Truss rod repair for a set-in neck

[matthewbrown]

I bought a semi-hollow bass that appears to have busted a truss rod. I can't get the neck to adjust so that the strings are at an acceptable height, even after buying a set of the lightest-tension strings I could find. The bass is, however, insured. Does anyone have a ballpark estimate of what i would cost in New England to have the truss rod fixed? Is that kind of repair worth doing?

 

[Stylee Mousse]

Did you try lowering the string saddles? Pardon me if this is obvious but truss rods are for setting neck curvature not string height.

Don’t keep turning it

 

[DrBnz]

This doesn't sound right or I'm confused (possible). The intent of the truss rod is to straighten the neck. The saddles set the string height. So why do you believe the truss rod needs replaced? Does it turn freely and not do anything right now? Still, go see somebody who can give you a good setup and eval. If not then watch the Carruthers videos on bass setups and try it again.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

A truss rod replacement usually requires removing the fingerboard and often a complete fret job.
Unless you go the Fender route and go through the skunk stripe. Still not an easy thing either since
then the neck has to be refinished. Not sure price wise, but well over $400 these days I would guess.

 

[matthewbrown]

Did you try lowering the string saddles? Pardon me if this is obvious but truss rods are for setting neck curvature not string height.

Don’t keep turning it

Yes, the saddles are low. It's the neck relief that's the problem.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

I bought a semi-hollow bass that appears to have busted a truss rod. I can't get the neck to adjust so that the strings are at an acceptable height, even after buying a set of the lightest-tension strings I could find. The bass is, however, insured. Does anyone have a ballpark estimate of what i would cost in New England to have the truss rod fixed? Is that kind of repair worth doing?

I used to do truss rod replacements and neck rebuilds like that as part of my business. As the others are saying, it's a complicated job which often involves heat-straightening the neck and a new fingerboard and frets. Plus some repair of the finish. The cost will be $500 to $1000, depending on the skill and experience of the shop doing the work.

Is it worth doing? Well, sure, it will fix the bass and make it better than new. Is it worth it financially? What's the value of the bass?

Just so you know, in almost all cases where a truss rod is broken, the root cause is that the neck has developed a forward bow. Then someone broke the truss rod trying to bring it to straight. That's beyond what the truss rod is designed to do. So, the forward bow problem has to be fixed in addition to replacing the truss rod. Or the new truss rod will break too.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Does the truss rod do anything? If it’s still working but won’t straighten the neck try warpedneck.com. They might be able to straighten it enough for the truss rod to work like it’s supposed to.

 

[matthewbrown]

I used to do truss rod replacements and neck rebuilds like that as part of my business. As the others are saying, it's a complicated job which often involves heat-straightening the neck and a new fingerboard and frets. Plus some repair of the finish. The cost will be $500 to $1000, depending on the skill and experience of the shop doing the work.

Is it worth doing? Well, sure, it will fix the bass and make it better than new. Is it worth it financially? What's the value of the bass?

Just so you know, in almost all cases where a truss rod is broken, the root cause is that the neck has developed a forward bow. Then someone broke the truss rod trying to bring it to straight. That's beyond what the truss rod is designed to do. So, the forward bow problem has to be fixed in addition to replacing the truss rod. Or the new truss rod will break too.

Yeah, I'm going to explore an insurance claim if the bass is a total loss. I paid less than $1000 for it. I don't think it's the truss rod itself that's broken, but the wood that it's seated in. I'll see what a local tech says, but I'm a probably long distance from any tech who can fix everything.