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NBD...I'm kinda pissed...what would you do?
- Thread starter casualmadness
- Start date
Seriously?? You're taking my comments as an attack on your brother? What the guy did was idiotic. If that offends you, oh well. I would love to see your reaction if a delivery guy left your new Modulus on the curb in front of your house and didn't bother to get a signature because he heard dogs barking inside the house behind a closed and locked door.
If there's no truss rod and the bass is maxed out low at the bridge, you have a much bigger problem. In that case your choices are to send it back or take it to a good tech who can tell you with more certainty whether or not it can be made playable and, if so, what that might cost and involve. I'd do that right away so that you can get the info you need before deciding your course of action. Good luck.
Yep...I'm taking it to my tech tomorrow evening after work. I already confirmed he will be available.
Spray the pots with contact cleaner and rotate them over and over. Most of the time this resolves the scratch pots with no soldering or electronics work required. If this doesn't fix the pots, I'd ask for partial refund to replace them.
Give it a good setup to see if you can get the action down where it needs to be. If the neck won't straighten, or the truss rod is stripped, or there is some serious problem with the neck, I'd return it.
This is the 1st question when buying a Mod. It's not a deal breaker by any means but if the neck is screwed then you can have big problems.
I have a Mod with no truss rod. It's not a problem, unless it's a problem, then it can be a big problem. ;-)
Smooth_bass88
vaxx!
- Oct 31, 2006
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yup. If you had even a remote understanding of what these people go through on a daily basis you'd feel differently. Enjoy your new bass.
jdthebassman
play to live live to play
I have always gone by the phrase no truss rod no deal. The hassle is that you are unable to get the relief and action you like especially a 6 string bass with all that tension from the strings. I would return it just for that reason alone. still a beautiful bass.
i'm sure it sucks, i'm a carpenter that mainly frames new homes with very complicated and high off the ground roof systems, can't tell you how many days way up in air, with sun melting my soul, i'd see a big brown truck drive by and think, boy that guys life must suck, lol sorry i just had to lol again
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Solid graphite necks aren't as rock-solid and fully maintenance free as many think. History and time didn't agree with the assertions that these necks would never move or change. Without a truss rod, they can warp and bend into unplayabilty and the only recourse is serious fretboard work to get the neck relief to where it needs to be for comfortable playing. There are a good number of non-truss rod Steinberger, Modulus, Moses, and other brands of necks out there with warpage issues.
I'd pass on a non-truss graphite neck myself, and it's the reason I don't own a Steinberger for nostalgia's sake.
I'd pass on a non-truss graphite neck myself, and it's the reason I don't own a Steinberger for nostalgia's sake.
As long as the neck is adjustable to your satisfaction, everything else is easily repaired/replaced in this situation. Even if it really was a great deal I'd still try and get a couple of hundred bucks back for sure on principal alone. But the most important thing to me would be the condition and adjustability of the neck.
I wish people in these forums would stop assuming you need to adjust your truss rod because your action is high (all the well meant but bad advice you are getting in this thread) If the neck is straight then the truss rod is not the problem. If the bridge saddles are as low as they can go and the action is too high (and the neck is straight) then you need to set the neck angle to the body which is a simple 5 minute job.
As far as the deteriorated foam - just brush it out and use a vacuum to clean the bits out and get a new piece of foam and cut to size. And then you probably don't need to replace pots or start spraying stuff in them. Just take your finger and rotate the pots from stop to stop about 30 times. This is normal when pots don't get turned for years that they will be scratchy and will cut out until you start using them regularly. They pretty much self clean when they are turned often enough.
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I may have missed it, if it has been previously mentioned, but is this a bolt on neck? If it is, then as Andy just said, it's an easy fix, you just need to add a shim under the neck joint. Your tech guy will totally be able to take care of that for you.
That is the usual fix but that bass has an extension into the body that may lift out and be a little less aesthetically pleasing . My Vigier does not have a truss rod and that thing is always perfect no matter what strings you use . It's a phenom .
If the price was right...Clean the pots with Faderlube or some other lube based from Caig Labs. Tweak the action and enjoy the bass--it looks great.
Pots get scratchy due to oxidizing on the contact points more than just wearing out. Sometimes, it's as easy as using some electronic contact cleaner (it comes in an aerosol can with a thin straw like WD40) and spraying it into the gaps in the pots while spinning them through their range of motion.
If you like how it sounds (minus the pots being scratchy, of course) you could try that first. It's much cheaper than paying someone to replace the pots. Also, I don't think I'd replace the preamp unless you're sure. You said in the original post that it "sounds wonderful-like a Modulus sounds" to me that means if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it. Changing the preamp is the #1 thing to change the tone in my experience.
If you like how it sounds (minus the pots being scratchy, of course) you could try that first. It's much cheaper than paying someone to replace the pots. Also, I don't think I'd replace the preamp unless you're sure. You said in the original post that it "sounds wonderful-like a Modulus sounds" to me that means if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it. Changing the preamp is the #1 thing to change the tone in my experience.
Definitely and safely tighten the truss rod a bit and get the neck very straight. Bottom out the saddles with your preferred strings on it. If the action is still too high cut a slim length of business card and place it in the neck cavity in front of the neck bolts nearest the peghead and then tighten neck bolts again. This will help a bunch. I've done this on a bolt on ABG and it works well.
