I would like to think I would have noticed if it felt overly stiff. I think I have only adjusted the truss twice though. Once when I got it and when I put the previous set of strings on I believe about a year ago. I just put a fresh set on maybe a month ago.

It has been rock steady. I like a low action so variation really shows itself and living in Michigan the difference between winter and summer humidity is pretty drastic.
Click to expand...
Having lived in Michigan I can relate. I would say just leave it alone. I mean if it pops up anymore or starts to get splinters then you would have to do something about it but. Unless you're planning on going matte finish on the neck then sand her down and have at it
 
#8
60bass said:
it wasn't worth cracking through the factory finish on the neck in order to sand it down so I just left it
Click to expand...
LCBurt said:
My biggest worry was the refinish
Click to expand...


Just to clarify;
There should be no "refinish" involved if your situation is similar to the ones I've encountered.
In the situations I've dealt with, "surface" sanding the finish flush - without removing the finish to bare wood - was adequate to solve the issue.
The process isn't much different than sanding down a glossy neck to a satin finish - just a little extra initial time sanding the area in question 1st.

When you say it's "slightly" raised' do you mean you can feel it slightly in the finish - or it's visibly obvious that the walnut is sticking up further than the surrounding maple?

If it's something you're feeling slightly in the finish - you should be able to flush out the finish fairly quickly with 800 grit - without removing a significant amount of the finish.
 
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#9
It’s not rare at all for the finish to do something strange where the neck wood and the “stripe” wood meet. I’ve seen dozens of Fender instruments (bass & guitar) with the finished cracked along that line the full length of the “stripe” and on both sides of the stripe.

Along the finish crack would be small areas where the cracks extended away from the seam slightly; just a 1/16th of an inch or less, but it was both visible and “feel-able” with thumb or palm.

The most common explanation I’ve heard is that the two different wood types don’t expand / contract at exactly the same rate or amount with temp change, and the finish is what gives under that stress and that would make sense.

If there’s an up side to this, it’s that it is normally a finish issue only, not an actual structural issue, but some are structural, like the stripe is actually raising up out of the neck. If you have that going on, you have a serious issue.
 
#10
I can't see the raise with my eyes (and my reading glasses). I can catch it with my fingernail, also when I rub parallel to the stripe it feels a little sharp.
I'm going to get out a magnifying glass tonight and see if I can get a better look and figure out exactly what is going on. It would be a small area if I taped it up and just addressed the problem area.

If I did go through the finish a bit, the wipe on poly idea sounds great. The area that would need attention is only about 2 inches long and I think I would only need to sand a strip about 1/16th inch wide. Just enough to knock it down so it wasn't so obnoxious.

Thanks again for all the advise!
 
#11
60bass said:
How tight is the Truss rod? Does it feel overly tight to you? The only reason I ask is because I ran into both a Squire at one time as well as an MIM where the skunk stripe was slightly raised in the area that you were talking about. What had happened was that the truss rod was sloppily installed and it ended up being so tight it was pushing against the skunk stripe. This was causing the filler wood stripe to raise out of the slot a bit. BTW the truss rod worked in both basses but was very tight when adjusting.

My advice is if you have owned the bass for that long and the neck has remained stable and didn't require too frequent adjustments and since you said that it doesn't really bother you that much I would just leave it alone. I have one that does the same exact thing and I quit worrying about it long time long ago. It's never raised up any more and to me it wasn't worth cracking through the factory finish on the neck in order to sand it down so I just left it. If the finish eventually wears off the neck from playing it then I will take care of it at that time.
Click to expand...
Played with the truss rod last night and it turns nicely. I don't feel any impingement there.
 
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#13
Tim Skaggs said:
It’s not rare at all for the finish to do something strange where the neck wood and the “stripe” wood meet. I’ve seen dozens of Fender instruments (bass & guitar) with the finished cracked along that line the full length of the “stripe” and on both sides of the stripe.

Along the finish crack would be small areas where the cracks extended away from the seam slightly; just a 1/16th of an inch or less, but it was both visible and “feel-able” with thumb or palm.

The most common explanation I’ve heard is that the two different wood types don’t expand / contract at exactly the same rate or amount with temp change, and the finish is what gives under that stress and that would make sense.

If there’s an up side to this, it’s that it is normally a finish issue only, not an actual structural issue, but some are structural, like the stripe is actually raising up out of the neck. If you have that going on, you have a serious issue.
Click to expand...
I may be getting lucky here then. I couldn't find my regular magnifying glass so I used an ap on my phone. I really couldn't see anything out of sorts except a slight separation at the end of the rounded nose of the stripe. I'm hoping this is exactly what you are describing. I think I'm going to tape it off and sand just enough to take the sharp edge off.

I don't want to use anything too aggressive, any ideas on where I should start with sand paper grit?
 

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