cameltoe Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 I've posted a couple of threads on here since I picked up my JV4**** P bass back in December, mainly how about on 3rd January, the unthinkable happened and the truss snapped. Before i'd even rehearsed with it. Well I can now report it seems to be fixed! A lot of brute force, research, and luck has gone in, but the neck now appears to be mended. After the truss snapped, I initially did some research and thought the stewmac truss repair kit would work. After a recommendation on here, I sent the neck to London to luthier Graham Parker. Unfortunately the kit didn't work- the truss metal was very poor and kept stripping the thread.(he very kindly did not charge me for this- unbelievable service!) I received the neck back thinking it was game over. Decided to see what I could achieve myself, and set about googling like mad to see how these truss rods work. Turns out they were pushed in through the headstock, so I decided to see if it would come out that way. Drilled the walnut plug out and used a nail punch to hammer the broken truss out from the heel end- this wasn't easy, but eventually it came all the way out, with the help of some molegrips. Took the broken truss to a local engineer who made me a copy, with a threaded anchor and the correct heel thread. Had to add a couple of spot welds to the anchor as this was slightly too small and would not have held firm in the headstock. Tonight, it has been bashed in to the empty neck, and is now adjusting quite brilliantly. I've had to add a spacer to the heel end as it was bottoming out at first as the rod was a touch too long, but it's now working great! I've set it up very roughly- now going to let it all settle for a while before I get the relief perfect, but the truss is working great. Total cost? Set of nail punches (£5) Paint scraper to remove poly neatly from walnut headstock plug (£3) New truss (£10) New truss nut (£6) I also have to factor in the cost of sending the bass to Graham Parker (and return) at £11 each way. Only damage is a few nicks on the headstock, the walnut plug (which I will replace) and the slightly enlarged truss nut cavity- this is bored out slightly wider for the stew-mac kit to cut a new thread. All being well, with a bit of care and attention the new walnut plug should touch up Ok, then it's good as new. Very happy tonight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick's Fine '52 Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Great result, and good method. Leo always made things simple, to allow any repair to be carried out quickly, once you have the replacement parts of course. Another great bass saved. Good work fella!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cameltoe Posted February 22, 2014 Author Share Posted February 22, 2014 (edited) [quote name='Rick's Fine '52' timestamp='1393100973' post='2376280'] Great result, and good method. Leo always made things simple, to allow any repair to be carried out quickly, once you have the replacement parts of course. Another great bass saved. Good work fella!! [/quote] Thanks dude, I always figured that would be the case, but spoke to many luthiers most of whom suggested binning the neck, and the advice on here was similar. Seems most have never tried to replace a truss. With a bit of determination, it can be done. With te one-piece maple neck 'vintage' style, it's even easier, as the truss is able to just slide out the way it came. Surprising how little info is on the web about this though. Edited February 22, 2014 by cameltoe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassTractor Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 (edited) Great work, man, and that was an inspiring read as well. Thanks for posting it, and congrats on the result! Edited February 22, 2014 by BassTractor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowieBass Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Really good news; very pleased to know that the bass is back in action! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BetaFunk Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Well done, great job, you must be really pleased. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Congratulations, so happy to hear this, I'm sure we all felt your pain when that rod snapped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom1946 Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 I think that's great, well done! Since I've retired I have done a lot of things that were 'beyond me' and like you I found that with a bit of determination most things can be done. I'm currently making brackets to fit gas struts to my MX5's boot lid as it won't stay up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreeneKing Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Great news. A happy ending Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_5 Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Hooray for everything - a great result! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicman20 Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveFry Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 When the professionals say its all over , it is great to make the fat lady sing again . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madshadows Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Stellar job, well done John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cameltoe Posted February 24, 2014 Author Share Posted February 24, 2014 Cheers all! It's playing sweet now- better than before. Truss is settling in nicely now and hasn't budged since last adjustment. Just need to make a neat job of plugging the walnut dowel back in now! Great basses! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Adams Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 I had exactly the same on a £50 Jazz copy I foolishly bought from Ebay. It seems they always snap when they are almost right? I did the same, bearing in mind I wasn't too bothered about the result as I only wanted something for taking outdoors with me when fishing! Drilled a hole in the heel and pulled and pulled. Welded, replaced etc etc, cost me nothing but saved throwing it away, but I couldn't keep it after that, sold it on to a mate for £40.00, lesson learned. Mate gave it to his son, who apparently played it in the Cavern Club in Liverpool, so can't be all bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Really good to hear. Very happy for you. I have an old Precision neck from the early 80s that has a truss that tightens and loosens fine but has no effect on the relief of the neck. Luckily it's 'stuck' in an almost straight position so is still very usable and enables me to get a decent action on it. But it's good to know, that if things don't continue that way, there's a way to get the truss rod working again without breaking the bank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cameltoe Posted February 24, 2014 Author Share Posted February 24, 2014 [quote name='Phil Adams' timestamp='1393256240' post='2377825'] I had exactly the same on a £50 Jazz copy I foolishly bought from Ebay. It seems they always snap when they are almost right? [/quote] Yep, mine was playable, the action was good but not perfect. Getting it perfect was what caused the break! I'm of the conclusion mine was bottoming out as any adjustment only lasted a few hours before it went back to how it was before. It was very hard to turn as well. In hindsight I reckon this was the rod twisting and untwisting itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingus Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 I am absolutely delighted to hear that this has turned out right, and in such a relatively economical way!. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Adams Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 [quote name='cameltoe' timestamp='1393267369' post='2378037'] Yep, mine was playable, the action was good but not perfect. Getting it perfect was what caused the break! I'm of the conclusion mine was bottoming out as any adjustment only lasted a few hours before it went back to how it was before. It was very hard to turn as well. In hindsight I reckon this was the rod twisting and untwisting itself. [/quote] One more turn Del Boy....... BANG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musky Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Great outcome, and very useful info that these can be repaired relatively painlessly. It's quite amazing that this doesn't seem to be a standard fix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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