Looking at that pic, it has awful back bow. Truss rod nut is probably jammed from an over enthusiastic attempt to straighten the neck, or not understanding which way to rotate it. It's probably jammed on now and won't allow the rod to slacken, but WD40 might work, otherwise it's going to be a difficult job.
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Unplayable Fretless Bass
- Thread starter Zaiquiri
- Start date
Looking at that pic, it has awful back bow. Truss rod nut is probably jammed from an over enthusiastic attempt to straighten the neck, or not understanding which way to rotate it. It's probably jammed on now and won't allow the rod to slacken, but WD40 might work, otherwise it's going to be a difficult job.
I believe I have the same bass. It has a really thin neck. That as some have already observed has a bad back bow. Truss rod needs to loosen up. Hope the truss rod nut or the neck is not damaged, as I said the necks on these are very thin.
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Did you use the same gauge strings?
If they’re lighter gauge then they’re sitting lower in the nut slots and would be much closer to the fingerboard as a result, especially starting at the lower notes.
I have one too, and the neck is not really any different to my Tokais, maybe a little thicker, and has been absolutely fine for me. I currently have TI JR344s on it, and it plays well. I did spend some time resanding the neck to get a 1.5mm action.
Assuming there are no shims currently in the pocket, shimming can lift the raise the end of the neck or drop it (in relation to the bridge) depending on if you placed it under the back or the front of the pocket, respectively.
However, this looked like a string tension issue to me which is why I suggested shimming only after adding more string tension (which according to the OP has fixed the issue).
The lowest contact point should be the lowest point of the nut slot, so thinner strings won't change the height at the nut. They might be too low if the nut was badly cut trying to lower the height at the nut for fatter strings and wasn't cut wide enough.
The previous owner may have been using high tension flats, and then cranked the truss rod and jammed the nut. I've had this happen on a Telecaster and had to crank the rod to further straighten it (carefully), then straighten the neck to relieve the back bow then uncrank it, and the nut caught the thread and relieved the rod. I don't know if that's the approved method but it works. It's easiest if you have either clamps or six arms.
That is exactly where I’m coming from.
If it played fine with the round wounds why would the neck get out of whack just from flats?
Given the back bow, I presume it was either changed from heroic weight rounds to something like TI JF344s, or the OP cranked the truss rod the wrong way and jammed it.
The worst case scenario is that the other end of the rod has hollowed itself out a space and the nut is jammed and the whole rod is rotating. There are affordable replacement necks out there in the that case. There's also Warmoth, but I had to cut a lot off with a spoke shave to make that work for me.
That neck has a severe back-bow... it does appear bad enough to necessitate raising the saddles a great deal to attempt to overcome, which has obviously failed here.
The back-bow indicates either a terribly warped neck or an extremely overtightened truss rod. That back-bow has to be dealt with first and foremost, before messing with a neck shim, before adjusting the nut or the bridge...heck, before you even bother to try and tune the thing to pitch.
The neck has to first be made straight without any string tension at all. Then we can talk about shims or nut slots. If it can't be made straight without strings then the conversation turns to drastic measures like heating up the neck to re-shape it or tossing it in the bin and getting a new neck.
it's a Squier?
So, you've totally backed off the TR nut and removed it and the neck is still stuck in the exact same curve. Hmm. Have you tried putting pressure/force on the neck to see if you can manually add relief?
Perhaps it's time for a new neck?
You have a back bow on the neck that needs to be addressed first. I have this same issue with a bass that sat without strings for many, many years. I was able to get the neck playable, but it's not perfect. Being a fretless, it's more sensitive to having the neck set right.
I'd start by loosening the truss rod until you have slack, as I'm guessing tightening the truss rod causes more of the back bow. Try getting a set of heavy strings and getting some relief in the neck. It might take a few weeks to adjust, or it might pull it in spec instantly. If you can't get any relief in the neck that way, I'd either take it in to a shop or replace the neck. Definitely get an access ment first though.
I'd start by loosening the truss rod until you have slack, as I'm guessing tightening the truss rod causes more of the back bow. Try getting a set of heavy strings and getting some relief in the neck. It might take a few weeks to adjust, or it might pull it in spec instantly. If you can't get any relief in the neck that way, I'd either take it in to a shop or replace the neck. Definitely get an access ment first though.
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