FarFromTheTrees Posted December 16, 2019 Posted December 16, 2019 I have a Dean Sledgehammer 5 which I was modifying for a band project, and I love the thing. I took the strings off because I was removing the lacquer from the fretboard, and overnight the neck developed a twist. Looking up from the bottom of the neck it twists to the left. I'm a bit vexed as I bought a darkglass tonecapsule to put in this bass some months ago and it is obviously now too late to return it. Add to that the £150 I paid for the bass and i'm in the hole more than I wanted to be. I emailed Dean guitars to see if they could sell me a replacement neck but they said they don't sell parts. Is there an easy fix for this i'm not aware of? The only thing I can think of is looking for a cheap bass with similar neck dimensions and asking a local luthier to marry them up? Though i've never dealt with a twisted neck before so I dont know what my (cheapest) options are. Cheers! Quote
BassBunny Posted December 16, 2019 Posted December 16, 2019 There are a number of posts on here about ways to straighten twisted and warped necks and I'm sure someone will be along to offer advice. Don't give up yet. Quote
gary mac Posted December 17, 2019 Posted December 17, 2019 If it definitely only twisted once the strings were removed, have you tried putting them back on? Quote
FarFromTheTrees Posted December 17, 2019 Author Posted December 17, 2019 13 hours ago, BassBunny said: There are a number of posts on here about ways to straighten twisted and warped necks and I'm sure someone will be along to offer advice. Don't give up yet. I'll go have a look and see what I can find. I did a cursory google about this prior to posting and the general consensus seemed to be to strip the frets out, clamp it between straight pieces of wood and steam it. I don't really have the know how to do that though and it would probably just be a lot of wasted effort and even more money. 5 hours ago, gary mac said: If it definitely only twisted once the strings were removed, have you tried putting them back on? Hi. Yeah I put the strings back on but its made no difference. I think the truss rod is buggered as well. I cant get it to budge and the threads in the nut have all been stripped Quote
gary mac Posted December 17, 2019 Posted December 17, 2019 That's not good then. If you know what you're doing and can clamp the neck to get it straight, you might then have more of a chance at getting the truss rod nut loosened. Quote
FarFromTheTrees Posted December 17, 2019 Author Posted December 17, 2019 3 hours ago, gary mac said: That's not good then. If you know what you're doing and can clamp the neck to get it straight, you might then have more of a chance at getting the truss rod nut loosened. Ergh its not looking good then. I'm a bit gutted really because the bass is in otherwise excellent shape. And I love the way it looks too, sort of the bastard offspring of a warwick thumb and a warwick dolphin. Seems a shame to waste it. The body is swamp ash I believe. Quote
3below Posted December 17, 2019 Posted December 17, 2019 Worst case scenario, get a replacement neck made. I can highly recommend Jon Shuker, there are many good luthiers about. Quote
FarFromTheTrees Posted December 17, 2019 Author Posted December 17, 2019 (edited) 44 minutes ago, 3below said: Worst case scenario, get a replacement neck made. I can highly recommend Jon Shuker, there are many good luthiers about. I considered that as well. But that's the final straw really as it's quite an expensive option for a bass that isn't worth a whole lot. I guess it comes down to how much I want to breathe life back into this thing. Edited December 17, 2019 by FarFromTheTrees 1 Quote
FarFromTheTrees Posted December 23, 2019 Author Posted December 23, 2019 A little update... I found out that this bass has a dual-action truss rod. So given the fixed "nut" has been stripped, that means it needs the truss-rod replaced. Woe. Woe is me Quote
ped Posted December 23, 2019 Posted December 23, 2019 Hm I don’t know how a broken truss rod would lead to a twist.. sounds like the neck is just made badly. I think a broken truss rod would mean extreme levels of relief but not necessarily a twist. Might be wrong but normally I’ve seen twists because of improper storage or the wood used has a flaw so it bends over time. I mean your truss rod sounds knackered anyway but I don’t know if it will fix the twist but then maybe it’s not that severe. Quote
FarFromTheTrees Posted December 23, 2019 Author Posted December 23, 2019 53 minutes ago, ped said: Hm I don’t know how a broken truss rod would lead to a twist.. sounds like the neck is just made badly. I think a broken truss rod would mean extreme levels of relief but not necessarily a twist. Might be wrong but normally I’ve seen twists because of improper storage or the wood used has a flaw so it bends over time. I mean your truss rod sounds knackered anyway but I don’t know if it will fix the twist but then maybe it’s not that severe. Yeah I dont think its related to the twist, but it was impossible to do anything with the truss rod with the nut being stripped. But of course now I know its not a nut that can be replaced as it's attached to the truss rod itself. Bugger. Quote
3below Posted December 23, 2019 Posted December 23, 2019 You might (and it is a big might) get lucky (it will be a lot of luck) with the truss rod. Depending on how it has been installed and the type, some dual action rods can be pulled out and a new one pushed in. Try gripping the truss adjuster with some small nosed pliers and see if it will pull out. In my bass and cbg build I have tried by judicious routing to ensure the truss rod can be pulled out in the event of a breakage. A good luthier should be able to get the fingerboard off, plane the twist out (or other suitable fixes), replace the rod and re-affix the fingerboard for not too much money. Good luck with it, you have my sympathy, you might imagine how P***d I was when I broke the fingerboard on my G&L L1505 with the truss rod compressing the wood inside the neck. Quote
FarFromTheTrees Posted December 24, 2019 Author Posted December 24, 2019 13 hours ago, 3below said: You might (and it is a big might) get lucky (it will be a lot of luck) with the truss rod. Depending on how it has been installed and the type, some dual action rods can be pulled out and a new one pushed in. Try gripping the truss adjuster with some small nosed pliers and see if it will pull out. In my bass and cbg build I have tried by judicious routing to ensure the truss rod can be pulled out in the event of a breakage. A good luthier should be able to get the fingerboard off, plane the twist out (or other suitable fixes), replace the rod and re-affix the fingerboard for not too much money. Good luck with it, you have my sympathy, you might imagine how P***d I was when I broke the fingerboard on my G&L L1505 with the truss rod compressing the wood inside the neck. Oh really? I'll have to have a bash at this then. Thanks very much. I havent decided if i'll take it to a luthier yet. I'll get some quotes done and see if it'll be worth the extra expense. There's some great videos on neck straightening on youtube that make it look like a relatively straight forward process. Ouch, your poor G&L. I'd have been mortified. 1 Quote
3below Posted December 24, 2019 Posted December 24, 2019 31 minutes ago, FarFromTheTrees said: Ouch, your poor G&L. I'd have been mortified. I was extremely mortified at the time. The crack of the fingerboard as I tweaked the truss rod will not be forgotten in a long time. Quote
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