removing neck to adjust truss rod

[Jazz Ad]

It should actually be done with all screws you mount into existing wooden threads.

 

[abemo]

This is an invaluable suggestion, and it should be done with all screws that mount into wood instruments.

Screws or bolts into anything really. Works just as well for metal threads.

Thanks, btw, save my a** many times.

 

[kurosawa]

I have a finicky neck that takes frequent adjustment, and the screws aren't going in as tightly as they once did, so I bought threaded inserts for all my necks to eliminate the wear and tear on the raw wood. Just the same, as soon as I get everything the way I want and haul my lazy self down to Virginia Beach again, I'll ask Walter W. to rout a generous relief into a pair of pickguards and bodies so I can tweak the truss rod on the fly.

Does anyone know if I can get a replacement for the stock truss rod screw that has a hex instead of a cross? Seems so long as I use a screwdriver instead of a kex key, I'm still risking getting nicks on the pickguard.

 

[JEDI BASS]

I did this to my CIJ Fender '51 P with my dremel.

 

[tomersg]

I did this to my CIJ Fender '51 P with my dremel.

I did that exactly mod to my MIJ 62 fender p bass.

(but i dont know if i could do that to MIA bass...)

 

[Swiss Frank]

TI already had it set up proffesionaly last year, so my guess is a couple of turns on the truss rod will bring the neck back where it should be without having to fiddle around with string height or intonation.

Do I need to know anything about screwing the neck back into place? Is there a danger of over tightening? (I will obviously use common sense, I won't be using my massive masonary drill to do this!!!)

Warning: you do not need two turns! You probably need a 1/4 turn max! Even 3/8 of a turn will probably be too much! I know it's tempting when it's so hard to take apart and you don't want to undershoot, but overshooting is bad too and in fact can be dangerous. (You could break the truss rod for instance.)

Do I need to know anything about screwing the neck back into place? Is there a danger of over tightening? (I will obviously use common sense, I won't be using my massive masonary drill to do this!!!)

Tighten them all to the point they're barely touching the plate, then go in a pattern tightening a turn at a time a couple times, then a quarter-turn at a time or so until they're all quite snug. They will be tighter than for instance pick guard screws, but nowhere near as tight as you can turn!

The pattern to use in tightening this, or bolts on a car wheel, or really anything else of this nature, is to alternate opposites. For four bolts in a rectangle, tighten any one, then the opposite corner, then the neighbor along the far side, and finally its opposite. (For a 5-bolt car, you move in a star pattern.) This makes sure that you don't tighten one side of something so tight it's locked, before it's even aligned perfectly on the opposite side.

 

[JEDI BASS]

Warning: you do not need two turns! You probably need a 1/4 turn max! Even 3/8 of a turn will probably be too much! I know it's tempting when it's so hard to take apart and you don't want to undershoot, but overshooting is bad too and in fact can be dangerous. (You could break the truss rod for instance.)



Tighten them all to the point they're barely touching the plate, then go in a pattern tightening a turn at a time a couple times, then a quarter-turn at a time or so until they're all quite snug. They will be tighter than for instance pick guard screws, but nowhere near as tight as you can turn!

The pattern to use in tightening this, or bolts on a car wheel, or really anything else of this nature, is to alternate opposites. For four bolts in a rectangle, tighten any one, then the opposite corner, then the neighbor along the far side, and finally its opposite. (For a 5-bolt car, you move in a star pattern.) This makes sure that you don't tighten one side of something so tight it's locked, before it's even aligned perfectly on the opposite side.

This thread’s been dead for 10 years.

 

[Drredplate]

I would modify the body and scratch plate. I did this many years ago using a rats tail file.
Taking the neck on and off all the time and then using a feeler gauge between goes just wouldn’t work for me.
Taking wood screws in and out more than necessary is bad carpentry practice
You could consider it a period mod. Back in the day people did that mod for obvious reasons
Doesn’t take much to allow screw driver with long shaft access