Maruszczyk Jake 5 'sunken' truss rod nut

[benjo]

Hi all. I'm just trying out a Jake 5p.. wonder if anyone can help? The truss rod nut is about 15mm up inside the channel at the base of the neck (see pics) ..is that normal? There's some residual scuzz - glue or something - in there too. Could it have slipped? The nut is also maxed-out - it won't tighten any more - which is making me wonder if it's been abused.. The bass has 45 - 130 Ernie Ball Colbalt Flats on it which seem pretty high tension.. also wondering if the (quite thin) neck can handle them.. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks, Ben.  

*edit - the neck has a little bit of relief in it with the truss rod fully tightened*

**edit 2 - it's also making a creaking/pinging sound when I loosen or tighten the strings. Anybody experienced this? I'm wondering if it could be something to do with the zero fret or nut.. or indicative of something else.. dunno**

Edited November 24, 2018 by benjo
more info

[therealting]

45-130s aren’t super heavy strings. Sounds like the truss rod is maxed out. Creaking and pinging is probably sticky or narrow nut slots. 

[benjo]

1 hour ago, therealting said:

45-130s aren’t super heavy strings. Sounds like the truss rod is maxed out. Creaking and pinging is probably sticky or narrow nut slots. 

Thanks very much therealting 

[White Cloud]

Often overlooked, the truss rod is the most important part of any guitar/bass.

Personally, if it's maxed out I would avoid that instrument. Flats are alao generally significantly higher tension than the round alternatives ...and the ones you have described are heavy gauge.

Not a good combo in my humble opinion.

[Bassislife16]

Probably worth taking the strings off, removing the truss rod nut, grease the internal threads with some vaseline or machinist wax and either move to low tension strings or round core strings.

- That is if you want the bass to serve you well for the next however many years & to keep it within adjustment. 

Dunlops may be worth looking into, if not I’d recommend Tapewounds/Low tension flexible flats from La Bella, if rounds are your thing DR do some great Round core low tension rounds. 

Hex core strings like D’addario, Ernie Ball etc always tend to be quite a tension on the neck, especially with 5 and 6 string basses.

This has always been a problem to me, which is why nowadays I won’t buy a bass without neck reinforcements, because the amount of tension on a bass neck determined not only by string gauge but the core & materials can be a massive strain on the wood, especially when travelling and leaving your bass in tune.

 

Id recommend to keep your Maruszczyk in tip top service moving to something lower tension, not necessarily a lower gauge 😊

[therealting]

I have regular tension Fender flats and Ernie Ball Cobalt flats on my 61 and 64 Precisions so you don’t need super-reinforced necks as long as the truss rods still work well. However also consider the Thomastik Jazz Flats if you’re after lower tension flats, I have them on my Bravewood 56 and they feel very nice and sound lovely (Pino uses them on his 63).

[Andyjr1515]

I read somewhere that the Maruszczyk truss rods turn the 'wrong way round'.  That is, looking from the heel towards the nut, turning the allen wrench to the left (ie anticlockwise) tightens it.  Does the nut turn in either direction? 

If it turns anticlockwise, try that.

For those who wonder why that may be - a standard modern 2-way trussrod has two rods -  one above the other.  Normally, the rod with the nut sits at the bottom.  This is so - on a neck with headstock adjustment access - the nut is still hidden with the downward angle of the headstock.  

But, you can fit the truss rod in the other way round so that the adjusting nut is at the top.  This can be useful in a heel adjustment because the nut sits higher and gives easier access for the wrench.  However, if you turn the rod upside down, the rod is now bending the 'wrong' way and the nut needs to be turned in the opposite direction to have the desired effect.

Easier to illustrate with a photo, but I'm away from my desktop at the moment.

Anyway, @benjo - try turning it the other way unless you are already doing that

 

[benjo]

@White Cloud @Bassislife16 @therealting @Andyjr1515 - thanks very much! 

So it's either avoid this bass, or change to lower tension strings / do some work to the truss rod. If I were to look at the 'washer under the adjuster' option - would that solve the truss issue? Or  would I be then putting too much tension on the rod? 

*edit - something that is weirding me out a bit - the bass is being sold as used, but it's only a few months old. The certificate on the case says August this year.. 

Edited November 25, 2018 by benjo

[Andyjr1515]

1 minute ago, benjo said:

@White Cloud @Bassislife16 @therealting @Andyjr1515 - thanks very much! 

So it's either avoid this bass, or change to lower tension strings / do some work to the truss rod. If I were to look at the 'washer under the adjuster' option - would that solve the truss issue? Or  would I be then putting too much tension on the rod? 

 

Did you try turning the trussrod nut the other way?

[benjo]

Just now, Andyjr1515 said:

Did you try turning the trussrod nut the other way?

Yes. Thanks for that though - i did initially turn it the wrong way - there's loads of adjustment left in that direction!

[Andyjr1515]

46 minutes ago, benjo said:

Yes. Thanks for that though - i did initially turn it the wrong way - there's loads of adjustment left in that direction!

No problem.  Ref your options, if it is a modern 2 way trussrod (which I'm pretty sure it is) there isn't a removable nut like on a Gibson / Fender  so the option of adding a washer probably isn't one you can consider.

When you tried to adjust the trussrod further, did you loosen the strings and add some medium pressure to aid the backbow as you adjusted?

[therealting]

1 hour ago, benjo said:

@White Cloud @Bassislife16 @therealting @Andyjr1515 - thanks very much! 

So it's either avoid this bass, or change to lower tension strings / do some work to the truss rod. If I were to look at the 'washer under the adjuster' option - would that solve the truss issue? Or  would I be then putting too much tension on the rod? 

*edit - something that is weirding me out a bit - the bass is being sold as used, but it's only a few months old. The certificate on the case says August this year.. 

Lower tension strings may help straighten the neck a bit. Ethically, any bass that’s no longer brand new should be sold as used, even if it’s absolutely immaculate. 

[benjo]

Thank you everyone for your input on this. I took the bass to an excellent luthier here in Bristol. He took the tension off the strings and the truss rod - said the neck looked good, with a slight back-bow in it when under no tension. We then set it back up again with the same strings, then loosened the strings again before a final tune up. When he tuned it back up we were actually able to release the truss rod quite a bit - he said sometimes they can work better if you do it this way - so you're tensioning the strings against the rod, rather than the rod against the strings.. if you know what i mean. 

Also, he was impressed with the bass. Liked the weight and the slim neck. And how easy it plays. 

Anyway, I've currently got a good bit more adjustment in the rod, which I'm happy with. It also does seem sensitive to small tweaks. Might change to lighter gauge strings to see how much more that gains me, will update if i do.. but for now i'm happy I've got a good bit of headroom if i need it. I'm keeping the bass! 

Thanks again, Ben.

[Bassislife16]

I’d personally never tighten a truss rod with the strings tuned to pitch, otherwise as you say the rod is actually fighting the strings, loosening however the string tension can help bring more releif to the neck. 

 

Glad you got it sorted ok. Enjoy your bass!