Telebass Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Around a year ago, i posted about the problems with my 2003 MIM P-bass neck. Basically, something somewhere was compressing, meaning I could never get the rod to set properly. I contacted Fender about this, and they were entirely willing to inspect it, and replace the neck. However, I've done a couple of hundred gigs with this bass, and the neck is simply lovely, so I let this go in the hope of discovering a workaround of some sort. This gave me an excuse to spend some dosh on a set of TI Jazz Flats, as they are very low tension. Absolutley brilliant strings, and slowed the problem to a crawl. However, it did not stop the problem, so the other day, I stripped the neck off and gave it a good looking at. The truss rod butt was hidden under an inspection label, so off that came, and the problem was instantly revealed. I'd already added a washer to the adjusting end of the rod, as it's commonly that end where the wood compresses. But no, the butt cylinder was quite well into the neck wood, maybe 1.5mm (this with the tension off - probably worse under load). What to do? There's a gap at the end of the skunk stripe. My thinking was if I could fill that with something hard, then it would prevent the continuous movement of the butt cylinder. The 'something' turned out to be a 13-amp plug pin. Take one such pin, remove the shrouding plastic, then snap off the socket end of the pin. Gently tap into place, having first tapped the slack truss rod down against the butt end of the neck. Reset everything, reassemble bass, put some rod tension on, and restring. After appropriate tweaking, great action which seems entirely stable after 48 hours. Potential downsides: the end of the skunk stripe is taking some of the truss rod pressure. No biggie if it's glued in well, and walnut is a pretty hard wood. So let's see what a few gigs does to it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJW Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Telebass.... I followed your instructions and everything seemed great until I tried to play through my amp and now my amp won't power on at all let alone make sound! What has happened?!?!?!?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truckstop Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 (edited) That would sound like it's a problem with your amp more than anything else? Truckstop edit: nevermind, just got it! Edited June 1, 2011 by Truckstop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJW Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 sorry i'm off to get my coat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Telebass Posted June 1, 2011 Author Share Posted June 1, 2011 I must admit, if you read that with a distinctly lateral switch on in your brain, all the talk of rods and butt cylinders is a bit disturbing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJW Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 In all seriousness though, sounds like an ingenious fix! I'd be intrigued to hear how it holds up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Telebass Posted June 1, 2011 Author Share Posted June 1, 2011 I'll not ever put heavier strings on than the TIs, so we'll see how long it lasts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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