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The lazy ****....

Z

Zilla3154

Mar 9, 2009
17
0
#1
So, I have owned this Fender Jazz CIJ Bass for a couple of years now. There has always been this temptation to remove the pickguard and see what it looks like without it, plus it needed a cleanup rather badly


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The other day, I was sitting at home, being rather bored, and in my boredom, decided to remove the pickup guard.
After about 5 minutes with my screwdriver, i removed the pickupguard and was rather happy with what it looked like without it on
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Hang on, whats that hole near the the fingerboard?
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It would seem the last owner of my bass thought that it was too much effort to have to remove the neck every time he wanted to make an adjustment to the truss rod, so he simply got a powerdrill and drilled a rather large hole into the body of my bass
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He was lazy enough not even to remove the neck when he drilled the hole, as shown by the cylindrical mark on the bottom end of the fret board

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So, the point of this thread is to 1) vent my rage about the lazy f*ck that was the last owner of my bass and 2) ask you guys to share any similar stories about bass damage
 
#2
Man, that sucks, period. Not something one would call "road wear."

You should pick up some Old English Scratch Cover for Light Wood. It works magic on finished trim and cabinets (IME with three kids continually banging into my stuff at home). Apply it with a q-tip. It's like stain, in that the more you put on the darker it will get. Start with a light application and keep adding until you match that color of your burst. It won't look perfect up close, but from the audience it will be almost impossible to see.
 
#3
Zilla3154 said:
It would seem the last owner of my bass thought that it was too much effort to have to remove the neck every time he wanted to make an adjustment to the truss rod, so he simply got a powerdrill and drilled a rather large hole into the body of my bass
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Well actually at the time it was his bass right? ;)

Knowing that this is a CIJ bass and not a Vintage Fender, I can actually relate to the previous owner. :hiding: I have routed similar (although admittedly MUCH cleaner) screwdriver routes to basses to make truss rod adjustments go more quickly.

I do see your point that it's not the best work, but under the pickguard it didn't affect you for the past two years. If you really love the look of the bass sans pickguard, you could always clean up the rout a bit and apply a bit of finish to make it look better.
 
#7
quick question: did you have to remove the strings to remove the pickguard, or were you able to finesse it out from under the strings between the PUPs? Kind of a stupid question, i know, but hey im curious to if it can be done, as i dont own a bass with a PG.
 
#8
Zilla3154 said:
So, I have owned this Fender Jazz CIJ Bass for a couple of years now. There has always been this temptation to remove the pickguard and see what it looks like without it, plus it needed a cleanup rather badly.

The other day, I was sitting at home, being rather bored, and in my boredom, decided to remove the pickup guard.
After about 5 minutes with my screwdriver, i removed the pickupguard and was rather happy with what it looked like without it on.

Hang on, whats that hole near the the fingerboard?

It would seem the last owner of my bass thought that it was too much effort to have to remove the neck every time he wanted to make an adjustment to the truss rod, so he simply got a powerdrill and drilled a rather large hole into the body of my bass.

He was lazy enough not even to remove the neck when he drilled the hole, as shown by the cylindrical mark on the bottom end of the fret board.

So, the point of this thread is to 1) vent my rage about the lazy f*ck that was the last owner of my bass and 2) ask you guys to share any similar stories about bass damage.
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Not me. I'd be mad at the dumbass who designed it like that in the first place. In fact, I am mad, because my Mustang is like that, and I'd like to take some relief out of the neck. So, rather than take it apart and do it myself, I'll take it down to Top Gear and pay to let someone else deal with it. I might have them route a slot in it while they've got it, just for spite.

If you want a neck that's easy to adjust, take a look at a Sadowsky. Now them're right smart.
 
#9
#11
Munjibunga said:
Not me. I'd be mad at the dumbass who designed it like that in the first place. In fact, I am mad, because my Mustang is like that, and I'd like to take some relief out of the neck. So, rather than take it apart and do it myself, I'll take it down to Top Gear and pay to let someone else deal with it. I might have them route a slot in it while they've got it, just for spite.

If you want a neck that's easy to adjust, take a look at a Sadowsky. Now them're right smart.
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You said it, Cowabunga. I just don't get big ego luthiers and manufacturers who think they are God's gift to music and then design crap like this. Who do they think they are fooling.

Point is the bass is not screwed up. The previous owner actually "improved" it, in spite of the somewhat nasty drilling job. Now here let me do the thinking for Fender. Do you really want to take your neck off to adjust the truss rod? You know cycle the tension. Cycle your neck joint. And try to guess the truss rod setting because the neck is not under string tension when you adjust it. Whoever did this at Fender needs their butt kicked from here to breakfast!

Luckily all is not lost. While you are in a repair mood, either you (or someone you trust if you can't trust yourself with a router) very slightly expand that truss adjusting pocket the guy tried to create. Make it smooth and beautiful and paint the inside flat black for looks. You know the way Fender SHOULD have done it in the first place (rubbing their nose in their own poo). If want to really be anal see about getting the chew in the edge of the fingerboard filled. If you can't deal with that, repair guys know how to fix a minor chew like that.
 
#15
On my most recent build, I had an access route neatly drilled into both the body and the pickguard. It makes life so much easier. That hasty route can be cleaned up nicely, and you can add a route to the pickguard. Even if you decide to go sans pickguard, it will still look fine and have an important and convenient function.
 
#17
standupright said:
do fenders need to have their truss rod constantly adjusted?
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I think it depends on where you live. A MIA maybe not so much. I live in Minnesota. We get major temp changes. My CIJ & MIM have had to be tweeked about 3x each in the last four months. I do like my action low so any change is noticeable. Also I change strings and clean my frett board a lot and adjust with new strings.
 
#18
hdracer said:
I think it depends on where you live. A MIA maybe not so much. I live in Minnesota. We get major temp changes. My CIJ & MIM have had to be tweeked about 3x each in the last four months. I do like my action low so any change is noticeable. Also I change strings and clean my frett board a lot and adjust with new strings.
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yeah....i guess that would make sense. i live in the desert. haven't touched my trussrod in 4 years.
 
#19
hdracer said:
"A couple of years" and you never adjusted the truss rod??????????
You didnt notice it when you bought it???? or all this time???????
WOW!!
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+1.

Aslo, it takes you two years to get up the stones to unscrew the pickguard, and you're complaining about someone who didn't want to unbolt the neck? Really? Wow. That seems a little humorous to me anyway. ;)


I never was a fan of body side truss rod adjustments anyhow. Much easier to do it at the headstock (required IMO)
 

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