'84 4003 truss rod swap?

[demon666]

So I have an '84 4003 thats kind of a basket case. I've slowly been going trough it to get it back up and running. Someone at some point decided to defret the neck and fill it with wood filler. Looks awful. So It needs a new board, which I already have . So my question is would it be possible to reverse the truss rods? It has the adjustment at the body end. I would like to switch them to be adjustable at the headstock end. I know this would require some routing in the headstock to have clearance for everything. So would it be possible or worth the effort?

Here are some pics

[Wiker]

No one else has said anything, so here are my thoughts.

I guess if the fret board is removed I guess everything is possible, but . . .

When it comes to old vs. new style rods I’ve sometimes wondered if the old ones are actually better. The new, conventional style rods works inside a curved channel in the neck. The curvature of this channel is of course static. The old style rods don’t need a static curved channel, but makes the curve themselves. Removing the old style rods from the neck, one can see how the rod curves up when tightened in the free. It’s not a static curve, so if one grabs around that bent rod and press it together in the middle it will pop up on both sides instead. Due to this, I’m wondering if those old style rods might be able to distribute the pressure more dynamically inside the neck, to where pressure is most needed. While the conventional (new) style rods always distribute the pressure along that preformed, static curve. In other words, I’m wondering if the old rods are better able to put pressure where the neck bends the most, while the new rods’ always have fixed distribution of pressure.
Comments

In my experience (with only one bass with old rods) the old style rods works perfectly when the rods work as they should (nuts and everything runs smoothly) and are adjusted correctly. If it was me I would not changed them for new style rods. Just my opinion as I like the old rods.

As for flipping the rods around, I have no experience with adjustment at the base of the neck, but... As I see it, the advantage of having the nuts at the headstock end is that you can remove the truss rod cover for adjustment, and just leave it off for days and still be able to play the bass. With the nuts at the neck base the pickguard has to be put back on in order to play, and the removed again if more adjustments are needed the next day or something.

On the other hand... The neck has to be forced back by hand before adjusting the old rods. One can clamp the bass down on a table and do the adjustment, and then the following wouldn't matter. What I do though is to put the bass down on the flour (on a carpet) between my feet, hold on to the body with my feet, let the neck rest against my knee, put a hand on top of the fret board and bend back, while forcing the wrench onto the nut and adjusting with the other hand. Sitting like that it’s a bit cumbersome to do that work with the wrench at the top of the neck. I would imagine it being easier with the nuts at the bottom of the neck.
Also, the nuts at the headstock-end tend to bend down to the wood (it’s simply the nature of those rods to do that), and sometimes a bit hard to get the wrench onto them. From your photo it seems that the up-side-down old style rods might not have as much of that problem - maybe?
So, pros and cons with both top-end and bottom-end adjustment I believe.

Summa totalis, if it was me (with my limited experience) I would keep the original rods the way they are. But if it was me I probably would get a one-piece pickguard to make it look better - not that simple to remove for truss rod adjustment of course, but don’t need adjustments that often anyway.

[demon666]

Thanks for the reply. I have no problem with the old style rods, they do tend to bend down into the body the same way. I removed them and straightened them about a year ago, and also made a new plate for them. I usually do clamp the bass to a table to adjust the rods. It's just a PITA to remove and reinstall the pickgaurd a couple of times to make adjustments. I'll probably just leave them how they are. I just wanted to get some opinions on the matter.

Thanks again.

[demon666]

Update:

So I got the finger board off. Still have to clean up the glue residue. Clean the truss rod slots. Install new board.













Also it never dawned on me before but at some point the bass must have been refinished. What blue was Ric using in 1984?

[jps]

Also it never dawned on me before but at some point the bass must have been refinished. What blue was Ric using in 1984?

Welcome, Adam.

It seems you have the color right in front of your eyes to match to.

[demon666]

Thanks Jeff. Yeah now to decide if I want to bring it back to MB. Do you know what year they switched from Auzure to Midnight?

[jps]

Do you know what year they switched from Auzure to Midnight?

I was just searching for that info! I am not sure but Paul Boyer would certainly know, and others, too.

[jps]

A ha! Check this out!

[demon666]

Wow thanks! The paint in the cavities looks like it's metallic. i didn't think Auzure was metallic. (even though I've never seen it in person) Checking the date code from the jack plate says it was built in Jan. '84 (xa 0081) Hmmm?

[cjj]

Nope, Azureglo is not metallic...

[johnallg]

I'm thinking if you made the oblong triangular rout on the headstock and the half-moon recess for the aluminum block (like at the body end), you could use the rods from the headstock end. Anyone see a hole in this?

[demon666]

That was my idea. I would have to get/make a new plate and different truss rod nuts. Or if any one has any tips for adjusting the rods on a 4003 that adjusts at the body. It's a pain to detune , remove the pickgaurd, adjust the rods, retune, check, de tune reinstall pickgaurd, etc..... Well you see what I mean

[kiramdear]

How often do you need to adjust the rods? If it's not frequently, I would leave them as is. If it is very frequently, maybe something is not kosher?

[ken_j]

A ha! Check this out!

I was looking for this page yesterday and couldn't seem to navigate anywhere within the website. Jeff thanks for the link.

[jingle_jangle]

That was my idea. I would have to get/make a new plate and different truss rod nuts. Or if any one has any tips for adjusting the rods on a 4003 that adjusts at the body. It's a pain to detune , remove the pickgaurd, adjust the rods, retune, check, de tune reinstall pickgaurd, etc..... Well you see what I mean

There's no reason I can see that this would not work...the only difference between the two versions is the rout in the headstock, and of course the hardware at the adjustment end. It seems to me that this experiment was tried to eliminate the weak spot under the rout in the headstock volute area. Am I correct in this assumption?