Zentner wrote:That's kinda the argument I've been wondering about.
Do you happen to have a proper procedure for pulling the truss rods from my neck? I obviously don't want to pull the fretboard off or anything... so yea.... but if I could pull the neck a little more flat... I'd love to do that.
Also... is it a possibility my neck could continue to bend up and I'd end up in worse shape than I'm already in?
To remove the truss rods, first remove the TRC. Then loosen the truss rod hex nuts with a long shaft 1/4" nut driver. You could use a 1/4" socket on a small ratchet or breaker bar, but NEVER use anything but a nut driver to tighten them up or adjust them--a ratchet or breaker bar allows you to develop too much torque and increases the possibility of popping the fretboard. So you might as well use the proper tool from the start.
Now, I'll also warn you that about 25% of old-style folded truss rods (in my experience) do not pull easily due to corrosion. So if they don't budge, you'll have to either let them be or drive them out, for which I have a couple of methods and will detail one.
Remember I said loosen the truss rod hex nuts, not remove them...but you should remove them at first to make it possible to get the aluminum spacer off. Then screw the nuts back on; you'll need them screwed onto the threads so the tip of the rod is just barely poking through the end of the long nut in each case. I firmly clamp a Vise Grip onto the nut so it's vertical to the neck (in other words, not laying down, but standing up). I will then tap the vise grip as close to the nut as I can get with a hammer, in the direction of the headstock (the direction in which I want the rods to move). Gentle taps at first. If you really have to wail on it, you have a stuck rod, and should choose between leaving it or risking some hard pounding, which does no damage as long as you don't slip...
The rod will hopefully begin to shift. If it looks as if it will scrape the end of the truss rod rout in the headstock, you'll have to have someone pull upward on the Vise Grips so it clears as you tap. Once the hex nut has cleared the rout, you're generally in safe territory. The further out it comes, the easier it is to slide.
Repeat for the other rod.
Now if you absolutely can't get those rods to budge at all with this method, you can choose to leave them in but fully loosened; this will allow the neck to relax but not all the way. There will still be benefits but you won't be able to be too scientific about setting it back up.
A method for initially shifting the rods if you can't get them to budge with the Vise Grip method: I use a special piece of steel rod that is ground to the same rectangular cross-section as the truss rod channel in the neck. You can use a 3"-4" long piece of steel rod or even a small screwdriver if it is still stout enough to go into the channel from the body side without tearing up the channel, and provided also that it's strong enough to survive some hammer blows.
You are going to drive the rods partially out through the headstock end, by tapping them out with a "drift" (piece of rod, punch or screwdriver) through the body end of the channel. In order to do this you must remove the pickguard. There are wires that need to be unsoldered and slid through their respective access holes. But the top of the bass must be clear of all obstructions, not only because you can damage something if you slip, but also because having the neck pickup in the way obstructs a clean swing of the hammer and proper positioning of the drift.
The aim is to get the rod to move a half-inch or so toward the headstock; just to break the initial sticking of the rod that it's gotten from sitting in one place for a few decades!
Place a bit of thin plywood over the top of the bass, with a thin towel underneath. I use masking tape wrapped around the whole bass/towel/plywood sandwich to hold everything together. Now slide the drift (rod) into the channel from the body end and hold it there with one hand.
Once the rod is inside the channel, tap on it with the hammer. Gradually increase the force of the hammer blows until the rod begins to move. It might be a small amount of movement at first, but once you've got a half-inch of movement or so, it should be easier to drive. Be sure you keep checking on the rout in the headstock, so the rod nut doesn't chew up the edge badly. The TRC will cover this anyway, but you don't want to get things too raggedy.
Once you've shifted the rod in this fashion, you can use the Vise Grip/hammer method outlined above to get the rod out all the way.
If all this sounds like too much work, fine. You can choose not to do it and leave the rods in place, or you can give this to your luthier as a guide to proper procedure.
After the bass has had a proper rest, and it's time to get it back together, follow these tips:
The rods as pulled should have a backward arc (with the center higher than the ends). They may or may not after all this time. I've seen straight rods and even rods with an "S" curve, once they are pulled. Anyway, you can re-arc the rods by carefully bending. I'll usually put about 2" of arc into a rod before re-inserting. This means that the center of the rod will be 2" higher than the ends. Proper orientation of a folded rod is important--the threaded, longer end should be on the bottom and the aluminum spacer will bear down on the square upper end.
Before you re-arc the rods, you should clean them of corrosion. If the plastic tape in between the two folded halves is missing, it generally means that the rods were pulled and the black tape was taken out by some unknowing, erm, person...it's there to prevent rattles.
I clean the corrosion off using a piece of Scotchbrite scouring pad, but medium-grade steel wool will work OK, too. Don't lube the rod with any sort of grease, and especially don't use WD-40!!! You can smear them with a paste-type wax (I use Johnson's Paste Floor Wax in the yellow tin) right before inserting them and sliding them back into place. I'll have the rod re-taped and the nut threaded back on before inserting. Because of the arc on the rod, care needs to be taken, especially when it comes time for the nut to clear the edge of the headstock rout. Another pair of hands will help here. I slip the nutdriver over the nut and tap on it with a hemmer--gently this time--until the rod is fully situated in the neck.
Of course, repeat for the other rod. Then remove the nuts, jockey the spacer into place (which can be fiddly but is not impossible) and replace the nuts. Adjusting is a topic for another post, later on.
