SD Curlee Hondo II

[W1_Pro]

Thats quite a nice looking bass actually. Is that the actual one you bought from the catalogue?

[W1_Pro]

Reminds me a bit of one of those Westbury track 2's. One of which I've been after for years but you just don't see them very often.

 

[pst62]

59 minutes ago, W1_Pro said:

Thats quite a nice looking bass actually. Is that the actual one you bought from the catalogue?

No, that's a pic I found online, it's identical to the one I had.

[pst62]

59 minutes ago, W1_Pro said:

Reminds me a bit of one of those Westbury track 2's. One of which I've been after for years but you just don't see them very often.

 

Those Hondos do pop up on Facebook Marketplace quite often, but would you're risk buying on there?

[W1_Pro]

25 minutes ago, pst62 said:

Those Hondos do pop up on Facebook Marketplace quite often, but would you're risk buying on there?

I have and I would. I can only speak for myself of course, but buying stuff on FB marketplace I've generally found to be OK. Selling on the other hand I have found to be a waking nightmare inhabited by a miasma of tyre kickers and time wasters.  Anyhow, I shall keep an eye out, thanks for the steer!

[W1_Pro]

So after a very long break I'm resurecting this thread in a search for some advice. I got the bass back together to find that the neck, and/or the truss rod has a fairly serious fault. The action is very high all the way up the neck. I cranked the truss rod as tight as I could, which makes it slightly better, however when this is done the nut at the base of the neck- which is the truss rod adjustment- sits at a pretty alarming angle.  My best guess is that the truss rod is knackered.  So, I don't just want to bin the bass, the refret actually went very well and the neck, now its sanded and oiled, feels very nice. I think then, I need to replace the truss rod. Given that this is a hideously awkward job (I'll need to rout out the skunk stripe, remove the old one and refit the new one this way), and I really can't afford to pay somone to do this - it would be nuts considering what the bass is worth- I was wondering if anyone could suggest a method for routing out the stripe. I've got a decent router, I guess I'll need to make some kind of jig? Suggestions, advice and encouragement welcome.... I've attached a few shots below..The bridge is already as low as it can go.

Edited 21 hours ago by W1_Pro

[Andyjr1515]

Hi, @W-1Pro  - hope all good with you!  It's been a long time  

 

Remember:

- the truss rod is not there to change the action height.  It's there to keep the neck straight.  My strong advice is to loosen it back to where it was ASAP so it doesn't break something.  When I get a moment tomorrow I'll post some simple instructions how to set the truss rod at the right tension  

 

- especially seeing that this is a sort of bolt-on-neck, almost certainly  the neck needs a shim in the body side of the neck pocket.  We are not talking anything of significant thickness...put in the right place, a thin shim can make a HUGE difference to action height  

[neepheid]

It's important enough to say it twice - do NOT use your truss rod as a means to control string height/action.  That it has a small effect upon string height when you're adjusting at it is neither here nor there.  It's there to control neck relief, to keep the neck straight (or with a very slight concave bow in it) to counteract the forces being placed on it by the strings.

[W1_Pro]

9 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

Hi, @W-1Pro  - hope all good with you!  It's been a long time  

 

Remember:

- the truss rod is not there to change the action height.  It's there to keep the neck straight.  My strong advice is to loosen it back to where it was ASAP so it doesn't break something.  When I get a moment tomorrow I'll post some simple instructions how to set the truss rod at the right tension  

 

- especially seeing that this is a sort of bolt-on-neck, almost certainly  the neck needs a shim in the body side of the neck pocket.  We are not talking anything of significant thickness...put in the right place, a thin shim can make a HUGE difference to action height  

Hello Andy,

good to hear from you and thanks for the sage advice. The truss rod has already been de tensioned. In fact it was in these pictuures. It made a bit of difference to the action height, but you are right of course, adjusting it is not going to cure this. I did consider a shim. I was a bit leery of fitting one as I thought it might mess up the seating of the bridge, whch of course sits on top of the neck but it has to be worth a try!  I shall do some experimenting and report back.

[Maude]

10 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

 

 

- especially seeing that this is a sort of bolt-on-neck, almost certainly  the neck needs a shim in the body side of the neck pocket.  We are not talking anything of significant thickness...put in the right place, a thin shim can make a HUGE difference to action height  

Although the neck bolts to the body, it's more like neck through stick bass with bolt on wings. The bridge and pickups mount to the central neck piece. If you lost the controls you could effectively use the bass without the body at all, almost. 

It's a bit early but I can't see that you could shim the neck to change angle. 

[Hellzero]

You can shim this bolt-on neckthrough, but it won't solve the problem unless you sand the upper part of the neck flat with the body so that the bridge sits flat again.

 

This will work.

 

PS: You can sand the part under the bridge only, which would allow a going back, in case it was necessary.

 

Edited 8 hours ago by Hellzero
PS added

[Chienmortbb]

Over the years I have installed and removed many shims and the main advice I can give is to start small, as @Andyjr1515 says. I now use the matal shi,s from Warman https://www.warmanguitars.co.uk/product/set-of-4-brass-guitar-neck-shims-3-different-thicknesses-in-one-set/

 

Easy to fit and easy to change to a different thickness. The main thing to remember is that it takes several changes at each stage to get things just right. 

[Bassassin]

3 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

Over the years I have installed and removed many shims and the main advice I can give is to start small, as @Andyjr1515 says. I now use the matal shi,s from Warman https://www.warmanguitars.co.uk/product/set-of-4-brass-guitar-neck-shims-3-different-thicknesses-in-one-set/

 

Easy to fit and easy to change to a different thickness. The main thing to remember is that it takes several changes at each stage to get things just right. 

 

A conventional pocket shim won't work on this bass - it has an extended 'heel' which extends back to, and constitutes part of the anchor point of the bridge, or a previous poster described it, a bolt-on through-neck.

 

If it's the neck angle rather than curvature that's leading to an uncorrectable high action, unfortunately this will need the neck itself to be addressed, by accurately removing wood from the entire length of the back of the 'heel' - at the correct angle to bring the strings closer to the fretboard. That's not a job I'd feel confident tackling!

[W1_Pro]

2 hours ago, Bassassin said:

 

A conventional pocket shim won't work on this bass - it has an extended 'heel' which extends back to, and constitutes part of the anchor point of the bridge, or a previous poster described it, a bolt-on through-neck.

 

If it's the neck angle rather than curvature that's leading to an uncorrectable high action, unfortunately this will need the neck itself to be addressed, by accurately removing wood from the entire length of the back of the 'heel' - at the correct angle to bring the strings closer to the fretboard. That's not a job I'd feel confident tackling!

Me neither.

[W1_Pro]

8 hours ago, Maude said:

Although the neck bolts to the body, it's more like neck through stick bass with bolt on wings. The bridge and pickups mount to the central neck piece. If you lost the controls you could effectively use the bass without the body at all, almost. 

It's a bit early but I can't see that you could shim the neck to change angle. 

Part of the issue, as far as I can see is that the pickup and the bridge attach to both the extended neck heel and the body of the bass. So changing one angle affects the other two. Ho hum. 

[W1_Pro]

Apparently that last reply earned me a 'Basschat hero' badge. I feel quite emotional....😆

[prowla]

So, it looks like the neck-lift issue lies between the end of the neck and the bridge.

My guess is the weak-point is the thinnest part under the "P" pickups.

It might be possible to "persuade" it back by adapting it to a string-thru arrangement or adding extra screws to clamp down the underside of the bridge end of the neck extension where the backplate sits, but that might also just introduce another issue.

Edited 1 hour ago by prowla