oldslapper Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 I have a Fortress Masterman 5 string, 1999. I have played the bass without any problems and had the action set to my liking, but not new strings/truss rod tweak etc, as I was in a hurry and the multi adjustments on warwicks with justanut, bridge, sadlles, etc meant that could be done. However, it transpires it has a twist in the neck and the truss rod is stiff to the point that to move it more would risk some damage. I don't know what to do, I have contacted Warwick who want me to send the neck back and they'll put a new one on...can't afford that. Could take it to luthier and get neck sorted....can't afford that. Could take it to luthier and get defret.....can't afford that. I could live with the bass as it is, but knowing that I couldn't tweak it anymore means I'll end up hating it...bit emotional I know, but the rest of the guitar is immaculate and electronics sound as a pound. I've just lost a bit of money on a deal and am seriously broke. Could I sell this as is and see what I get, as there seem to be a lot of self-tech guys here who could sort, or defret. Should I sell just the body fully loaded? Should I pay for defret and sell as a fretless? I need to sell to raise much needed funds and am gutted about this beautiful bass having a fault. Any thoughts (other than get a life). I am no tech head, I only just about play the damn things. Thanks for any advice guys & gals Sincerely upset Oldslapper, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillbilly deluxe Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 Are they going to replace the neck free of charge ? if they are,then surely the postage costs involved would be cheaper than paying for a de-fret. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldslapper Posted December 4, 2009 Author Share Posted December 4, 2009 [quote name='hillbilly deluxe' post='674015' date='Dec 4 2009, 11:04 AM']Are they going to replace the neck free of charge ? if they are,then surely the postage costs involved would be cheaper than paying for a de-fret.[/quote] They didn't talk about new neck for free, they said if I send it back they can replace. I looked at the catalogue price for necks and assumed I'd have to pay for a new one as it's a 10 year old bass. Do they do free neck exchanges for warped ones? Blimey, I'll get back to them. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmywinks Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 The guys on the Warwick forum are really helpful, they should give you a better idea Just out of interest what sort of money would you be looking at if you were to sell the bass? Not that i should really be considering buying it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karlthebassist Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 If you love this bass, and would really rather keep it then I'd say hang on to it and get it sorted when you can afford it. A twisted neck can be fixed if its not TOO twisted. I'm no expert, but I'd be interested to see a photo of the neck twist if possible. I've re-set a twisted neck before by heating it until the glue holding the fingerboard on softened then forcing the neck into shape and clamping it in place until the glue hardened again. Needed a fret dress once it was done and it was fine. Removing the fingerboard completely, replacing trussrod and sorting the twist out with a re-planing and new board would be the best bet I suppose if the twist isnt too bad. And I cant imagine a job like that being as expensive as what Warwick would charge for a new neck... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldslapper Posted December 4, 2009 Author Share Posted December 4, 2009 Thanks Carl. I'll get a couple of quotes locally. I had thought that I could get a defret and sell on that way. Ideally I need to sell, but would rather sell with neck set right. However, I could get it to someone who who has the time, skills and money to sort it. Appreciate your time Carl. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldslapper Posted December 4, 2009 Author Share Posted December 4, 2009 I mean ..Karl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjb Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 (edited) I once did a Warwick neck replacement for the same reason. A new 4 string neck cost me about £120 if I remember correctly. Not too bad at all. Send them the bass and they'll fit it for you, otherwise you have to send the neck only. If you send the neck only you'll have to drill your own holes when you get the new neck. I priced up luthier repairs, but a new neck came out as being only about 25% more expensive. Plus it was guaranteed to work! I'd go for a replacement if I were you. Cheers Edited December 4, 2009 by rjb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldslapper Posted December 4, 2009 Author Share Posted December 4, 2009 [quote name='rjb' post='674221' date='Dec 4 2009, 02:56 PM']I once did a Warwick neck replacement for the same reason. A new 4 string neck cost me about £120 if I remember correctly. Not too bad at all. Send them the bass and they'll fit it for you, otherwise you have to send the neck only. If you send the neck only you'll have to drill your own holes when you get the new neck. I priced up luthier repairs, but a new neck came out as being only about 25% more expensive. Plus it was guaranteed to work! I'd go for a replacement if I were you. Cheers[/quote] Thanks for this. If only Warwick could give me this sort of info this quick. I've now got some info from Guitar Works, who have been really helpful this afternoon too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmywinks Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 Will they fit the old brass just-a-nut to the new neck? Worth asking them in case you get the plastic one which isn't as good I think my Fortress has had a new neck somewhere down the line (2005 to be exact!) but still has the brass nut and "West Germany" stamped machineheads, so i assume they retro-fit the old hardware onto the new neck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldslapper Posted December 5, 2009 Author Share Posted December 5, 2009 Ok had a reply. Warwick will send a new neck for £323, plus postage for my old neck. It's a beautiful bass, but I ain't got that kind of money. I'll get a quote from a couple of guys locally. Or I'll live with it, or sell as is. Somebody on the warwick forum said that his luthier loosened the rod and squirted wd40 down, and the rod came free after a bit and the neck was sorted. Love to think that was true! Anyway thanks for replies chaps. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjb Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 [quote name='oldslapper' post='675167' date='Dec 5 2009, 06:36 PM']Ok had a reply. Warwick will send a new neck for £323, plus postage for my old neck. It's a beautiful bass, but I ain't got that kind of money. I'll get a quote from a couple of guys locally. Or I'll live with it, or sell as is. Somebody on the warwick forum said that his luthier loosened the rod and squirted wd40 down, and the rod came free after a bit and the neck was sorted. Love to think that was true! Anyway thanks for replies chaps. John[/quote] Wow, that's much more than I paid a couple of years back, even taking into account the fact that I was paying for a 4 and not a 5 string neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry norton Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 [quote name='oldslapper' post='673948' date='Dec 4 2009, 10:48 AM']I have a Fortress Masterman 5 string, 1999. I have played the bass without any problems and had the action set to my liking, but not new strings/truss rod tweak etc, as I was in a hurry and the multi adjustments on warwicks with justanut, bridge, sadlles, etc meant that could be done. However, it transpires it has a twist in the neck and the truss rod is stiff to the point that to move it more would risk some damage. I don't know what to do, I have contacted Warwick who want me to send the neck back and they'll put a new one on...can't afford that. Could take it to luthier and get neck sorted....can't afford that. Could take it to luthier and get defret.....can't afford that. I could live with the bass as it is, but knowing that I couldn't tweak it anymore means I'll end up hating it...bit emotional I know, but the rest of the guitar is immaculate and electronics sound as a pound. I've just lost a bit of money on a deal and am seriously broke. Could I sell this as is and see what I get, as there seem to be a lot of self-tech guys here who could sort, or defret. Should I sell just the body fully loaded? Should I pay for defret and sell as a fretless? I need to sell to raise much needed funds and am gutted about this beautiful bass having a fault. Any thoughts (other than get a life). I am no tech head, I only just about play the damn things. Thanks for any advice guys & gals Sincerely upset Oldslapper, John[/quote] Hmmm, I'm curious about the twist in the neck. Did you look (or get it checked out by someone else) because you started having problems with it? If so, how bad are the probs? - if not, I would get on and get using it. If a neck's really twisted a defret won't do anything for its' playability either. If you've never adjusted the truss rod and you keep the same basic setup, string gauge, don't spend excessive amounts of time in rain forests etc. you really shouldn't need to adjust it now. I'll probably be shot down for this but I think quite a few truss rod breakages are down to people messing around with them too much - finding reasons to 'give it a tweak' when they don't need to. This comes from bitter experience - if you love the bass and it still works, keep it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldslapper Posted December 6, 2009 Author Share Posted December 6, 2009 [quote name='henry norton' post='676190' date='Dec 6 2009, 09:50 PM']Hmmm, I'm curious about the twist in the neck. Did you look (or get it checked out by someone else) because you started having problems with it? If so, how bad are the probs? - if not, I would get on and get using it. If a neck's really twisted a defret won't do anything for its' playability either. If you've never adjusted the truss rod and you keep the same basic setup, string gauge, don't spend excessive amounts of time in rain forests etc. you really shouldn't need to adjust it now. I'll probably be shot down for this but I think quite a few truss rod breakages are down to people messing around with them too much - finding reasons to 'give it a tweak' when they don't need to. This comes from bitter experience - if you love the bass and it still works, keep it![/quote] Yes, I'm thinking keeping is the way forward. The twist and stiff truss rod was pointed out by someone else. I never set my own basses up as I've seen other's screwing up very nice guitars for the sake of £35 investment in a luthier/tech. I think my reaction was an emotional one, it's been useful reading other's thoughts and I have a clearer idea about the bass now. Thanks for your comments and cool bike!! My brother had a commando in the 70's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDM Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 Don't a lot of old Warwicks have removable truss rods? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karlthebassist Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 Yeah, I believe I've been told that some older Warwicks (not sure how old though) can have the truss rods removed by loosening it fully (so might be a problem here) and hitting the opposite end of the guitar or neck until the end of the rod pokes out a bit. And for the love of god dont squirt wd40 down the truss rod hole lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldslapper Posted December 9, 2009 Author Share Posted December 9, 2009 Changed my mind, am flogging it, in for sale section. Don't have money to fix/buy new neck. £350 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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