Vintera II 70s Tele Bass: dud neck?

[ggiill]

Hey folks.

Ordered a Vintera II 70s Telecaster Bass in awesome Surf Green and it arrived earlier today. After tuning it up, I noticed the neck relief was super high.

Adjusted the truss rod maybe one full turn, in stages, and the relief is still too high and I’m encountering enough resistance that I’m afraid to tighten any more.

Is this bass a dud?

 

[lark_z]

I think I'd send it back

 

[Matt Liebenau]

What does the neck look like with no string tension and the truss rod loose? I think that’s a double acting rod so in the neutral position not moving the neck either way. Ideally it should be flat or pretty close.

Speaking of double acting truss rods, you probably already know this but you were turning it the right direction to straighten the neck? Clockwise if you’re looking at the nut from the end of the headstock, assuming it’s a headstock adjust.

 

[ggiill]

Thanks folks.

Checked again this morning and the relief is still too high after last adjusting last night. Confirming I know how to adjust a truss rod - it was tightened (clockwise) looking down the headstock.

Going to exchange it since I love the look and sound of the bass, and I think this one is just a dud.

 

[ggiill]

Figure I’ll just update here for posterity:

Brought it to [big_box_store] and the guitar tech there agreed with me. Truss rod was maxed out. They processed the return/exchange and I should be getting a replacement in a couple days.

 

[andare]

Figure I’ll just update here for posterity:

Brought it to [big_box_store] and the guitar tech there agreed with me. Truss rod was maxed out. They processed the return/exchange and I should be getting a replacement in a couple days.

Fingers crossed you get a good one this time!

 

[ggiill]

Got the replacement yesterday. Neck relief was already way better after tuning it right out of the box - only needed a slight adjustment to get to the desired relief.

I proceeded to:

• Install a better capacitor (Emerson Custom 0.047uf)
• Swap the bridge with the Fender American High-Mass Vintage Bridge
• Install a custom thumb rest that I carved out of ebony
• Install D’Addario / Planet Waves end pins (strap buttons) - huge fan of these
• Put on some Labella 45 flats
• Micro-tilt + action + intonation adjustments
• Pickup height + pole piece adjustments
• Souldier strap

It plays like a dream and sounds amazing. It’s got a ton of mojo, which is how I like ‘em. Love the maple/maple neck/fingerboard. Not minding the slab body at all. Excited to add this one to my small but groovy collection.

 

[C Stone]

Got the replacement yesterday. Neck relief was already way better after tuning it right out of the box - only needed a slight adjustment to get to the desired relief.

I proceeded to:

• Install a better capacitor (Emerson Custom 0.047uf)
• Swap the bridge with the Fender American High-Mass Vintage Bridge
• Install a custom thumb rest that I carved out of ebony
• Install D’Addario / Planet Waves end pins (strap buttons) - huge fan of these
• Put on some Labella 45 flats
• Micro-tilt + action + intonation adjustments
• Pickup height + pole piece adjustments
• Souldier strap

It plays like a dream and sounds amazing. It’s got a ton of mojo, which is how I like ‘em. Love the maple/maple neck/fingerboard. Not minding the slab body at all. Excited to add this one to my small but groovy collection.

Congrats and good call, enjoy your bass.

 

[andare]

Got the replacement yesterday. Neck relief was already way better after tuning it right out of the box - only needed a slight adjustment to get to the desired relief.

I proceeded to:

• Install a better capacitor (Emerson Custom 0.047uf)
• Swap the bridge with the Fender American High-Mass Vintage Bridge
• Install a custom thumb rest that I carved out of ebony
• Install D’Addario / Planet Waves end pins (strap buttons) - huge fan of these
• Put on some Labella 45 flats
• Micro-tilt + action + intonation adjustments
• Pickup height + pole piece adjustments
• Souldier strap

It plays like a dream and sounds amazing. It’s got a ton of mojo, which is how I like ‘em. Love the maple/maple neck/fingerboard. Not minding the slab body at all. Excited to add this one to my small but groovy collection.

What does the $28 custom capacitor do that a normal capacitor can't?

 

[ggiill]

What does the $28 custom capacitor do that a normal capacitor can't?

lol was waiting for a comment like this. It’s cool because it’s paper-in-oil and looks really cool when you open up the bass.

 

[el murdoque]

AFAIK the Vintera basses come with a not-so-cool variety of capacitor (?).
I've had the same mod done (Orange Drop, .047uF) by my local shop's P bass expert, along with a pickup swap (Aguilar 60P). I wanted the pickup swap and the P Bass guy told me about the capacitor thing and threw in that mod for free, so I went with his expertise.

 

[andare]

AFAIK the Vintera basses come with a not-so-cool variety of capacitor (?).
I've had the same mod done (Orange Drop, .047uF) by my local shop's P bass expert, along with a pickup swap (Aguilar 60P). I wanted the pickup swap and the P Bass guy told me about the capacitor thing and threw in that mod for free, so I went with his expertise.

Tone capacitors simply bleed high end to ground. The only thing that matters is the actual value because it determines which frequencies are filtered out. You can't hear those frequencies so the type of capacitor doesn't matter.

Vinteras come with greenies - little chiclet-looking caps that work very well but may have flimsy leads.
Orange drops are bigger (rated for higher voltage, which doesn't matter in a guitar) with sturdy leads, easy to handle and solder.
Paper in oil caps contain oil from Soviet reptiles of the limbless, crawling, forked-tongued kind. Not even that expensive if bought on eBay but definitely exorbitantly priced once repackaged.

Companies that sell custom tone caps usually rip you off. One such company was even caught selling regular capacitors made to look like expensive paper-in-oil caps. I believe their headquarters used to be in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

 

[ggiill]

Tone capacitors simply bleed high end to ground. The only thing that matters is the actual value because it determines which frequencies are filtered out. You can't hear those frequencies so the type of capacitor doesn't matter.

Vinteras come with greenies - little chiclet-looking caps that work very well but may have flimsy leads.
Orange drops are bigger (rated for higher voltage, which doesn't matter in a guitar) with sturdy leads, easy to handle and solder.
Paper in oil caps contain oil from Soviet reptiles of the limbless, crawling, forked-tongued kind. Not even that expensive if bought on eBay but definitely exorbitantly priced once repackaged.

Companies that sell custom tone caps usually rip you off. One such company was even caught selling regular capacitors made to look like expensive paper-in-oil caps. I believe their headquarters used to be in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Yeah I just like the way they look and it makes me feel like the bass is cooler.

 

[el murdoque]

Paper in oil caps contain oil from Soviet reptiles of the limbless, crawling, forked-tongued kind. Not even that expensive if bought on eBay but definitely exorbitantly priced once repackaged.

This made my day. Thanks.