Sandberg neck problems

[John Cellario]

My 6 month old custom Sandberg California TM4 is having to be returned from the UK back to Germany for a new neck as the neck action has gone very high at the top end. The guitar tech at the dealer reckons it has warped and twisted and could not be put right with truss rod adjustment.

It has not been adjusted by myself or left in any extreme temperatures, and I'm also extremely careful how I treat my gear. Probably going to take a couple of months to put right. Not what I expected from my dream bass costing £1,500. Feeling pretty devastated to say the least!

Am wondering if I should have gone for maybe a Lakland with carbon fibre in the neck?

[JapanAxe]

A bit alarmed to hear this, being a VM4 owner myself. I have had mine nearly a year, so I'm thinking any problem should have showed itself by now. However I recently fitted higher tension strings (45-105 Chrome flats in place of the 40-100 rounds it came with), so I'm hoping this won't cause bother.

Thinking about it, that's got to be an issue with the wood grain - a duff but of timber getting through the QC process?

[White Cloud]

Sorry to hear about this.

This can potentially happen to any bass with a wooden neck. Same happened to my very expensive Jaydee back in the day. Unfortunately you have been extremely unlucky. For what it's worth I also owned a Lakland skyline that developed a very nasty neck crack.

[Dingus]

[quote name='White Cloud' timestamp='1383926774' post='2270930']
Sorry to hear about this.

This can potentially happen to any bass with a wooden neck. Same happened to my very expensive Jaydee back in the day. Unfortunately you have been extremely unlucky. For what it's worth I also owned a Lakland skyline that developed a very nasty neck crack.
[/quote]

Big +1 on this .

Unfortunately , wood is an organic and therefore somewhat unpredicatable material . With the best will in the world , it is inevitable that now and again you will get a piece of wood with some hidden defect making it unsuitable to make a bass neck with . There could be a knot or similar inconsistancy inside the wood and therefore not visible to the eye which has caused the neck to warp . I expect just about every bass maker has had this problem occur from time to time. Judge them by what they do to put it right.

Regarding alternatives , you would only get a graphite reinforced quartersawn neck on a USA- made Lakland four string , and a new one of those would have cost around twice the £1500 you payed for the Sandberg.

[John Cellario]

Thanks for the sympathies men!....the guitar tech guy said he'd only seen one neck like this before but then added it can happen even to the 'big' manufacturers.

JapanAxe...just interested to know if your VM4 neck has moved at all, or if you've had to adjust the truss rod...mine only started moving since the summer ended.

[stingrayPete1977]

As much as it sucks it can and does happen to all brands from time to time, I recall that bent stingray neck about a year ago as in side to side! Id go with Dingus and judge them by their actions in the long run, hopefully it will still be your dream bass with a tale of great customer service

[busccini]

this can happend ,its happend to my with a 2000 euros mayones , i think this happen offen with big brands , maybe they produce too much and use young wood , good luck