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Twisted neck.

C

curbowkid

Jun 27, 2011
1,779
12
Brooklyn, New York
#1
Have experience building and repairing instruments but I'm new to this one. My Warwick corvette has unfortunately succumbed to a pretty sever and sudden case of neck twist where it's about a 5°-10° twist. What can I do to fix this? Aside from spend an arm and a leg getting it replaced or having Warwick rebuild it?

Also as if things couldn't get worse, the nut to the truss rod is totally stripped round thanks to the a-hole original owner. So I can't relieve the tension on the neck
 
#3
curbowkid said:
Have experience building and repairing instruments but I'm new to this one. My Warwick corvette has unfortunately succumbed to a pretty sever and sudden case of neck twist where it's about a 5°-10° twist. What can I do to fix this? Aside from spend an arm and a leg getting it replaced or having Warwick rebuild it?

Also as if things couldn't get worse, the nut to the truss rod is totally stripped round thanks to the a-hole original owner. So I can't relieve the tension on the neck
Click to expand...

What gauge strings do you use? I use D'Addario 160s. The D and G have a higher tension than the E and A. The issue may be your lack of a working truss. If you use strings with unbalanced tension like I do, there is no way to counteract the higher tension on the thinner strings. Perhaps this could cause the twist. If the G side is twisting up, I'm willing to bet the truss is the issue. Of course, I could very easily be wrong. Happens all the time.
 
#5
curbowkid said:
I use the medium gauge Warwick sets. And yes I eyeballed it but it is definitely twisted. I compaired how straight each side of the fretboard dis and one side curves up sharp while the other is perfectly straight
Click to expand...

It's not unusual for a neck to have more "relief" on the side with the higher tension strings. If I think it looks twisted, I sight down the neck from the bridge end with a straight edge laying across the flat of the headstock (with strings removed), this gives a more noticeable gauge of any twist.
Rocky
 
#6
Rocky McDougall said:
It's not unusual for a neck to have more "relief" on the side with the higher tension strings. If I think it looks twisted, I sight down the neck from the bridge end with a straight edge laying across the flat of the headstock (with strings removed), this gives a more noticeable gauge of any twist.
Rocky
Click to expand...

I did that. Even with strings off, it twists. And the truss rod was not adjustable thanks too the last owner. So now I'm ripping up the fretboard and replacing the rod. I'm gonna replace the fretboard with ebony and bell brass frets
 
#7
I don't know if anyone is going to pick up this thread at this point, but I'm dealing with the same issue and wonder how this turned out. Curbowkid, did you do the repair and how did it turn out? Also, where did you buy a replacement Warwick truss rod?
Tonight I'm attempting a twist repair as described in this video:
Nothing to loose at this point.
 
#8
Neck twist is a serious issue. If replacing the neck is not an option, then re-planning or re-leveling the fingerboard is the standard procedure. This should not be attempted by just anyone. I would bring it to a qualified luthier. The cost of this repair could easily be as much as a replacement neck.
 
#9
Whoa! There are ways to try and get the old trussrod nut off before you go and rip off the fretboard and put a whole new trussrod in. As for the twist, I've often (once the trussrod can be loosened) loosened the trussrod all the way and let it sit like that for a few days. Then, I slowly put tension back on it. I've repeated those steps up to 5 times, but can usually get the twist out by taking tension off the neck and then putting tension back on the neck (repeatedly).
 
#10
Last night I went through with the clamping/heating process I found here:

3 hours of moving the iron every 7 minutes up and down the fretboard. Unclamped it this afternoon and . . .
It worked incredibly well! Well beyond my expectations. The maxed-out truss rod got some life back to it, the twist is completely gone, the action is super low with no buzzy spots the length of the neck. It is once again an amazing bass. Of course I don't know how long it will last. It might look like a curly fry by tomorrow. The next New York summer will be the real test.
Btw, a replacement neck + fees from the Warwick NY Custom shop would've run me about $600. Not an option for a bass that cost $470!
 

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