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Wood rottening?

BassOliverB

BassOliverB

Mar 31, 2013
222
21
Copenhagen, Denmark
#1
Hi guys,
I am doing a cleaning project on my SBMM Ray 34. I took the neck of and ran into this:
IMG_2306.JPG

So what's up? Is the wood rottening up or what? Can I fix this?

Sincerely
Oliver
 
#3
I bought it new... I haven't taken it apart before (maybe once...) and I haven't been using any oils or chemicals on it... May be something from the factory...
Anyways, a friend of mine told me that if it is dry there is nothing to worry about. (And it is dry)

But if anyone knows what this is, I would appreciate to know! :-)
 
#4
Goatrope said:
Yuck. Did you buy that bass used? I doubt its rot. Looks like someone sprayed the "wheel" with a lube of some sort. Maybe they tried to oil it.

If you bought new, I don't know what to think.
Click to expand...

I'm with you on this one. Looks like it's been lubed and the excess ran to the lowest point. Is it still wet? Can a portion be scraped off with a fingernail? To be on the safe side, I'd remove the spoke TR nut and clean out whatever residue I can reach at the neck heel. Same goes for the neck pocket. Try some #0000 steel wool to minimize its presence. I'd be really hesitant to chase it with any other agents. There's a really good chance some has wicked into the wood grain and will be ever-present unless you do some judicious sanding. The stain on the back of the neck heel, OTOH, looks like it will come off a little more easily with a few swipes of the steel wool.

Riis
 
#5
Definitely not rot, I am going to third the opinion that it is just excessive lubrication of the truss rod nut. I wouldn't worry about it to much, you can't see it and its not going to effect how it plays or the tone of the instrument
 
#9
I'm thinking it's not excess stain........I'll go with some kind of oil.

There is a green tinge....which looks like bacteria.

Many oils have the ability harbor and grow bacteria........especially oils that contain no anti-bacterial agent.

A typical example of this is lesser-expensive cheapo marine engine oil...leave it for an extended long time and it will thicken up and become useless from the bacteria growing in it.
 
#10
I'd clean it up with denatured alcohol (being careful of the finish) and re-assemble. Looks like someone was an idiot trying to lube a truss rod nut, although the photo doesn't show that part of the neck well.

And I'm trying REALLY HARD not to get into the mania some people have for oiling fretboards. :bag: It couldn't POSSIBLY have anything to do with this.........
 
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#11
If the wood isn't soft there, it is not rotting. Press some paper towel really hard on the stain and see if it soaks anything up. If it does, all you can do is try soaking it up as much as you can and I would use Naptha on it to lift oil. If nothing comes on the paper, wipe with Naptha anyway and put it back together.
 
#12
That looks like over-application of old-fashioned Cosmoline industrial lubricant to me. If the wood isn't soft, don't worry about it. Unsightly, yes. Structurally significant? No.

I respectfully disagree with one point above: DON'T use steel wool. The steel fibers will get into the electronics and foul up everything worse than the neck pocket discoloration. A small strip of very fine sandpaper wrapped around a very small tool to carefully see if it is just a surface stain issue. If it has penetrated, you have to live with it because it will involve removing too much wood to clean it up, compromising the neck pocket.

Since you have six neck screws, it is definitely not a structural issue. Three will hold a bass neck. ('70's Fender Jazz Basses). Four is standard; five is overkill; six is surviving armeggedon.
 
#13
iiipopes said:
DON'T use steel wool. The steel fibers will get into the electronics and foul up everything worse than the neck pocket discoloration.
Click to expand...

Agreed- It functions correctly now- if it's not rot (and very likely not), you don't want steel fibers sticking to the pickups (and the strings are magnetized also, when near the pickups and being played), so you don't need to deal with that.

iiipopes said:
If it has penetrated, you have to live with it
Click to expand...

What ever doesn't come off with a dry rag is best left there- it's out of sight anyway. A solvent will just thin whatever it is and allow it to migrate further into the wood.
 

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