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Dean Sledgehammer w/ twisted neck. What are my options?


FarFromTheTrees
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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!

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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 :(

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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.

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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.

DSH.png

Edited by FarFromTheTrees
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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. 

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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.

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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. 

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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.

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