Why can't I get my 4003 neck STRAIGHT?

elgranluis · Post by **elgranluis** » Sun Jun 05, 2005 5:13 pm

jeff: sorry, I dont live anywhere near michigan

Peter McCormack: I had a tech break the fingerboard of a fender bass once... I know there are good and bad techs, but I dont want anyone learning on my bass!

Bob Young : Yeah, the threads aren't stripped. Actually I gave it a few good turns (not all at once of course) and the neck is responding. Very slowly, but responding nevertheless. I left it resting the whole week, and tonight I'm gonna tweak the rods a bit more. I always bend the neck a little to help the rods while adjusting.

Scott Doseck : well, actually It went like this: when the bass was new, I was doing live shows at a bar and the action was giving me a lot of fretbuzz (I had to pull the show of using a pick and playing like a guitar hero), so I loosened the rods, basically completely. NOw, when trying to straighten it up, the problem shows up.About sending it back, well, it was a birthday present, so it was bought at mf or zzounds, and i wouldnt want to send it back to them. I'll shoot them an email anyway.

Bob Belloff : what is the warranty period? i thought it was one year, could I be wrong?

thanks everyone for answering, right now I'll go back and try to get the neck straigh.

elgranluis · Post by **elgranluis** » Sun Jun 05, 2005 8:19 pm

well, just to make sure, I loosened the rods completely, removed the nuts and put a little dw40 on them. Well, the action raised quite a bit, so i guess the rods are really making their job. Now the detail is, I think whoever built my bass put the stiffest piece of maple on it, because when i started to tighten the rods again, they did straighten the neck---to a point. I tried manually to straighten the damn thing, and the neck just wont get straight, i mean, i was putting real pressure on the neck, the whole weight was resting around the fifth fret position. Now, the neck is not warped, without strings it is a straight neck... The neck is huge, so i feel inclined to think that it has something to do with that.

Scott Doseck : what was wrong with your blue boy?I mean, did they explain to you what they did to her? Ok, I'll shot ric an email and see how this evolves.

larry_mondello · Post by **larry_mondello** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 3:19 am

LOosen the strings up to slack .
Then take the neck and place it on a table with a stack of phone books under the neck for support ...about mid-point .
Now ...tighten the rods up .
Water Displacment #40 is nice cutting fluid for aluminum .... in the future use some oil , something like sewing machine oil or mineral oil . A drop will do it ...

Without tension on the neck , you should be able to set an arch to it . Put a straight edge on the fretboard ...not a wooden yard stick .
can you see an arch now ?

What State do you live in ? Who was the dealer you bought the bass from ?

larry_mondello · Post by **larry_mondello** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 3:23 am

IN the grain on the back of the neck , are there 'islands' of dark grain lines ? these look like a sort of circle in the dark grain ....

if there are ... that is a problem . THAT is why the neck would not 'function' up to standard .

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 6:16 am

Luis, you don't have a problem just do what you were doing, easy does it. I've had some pretty bad bows and have straightened them out with patience, nothing drastic is called for except for patience. One of my 4003's rod's has too much rod sticking out to fit a regular socket on it and it straightens out nicely. I had to turn that one many turns when I put heavy gauge strings on it. If you neck was bowed for a year like that the wood needs time to become completely straight again, nothing to worry about. Just take you time, did I stess that enough? haha!

elgranluis · Post by **elgranluis** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 5:42 am

Lawrence: well, I did basically what you said (on my previous post), but it didnt really help. And yes, I have those dark patches in the grain. I havent throughly checked the neck, but Ive seen what you describe in the wings of the bass, so maybe part of the same batch could have been used for the neck? What are those things? Could you give a further description?

elgranluis · Post by **elgranluis** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 6:12 am

Bob: here´s the deal. My other ric (well, no longer with me) had a lot of rod sticking out of the nut, yet, tightening wasn´t hard; I´d perform an adfjustment and the result would be instantaneous. Now this ric, well, when i loosened the rod, there was a bow. When I tightened the rods as far as they could go, as far as possible using the screwdriver tool, I could just get it as straight as it previously was. Thing is, I can move the neck by hand (you know, just pushing it) and I am not using a huge amount of strenght, and i can get its straight, But the rods can´t keep it straight.

So, should I use another kind of tool and keep turning? I am beginning to think that maybe there is an issue with the rod routing.

Maybe i really need patience, yeah. But If i say some sort of results, I mean, I turn th erod, and there isn´t any change in the relief. It would certainly be different if i got even the slightest reaction from the neck, but it won´t move from its current position.

elgranluis · Post by **elgranluis** » Thu Jun 09, 2005 6:47 am

well, I just got an answer from ric, I am in the database! I`ll play around a bit and see if By some miraculous reason the neck starts moving in the next 8 days. So, anyone had dealings with ric before? how is the service?