UPDATE: Fender Precision Nate Mendel Neck truss rod problems

[MovingPitchers]

Update on Mendel neck.

I definitely maxed it out. I was able to get a few turns using some excess brute force but when I tried turning it again, the but refused to budge. I dared not move it anymore or else it'll become firewood.

The neck without string tension has a slight upward bow so I put a small thin shim on the heel side of the neck. Under string tension, it has a little too much relief. Even with the shim, it is still far too much for me to play comfortably.

Bridge saddles have been raised to compensate for the shim which is good. Action is at a somewhat decent level but can't seem to fix the damn feet buzz from the twelfth fret onwards.

I play hard. It's my style. I do know when to back off my aggressiveness but my natural tendency is to attack the strings like Geddy Lee.

I'm seriously at a loss now. I'm on the brink of ordering an MIM P-Bass neck in maple fingerboard but it costs 269.99$ plus tax for poor Canadians.

Any other suggestions? No, I do not have a clamp or anything that I can put pressure on the neck and leave overnight. I do not have the big tools necessary to do major repairs.

 

[Turnaround]

The shim is not doing you any good, get it out of there. You need to address the amount of relief in the neck, and a shim won't alter that. First find out if the neck is in decent condition by removing the strings an backing off the truss rod until the nut is loose. Check with a straightedge to see if the neck is flat at rest. If there's significant bow in either direction, it's a problem neck and may never be right.

If the neck looks OK, and you weren't able to get the amount of relief down to where it should be, remove the truss rod nut and add a washer or two - that will give you some more action from the truss rod. Once the relief is right, adjust the saddles until the buzz above the twelfth fret goes away. Don't try to fix a buzz past the 5 th fret with the truss rod - not related.

 

[jallenbass]

The shim is not doing you any good, get it out of there. You need to address the amount of relief in the neck, and a shim won't alter that. First find out if the neck is in decent condition by removing the strings an backing off the truss rod until the nut is loose. Check with a straightedge to see if the neck is flat at rest. If there's significant bow in either direction, it's a problem neck and may never be right.

If the neck looks OK, and you weren't able to get the amount of relief down to where it should be, remove the truss rod nut and add a washer or two - that will give you some more action from the truss rod. Once the relief is right, adjust the saddles until the buzz above the twelfth fret goes away. Don't try to fix a buzz past the 5 th fret with the truss rod - not related.

I wager that... Oh, I bet you meant washer. That's what I was going to say.

Could you explain a bit about "Don't try to fix a buzz past the 5 th fret with the truss rod - not related." I thought it was how you fix those.

 

[JustForSport]

Try adding a couple washers first. The relief has to be set before the action can be set. After the relief is set, adjust the action with the saddles. That should eliminate the buzz.

 

[96tbird]

I wager that... Oh, I bet you meant washer. That's what I was going to say.

Could you explain a bit about "Don't try to fix a buzz past the 5 th fret with the truss rod - not related." I thought it was how you fix those.

He means that from the fifth DOWN to the first frets will not be affected Dy relief and you can't use the truss to sort a problem out below that point.

Get that shim outta there as he said. It's useless to your situation. Put washers under the truss nut which will allow you to flatten the neck further using the rod.

 

[MovingPitchers]

The shim is not doing you any good, get it out of there. You need to address the amount of relief in the neck, and a shim won't alter that. First find out if the neck is in decent condition by removing the strings an backing off the truss rod until the nut is loose. Check with a straightedge to see if the neck is flat at rest. If there's significant bow in either direction, it's a problem neck and may never be right.

If the neck looks OK, and you weren't able to get the amount of relief down to where it should be, remove the truss rod nut and add a washer or two - that will give you some more action from the truss rod. Once the relief is right, adjust the saddles until the buzz above the twelfth fret goes away. Don't try to fix a buzz past the 5 th fret with the truss rod - not related.

Try adding a couple washers first. The relief has to be set before the action can be set. After the relief is set, adjust the action with the saddles. That should eliminate the buzz.

He means that from the fifth DOWN to the first frets will not be affected Dy relief and you can't use the truss to sort a problem out below that point.

Get that shim outta there as he said. It's useless to your situation. Put washers under the truss nut which will allow you to flatten the neck further using the rod.

I added three washers before this. Sorry; totally forgot to mention that.

The shim is helping with the action though

 

[Turnaround]

He means that from the fifth DOWN to the first frets will not be affected Dy relief and you can't use the truss to sort a problem out below that point.

I mean that relief affects string buzz between the nut and the 5th fret. It will not sort out problems from the fifth fret to the bridge end of the neck. If you try adding more relief in an attempt to reduce buzz from the fifth fret toward the bridge, you are likely to be lowering the saddles to get lower action around the twelfth fret and that will only cause buzz from the twelfth up.