Twisted neck, steel rods

[-Asdfgh-]

I have a Warmoth Fender style neck. Doing set up I discovered that there is relief on the E string side of an appropriate level, but on the G string side, basically none. It has the steel rods in, apparently. Any hints on a fix. I've had it for a while, so I've probably had my money's worth so I could ditch it. As it is, the lack of relief on the G string side means it is probably unusable.

It's been on and off a number of basses so it has oak plugs for the screw holes now.

Or should I take it off and try cranking the truss rod in any particular direction in the hope of a cure?

 

[Bass4ThePublic]

Send it to Warpedneck.com. Easy peasy.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Send it to Warpedneck.com. Easy peasy.

I'm in the UK, so it doesn't seem cost effective, but thanks.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

P.S. I've fixed a twisted neck myself before with heat, but not something with steel rods. I'm surprised it's managed to become warped with them, but it does seem to be

 

[Lownote38]

P.S. I've fixed a twisted neck myself before with heat, but not something with steel rods. I'm surprised it's managed to become warped with them, but it does seem to be

The way steel rods are placed, the neck can most certainly twist.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

The way steel rods are placed, the neck can most certainly twist.

Fair point.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

I have a Warmoth Fender style neck. Doing set up I discovered that there is relief on the E string side of an appropriate level, but on the G string side, basically none. It has the steel rods in, apparently. Any hints on a fix. I've had it for a while, so I've probably had my money's worth so I could ditch it. As it is, the lack of relief on the G string side means it is probably unusable.

It's been on and off a number of basses so it has oak plugs for the screw holes now.

Or should I take it off and try cranking the truss rod in any particular direction in the hope of a cure?

No easy solutions, unfortunately. The truss rod won't do anything for twist. Heat straightening may work, but may not. It depends how stiff the neck is overall.

If this neck were in my shop, I'd "mechanically" straighten it. Pull the frets and re-cut the fingerboard surface to straight. Maybe even pre-cut some relief into it. Then re-fret it. I've done this type of repair to maybe 10 twisted necks over the years. I have a few of them documented here on TalkBass, if you are interested.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

No easy solutions, unfortunately. The truss rod won't do anything for twist. Heat straightening may work, but may not. It depends how stiff the neck is overall.

If this neck were in my shop, I'd "mechanically" straighten it. Pull the frets and re-cut the fingerboard surface to straight. Maybe even pre-cut some relief into it. Then re-fret it. I've done this type of repair to maybe 10 twisted necks over the years. I have a few of them documented here on TalkBass, if you are interested.

Thanks for the assessment. That sounds like more work than I'd like to do given the value of the item.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

Thanks for the assessment. That sounds like more work than I'd like to do given the value of the item.

I agree. If I did the job, I'd probably have to charge you about $450. Which is almost the value of the neck. You could do the repair yourself with some skill and tools, but it's not a quick easy job.

 

[Lownote38]

I agree. If I did the job, I'd probably have to charge you about $450. Which is almost the value of the neck. You could do the repair yourself with some skill and tools, but it's not a quick easy job.

That's a really fair price! Getting something like that done in Nashville would be at least $700.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

That's a really fair price! Getting something like that done in Nashville would be at least $700.

That's because I have more cool machines and fixtures than they do! And I'm not speculating; I've mechanically corrected about 10 twisted necks here over the years. I've got the technique down well. Here's a badly twisted Ampeg neck that I documented here on Talk Bass:

Fixing A Badly Twisted Neck....By The Mechanical Method

 

[Lownote38]

That's because I have more cool machines and fixtures than they do! And I'm not speculating; I've mechanically corrected about 10 twisted necks here over the years. I've got the technique down well. Here's a badly twisted Ampeg neck that I documented here on Talk Bass:

Fixing A Badly Twisted Neck....By The Mechanical Method

I've read through that thread before. Excellent work on that one!
The guys here have the right tools and machinery. They charge more than you because they can. Nashville sort of sucks that way.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

I've read through that thread before. Excellent work on that one!
The guys here have the right tools and machinery. They charge more than you because they can. Nashville sort of sucks that way.

A while back, I had a chance to spend an hour up on the 4th floor of Gruhn's. That's their repair shop, where they do the work on all the expensive vintage instruments that flow through the store. I think there were 4 Luthiers on staff, all experienced veterans. I was in Nashville for some reason, and they asked me to come up and give them some advise on an old Ampeg that was in the shop.

 

[vaesto]

Steel rods are good for fighting bowing and ski-jumps. Twisting is not their playground. Heating and un-twisting will definitely work. However, you'll need to apply 80-90C for several hours to entire neck. Guys at Warpedneck know how to it properly. For my purpose I've used wife's active ironing board.
If you want to DIY - do not use heat guns or irons - most likely no effect will be given at the price of burned finish.