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On the bench: I have a 1987 Fender P-bass reissue (made in Japan, 1962 model), and the client has never been able to get the truss rod straight enough to suit his playing style. He uses low tension LaBella flatwounds. I popped the neck and it seems to me that the truss rod is not deep enough in the neck to leverage against the tension of the strings. Are all these necks the same way? Has anyone here worked on them before, or own one? Just wondering....

https://i.imgur.com/kNIZlEj.jpg

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Chris, what’s the measurement from the fb surface to rod Center? I’m working on a partial refret of a similar era Japanese P-bass today (not Fender, though there were only so many factories cranking them out) where the rod is also a bit wimpy…


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Hey, Josh - from the fingerboard surface to the centerline of the truss rod it measures 3/8" or .375.

I found this rather scary photo of 2 different Tele necks - one with bullet, one without. The truss rod is DEEP in the neck. I bet the truss rod has come loose from the spud at the other end. Might be an expensive repair.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

If you’re not getting the neck straight, you may have simply have run out of threads on the nut and rod. Try reassembling with another washer on the rod and see if that’s more successful.


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There were 2 washers added already. I'm pretty sure the truss rod has come loose from the spud end. I've done several truss rod replacements before, but nearly all were on Gibson guitars and the curvature wasn't nearly as pronounced. The spud end was buried deeper in the neck, with a slight curve of the truss rod. The only bass truss rod's I've done were Rickenbackers which are straight, and one Music Man bass which had a curve, but not nearly as pronounced as those Fenders. Either way - it seems the fingerboard has to come off to see what's really going on. Might be an expensive repair.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Yes, I don’t relish the prospect of digging out a rod like that.

The bass here is a bullet adjustment and at the adjuster end the rod sits just 0.225” deep.

I’ve seen these rupture the board between the first fret and nut if the rod is cranked too hard.

Client has decided to buy an aftermarket neck instead of spending more to repair this one.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Sometimes that’s the least expensive route.


Steve

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Now a days necks are so cheap we have become a throw it away and replace it society and that sucks...