'75 4001FL - truss rod troubles

ilan · Post by **ilan** » Sat Jul 23, 2005 9:33 am

What Bob said. I have done this not long ago on a '73 that had a ski-slope neck, I was nervous at first but I got a lot of good advice here and finally gathered up the courage, pulled the rods out (easily), had a machinist cut off an inch from the rods and re-thread them, adjusted properly with a set of light tension roundwounds, did some fret dressing while I was at it (well it's a 32 year old bass) and now the neck is straight as an arrow and the action is low.

endlessbassic · Post by **endlessbassic** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 7:58 am

Thanks a lot, everyone.. this is a ton of info to process, but i think i've found a reputable machine shop that i'll be using for this. The idea of having hard-steel threaded ends welded on is very appealing, so i'll prob. see how much that will run me, and i need to get 2 new nuts made, as the old ones are shot (don't want to wind up in the same boat by repeating myself!). Thanks for the pic, Ilan.. that does help to see what i'll be dealing with!
I'll keep everyone posted on the progess! Thanks again..

green_us90 · Post by **green_us90** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 9:23 am

MMMMMM and Ilan's bas is mellowed white.......MMMMMM

Ilan, does this one have the black plexi TRC? wich 1/2 inch spacing on the neck P/up?

ilan · Post by **ilan** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 10:17 am

Yes and yes.

charlyg · Post by **charlyg** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 10:31 am

Yeah,yeah is more lyrical!!!!

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 3:46 pm

Cale, I think it ended up costing me about 50-60 bucks but was well worth it, this bass is extremely reliable now, I do also leave a slight bow in the neck, maybe about two business cards worth right in the middle of the neck with both ends fretted, it feels better to me and you get a bigger sound that way, some basses need more, some need less. (This description courtesy of Paul Yan).

ilan · Post by **ilan** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 1:42 am

I set up mine almost dead straight on the treble side, and a very slight bow (<1 business card in the middle) on the bass side. Your preferred action is also a factor.

IIRC, John Hall wrote here that you can cut off as much as 2 inches and your bass will not notice the difference.

Also, Ted once posted here a source for replica old-style rods. So even if something goes wrong, you can still buy new "folded" rods.

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 3:58 am

Those replica rods are supposedly too hard though, you need soft steel inside the neck so they will properly "fill out" the neck. With hard steel ends and the rest of the rod soft steel they fill out properly but don't strip and don't bend. They need to conform to the inside cavity of the neck to function properly or at least that's that way I understood it.
And yeah your preferred action determines how much relief you want I guess, how hard you play etc. I hate fretbuzz and like a big sound and like a comfortable feeling neck, and it only takes a tweak to go from fretbuzz to none. On a fretless I like an almost straight neck, you get that nice growl.

endlessbassic · Post by **endlessbassic** » Sat Aug 13, 2005 3:34 pm

Well, i'm very happy to report that, after all of the helpful advice, i have successfully repaired the truss-rod issues w/my bass!!! I just wanted to say THANKS A MIL!!, as i couldn't have done it
w/o you guys.. i'm sorry it took so long for me to post the results, but it was quite a wait for all of the parts.. some seriously tough bass-less days in there!

I got my 2x new t-rod nuts yesterday (from Mark V. at Randy Wood Guitars), and pulled the rods today (you were right about the 'easy' part, Jeffrey, but not necessarily 'enjoyable'. i was sweating my a** off!). I did accidentally pop the nut off, but a little glue and no big whoop. Cutting and re-threading the rods was surprisingly straight-forward, and the Johnson's wax idea was beyond great..

It's still not set up with the exact relief i'd like, but i'll do a little tightening every other day, and see where i am in week (did someone here mention that this is a process that can take upwards of a month?).. Right now it's just a hair over 7/64" from the middle of the G string at the heel, so perhaps it will 'settle in'
a bit more in the coming days, as there's still too much bow happening (somebody let me know if i'm 'off' about this..).

So, all told, this is the breakdown:

1) 1x 1" die wrench and 10/32nf die = $15
2) 2x brass t-rod nuts & new bearing plate = $15
3) 2.5 hours worth of 'hard' labor = $0
4) Ability to play my bass again? Priceless.

Not too bad, and i'd bet a trip to the repair shop would have set me back about 5 times that amount, if not more..

Thanks again, everybody.. you all rule.
cheers!!, Cale

charlyg · Post by **charlyg** » Sat Aug 13, 2005 3:43 pm

Wow! Film at 11?

Great job man!

jps · Post by **jps** » Sat Aug 13, 2005 4:02 pm

The enjoyable part was that I learned something!

ken_j · Post by **ken_j** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 6:00 am

Cale, Glad to here it all worked out for you.