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Music Man Bongo Truss Rod Issues

#41
Well, recently the weather where I am is crazy. Very cold and wet. I've had to replan my bass room to allow the window to open properly and the heater to come on to keep the temperature right.

If the neck is sticky it suggests something has moisture on it. A few chips should not hurt it.

Id open the Mono case in a well ventilated room and let it dry for a few days...just in case. Also, leave the bongo in a dry ventilated room on a sofa or something.

Moisture and condensation are horrible things!

Ps not suggesting you don't know how to ventilate a room, just covering everything :)
 
#42
Well im going tomorrow to the EBMM factory to drop it off and get a new neck anyway. Just seems weird thatd happen...i dont store my bass guitars near a door or window and theyre always in a soft case...

It doesnt seem to affect my mim jazz bass with what I assume is a oil finished neck.
 
#43
Epitaph04 said:
Well im going tomorrow to the EBMM factory to drop it off and get a new neck anyway. Just seems weird thatd happen...i dont store my bass guitars near a door or window and theyre always in a soft case...

It doesnt seem to affect my mim jazz bass with what I assume is a oil finished neck.
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Hope it gets sorted. Maybe air out the Mono case just in case? Moisture and condensation basically build up anywhere they like if there is nowhere for it to escape...even in rooms that appear dry. I have that Mono case and after a gig I leave it laid out flat open with the bass inside to let any sweat/condensation dry off.
 
#45
Epitaph04 said:
I may have posted about this already about a year ago, but once again I'm having issues.

I got my Bongo 6 a year ago from the classifieds here. When I got it the action was very high and since it was my very first high end instrument, I was too afraid to work on it myself, so I sent it to a shop an hour away to have it get set up. The guy who worked on it told me the neck had too much bow in it so he took out the truss rod and added some washers to it. I believe he also shimmed the neck on it, not too sure.

The problem was fixed for a bit until the weather began wreaking havoc on the neck. This Bongo has a seriously touchy neck. I like my string action low, but I've had to adjust it on a near regular basis, sometimes daily. Thankfully it has the easy access truss rod wheel but just now I maxed out the truss rod AGAIN. The bass is playable but the action just isn't where I want it to be. It's probably the 3rd or so time that I've maxed it out since owning it.

I have some room still left on the saddles but the C string saddle is just about bottomed out. I've really run out of ideas and I am getting frustrated over not being able to get that super low action on an otherwise excellent instrument. WTH do I do? The strings I'm using are the only 6 string set EBMM sells.

I tried talking to EBMM CS over it and the guy basically said I could fork over 500 bucks for a new neck. I'd really rather not do that. WTH do i do? Could it be due to a few very small chips on the paint of the back of the neck that reveals some of the wood? Should I go get it sealed? Should I add even more washers to the truss rod? Shim the neck again and deal with it? Should I save up all my cash and have a graphite neck made for it so it never shifts due to the weather ever again? :confused::atoz:

TLDR: My Bongo 6's neck shifts if I breathe too hard on it, and now my truss rod is maxed out again. What can I do, and am I the only one with this problem?
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I have a similar issue with a Music Man 5 I purchased in 1995. The neck has a terrible bow that comes and goes with changing weather, but more often the action is too high and almost unplayable. I've even permanently made this an "A Bass" (ADGCF) and there is still a bow. The neck is a beautiful burled maple (the initial eye candy) without a visible fingerboard line, which makes me suspect that this is a one-piece neck (if that exists), making the neck more likely to bow. The weather is warmer and more humid now and the bass is somewhat playable. I wonder if MM knows about these defects? (By the way, I love the ADGCF tuning. The low A is more resonant than the B). It's "Drop A".
 
#47
And after 12 years.. history repeat it self. :) I have only a few months old Bongo 6 HH and the warm weather just hit my area, guess what? The neck moved and wanted to adjust for low action as it was since I got it. The wheel won’t move any further. I don’t want to force it but it feels maxed out. It’s got quite high string tension now I can’t bear with that, so I called customer support. Luckily it’s still under warranty so let see what will happen next week. Always keeping my basses in their case. Just for the record: I had five other musicman basses two of them was bongo 6 and a bongo 5 never had any issues like this at all.
 
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#48
Old post but WTH. I found that one time on my Bongo 6. I knew it wasn't maxed out, I bought it new. And, it sounds like you did the same? I never had to adjust it for years, it stayed put. But one time I had to make a minor adjustment. It was stuck! I had to gently work the wheel back n forth to finally get it to move. You are saying maxed out.

So, that's maxed tight right or toward the C string? If you suspect that is the case try and move the adjustment toward the B string loosening the adjustment. You really can't go wrong loosening it anyway if it will go without much effort. This...It's under warranty so no matter what you do remember that before you go all "John Wayne" and something gets damaged. Then your warranty may go out the window. Good luck.
 
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#49
Yep tight, toward to C
and still the action is high to my liking and the strings has high tension also. No issues to turn toward to the B (loosening) in that case going to get bigger gap between frets and strings.
 
#51
Five or Six said:
I understand but, at least it moves in the "loosening" adjustment. When you do that does it change the neck at all? I'm sorry you are having the issue x 2. Just doesn't make much sense. Just a question? Has the neck been shimed?
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Yes, loosening changes the neck. I don’t think it’s shimed, it’s still a new bass. I am thinking using a light set of strings would help instead of the factory gauges.
 
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