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Options for neck with too much relief?

#21
Brought it down from the 2nd day in the attic. Looks dead flat when free of the clamps. With a bit of truss rod tension, it has a very slight back bow. I'll let it sit for a day or two. Thankfully, the frets all look OK. If it still exhibits excessive relief under tension, I'll likely reclamp and try the heating pad.
 
#22
lark_z said:
Thanks all. I think I get it. Steaming is for raw wood, not a glued neck/fretboard. Dry heat may be an option. Pondering for a few days. Thanks.
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What I did with a Squier neck with too much relief was to clamp it into a back bow and put it out in the sun all day for about a week. It's now set up perfectly and has been very stable.
 
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#23
What I did with a Squier neck with too much relief was to clamp it into a back bow and put it out in the sun all day for about a week. It's now set up perfectly and has been very stable.
Click to expand...

Remember Sun Tea commercials? Now we can have a Sun "P" - LOL.



Lots of great advice and options. Hadn't thought of the sun. Thanks everyone.
 
#24
OK - Strung up, it was noticeably better, but still not quite there. Attic isn't really an option, as cold weather has (finally) arrived. So it's heating pad for this go-round. On high, my meat thermometer inserted to the middle reads 130F.
6_Set jig.JPG
 
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#25
Most PVA wood glues start to soften around 120 degrees and let go around 140. I'd be careful with anything above 120, you might take the blanket off to find the fretboard is separated.
 
#26
dwizum said:
Most PVA wood glues start to soften around 120 degrees and let go around 140. I'd be careful with anything above 120, you might take the blanket off to find the fretboard is separated.
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Thanks for the input. Do we know that Yamaha was using this type of glue in the late 90's? I'd guess it was easily 130F in the attic with outside temperatures ~90. Wish I'd taken a thermometer up there. I'm willing to take the risk. It has virtually no value to me otherwise.
 
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#29
APPEARS TO BE FIXED!!!!!

Left the heat on it approximately 8 hours each day for three consecutive days. Then 24 hours cooling while clamped. Then overnight un-clamped. This morning, the neck had maybe 1/8" back bow with the truss loose. I clamped the heel, leaned on the neck and tightened the truss quite a lot (I didn't feel like inching up on it). Then it had almost 1/4" of back bow. Strung up and under tension, the neck is dead flat. Obviously it needs some relief. I'll let it sit for a week or so and see if it holds. Then adjust the truss.

THANKS FOR THE ADVICE!
 
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#33
Here we are just a month shy of three years and I've got it re-clamped and reheating. The relief is just a tad too much (two business card thicknesses). I've been adjusting the actions down (bridge height) some on both players slowly, as I gain experience, but I can't really go any lower on this neck. It's been playable, but noticeably different from the "good" neck. I'll leave it a few days.

If that doesn't flatten the neck, I'm going to try a set of LaBella Low Tension Flats on it. It's currently strung with fender 9050s.
 
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#34
lark_z said:
Here we are just a month shy of three years and I've got it re-clamped and reheating. The relief is just a tad too much (two business card thicknesses). I've been adjusting the actions down (bridge height) some on both players slowly, as I gain experience, but I can't really go any lower on this neck. It's been playable, but noticeably different from the "good" neck. I'll leave it a few days.

If that doesn't flatten the neck, I'm going to try a set of LaBella Low Tension Flats on it. It's currently strung with fender 9050s.
Click to expand...

That's interesting information. So, you are saying that it held stable for a year, but then started backbowing some more at three years after the heat-straightening?
 
#35
Bruce Johnson said:
That's interesting information. So, you are saying that it held stable for a year, but then started backbowing some more at three years after the heat-straightening?
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I doubt it. My lack of experience is a problem in this regard. I do know that the neck was, and still is, dramatically better after the first heat treating. I'm not sure that it's really moved much since then. I also know that as I've gained some experience and developed a lighter playing touch that I've been able to lower the action on both of my basses. Now, I can really see that the heat-treated one is just not as good. I was a scientist by profession prior to retirement, living and dying by good/bad data. I seem to be drifting more to a "how does it feel" approach with the basses. Hence I can't find that I measured and wrote down the actual relief three years ago.
 
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#36
lark_z said:
I doubt it. My lack of experience is a problem in this regard. I do know that the neck was, and still is, dramatically better after the first heat treating. I'm not sure that it's really moved much since then. I also know that as I've gained some experience and developed a lighter playing touch that I've been able to lower the action on both of my basses. Now, I can really see that the heat-treated one is just not as good. I was a scientist by profession prior to retirement, living and dying by good/bad data. I seem to be drifting more to a "how does it feel" approach with the basses. Hence I can't find that I measured and wrote down the actual relief three years ago.
Click to expand...

Okay, so you don't think it has moved much since the heat treating? That's what I'm curious about, whether wood that has been heated and stretched will tend to un-stretch over time.
 
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#37
Just unclamped it. It was clamped in a back bow heated with the truss loose for 48 hours. Heating pad on high (120 -130 F). Then stayed clamped for 12 hours cooling without heat. There's ~ 0.10" back bow, right now. We'll see how it looks in the morning after sitting all night.

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#39
I loosened the truss rod. I had tightened it just good and snug. Before the heat treatment, it was white-knuckle tight. I loosened it to where it's just disengaged, then tightened it just a bit, so it's not rattling around. Relief is still around 0.006 inch. Let it sit awhile (hard to do). If that doesn't do anything, I guess I'll start looking for some higher tension flats (These are the Fender 9050L).
 
#40
Obsessing over flat string options and tension. What I've come up with using manufacturer's data and the StringJoy calculator:

Fender 9050L (45/60/80/100) = 174 lb - Now on the bass

LaBella Deep Talkin' 760FX (45/65/85/105) = 187 lb

D'Addario XL Chrome ECB82 (50/70/85/105) = 199 lb

Rotosound RS77LD (45/65/85/105) = 214 lb *

Rotosound Steve Harris (50/75/95/110) = 225

* from their website (rest are calculated)


Hmm - need to slow down for a few days.
 

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