1977 4001 Setup

Vintage, Modern, V & C series, Fretless, Signature & Special Editions

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timo
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Joined: Thu Jul 23, 2009 7:01 pm

Re: 1977 4001 Setup

Post by timo »

aceonbass wrote:
timo wrote:I’ll see how this works out, although if it gets to replacing the truss rods or even removing them I may defer to an expert.
Since the rods have already bent downward at the ends, they'll do it again...and probably right away. This needs to be dealt with, so they have to come out. Cover the face of the headstock with painter's tape, grab the threaded portion of each rod (no nuts installed) and pull them out with a skinny pair of vice grips. You'll then need to cut off the threaded portion, along with an equal length of the unthreaded portion, then re-tap the threads on the longer end. This isn't nearly as complicated as it sounds, and is one of the first techie sort of things I did on one of my old Ricks. It also looks like you need a fretjob, and therefore a new nut. If you don't wanna attempt any of this work, there's a great tech north of you in Newhall named Don Butler. Also known as "The Tone Man", he has a website too.
Oof. Not what I'm hoping to get into with this "restoration", but we'll see. The bass was definitely playable before I stripped it down, so I'll see if I can get it back there before attempting anything else. Also, thanks for the tech recommendation. Good to know who is out there.
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jps
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Re: 1977 4001 Setup

Post by jps »

When I got my 4005WB back from a friend who had it for a few years, the nuts were bent down and there was some separation of the fingerboard at the first couple of frets, not to mention the huge forward bow! I pulled the rods out (my firs time doing so) and cleaned up the threads and straightened the bent down part of the rods. Once they were reinstalled all was good for another 8 years until I sold the bass. You may not, necessarily, have to cut the rods, IME.
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