Straightening a bowed neck

[ThunderBucker]

My buddy Carlo sent me a Squire J neck to replace the cheap P bass neck on TestBass (the bass I cycle all the pickups I make through to test them out). That P bass neck plays like a splintery 2X4, except maybe not as good.

I was looking forward to a nicer neck, except the neck Carlo sent had a pronounced ski-slope about 5 frets from the nut.  Even tightening the truss rod to near infinity would barely take it out, and that was with no string tension.

So I remembered a trick I saw at Charvel's in Azusa in the late 70's, when it was in back of the strip club.  They had a jig where you could clamp a bowed neck straight, then put a heat lamp on it.  Kind of like steaming wood so that you can bend it.

I clamped my bowed neck to the workbench, with a shim so that I could actually reverse-bend it a little, and put a heat lamp on it (a chicken incubator, to be more exact).  I watched the temp with my IR temp sensor gun (don't want to set no fires or bubble no finish) and held it at about 190F for about 30 minutes.  Then I turned the heat off and let the neck cool in the clamped condition.



I took it out of the clamps, and wow, it was really straight!  Hard to take a picture of though...



Now it is ready to make its acquaintance with Mr TestBass.

[dadagoboi]

Steve asked if I had a crappy jazz neck.  I certainly did, late '90s Korean Squier, not the only bad one I've seen.  I had adjusted the TR to the limit, the skunk stripe was breaking out of the back of the neck.  Cheap as I am, even this was a neck beyond salvaging or so I thought...I specifically remember him specifying 'crappy.'

Hope this works.  I have a few more to send him, including a Hondo P neck that I clamped into a 1 inch back bow for a few days but without the heat treatment.  No luck with that one.

[Dave W]

Wait --- a badly bowed Squier neck? What a surprise!

It works sometimes, and sometimes it won't keep. That one sure does look straight, hope it stays that way.

[drbassman]

Wait --- a badly bowed Squier neck? What a surprise!

It works sometimes, and sometimes it won't keep. That one sure does look straight, hope it stays that way.

Great technique.  Only time will tell if it holds.  Hope it does!  I've taken the stance that if I can plane/woodwork a slightly bowed neck into submission, I won't use heat unless it's irreplaceable.  It's always worth a try though!