Fender truss rods and what is wrong with them ... (or me!) ...

[uwe]

 

Dear Fenderistas,

I'm a bit exasperated as I had to bring Edith's wonderful present of a Candy Cola American Standard Jazz back to the shop - barely four months old, the truss rod adjustment hex socket has already become stubborn (or even frozen) to a point where the ball point hex allen wrench gouges the socket (not to mention the dents it leaves on the pickguard where the cavity is as you need so much brute force to turn it). Realizing that it wouldn't be long until the socket screw will break off the rod, I returned it for guaranty work with a heavy heart and asked for what wll most likely be a replacement neck. The shopowner understood and said it wasn't the first time either.

What is it with me and Fenders? I've owned four Fenders in my life, two from the US, one from Japan and one from Mexico. One broke off (US), one froze (US, the one just returned), one is stubborn and pretty much at the end of how far it can go (Mex) and one is just stubborn but at this point still works (J). I admit to being a neck adjustment obsessive and stickler - that a bass has its neck adjusted four times a year (every season basically) is not unheard of with me. Is it that there is no such thing as an easy-to-turn Fender adjustment screw because the necks pull so hard? Do you have to be The Incredible Hulk to turn them? I have no Gibson where you have to fight the wood as much, I have Yamaha basses where the adjustment screw turns so smoothly you can turn it with your hand (and it still adjusts the neck I hasten to add) and on my Musicmans, which have maple necks too, the adjustment wheels turn easily and smoothly as well. With Fender its always "turn-crunch-click-take breath-turn-readjust tool-turn-crunch-click-take breath-readjust tool" etc. Or is the slanted access via a ballpoint hex key not really a serious recommendation and you are still expected to take off the pg with its dozen screws   to get sensible access to the adjustment socket screw (whose shallow depth even then still raises worries)?

From a trussrod adjustment screw, be it wheel, socket, slotted or bell, I expect in 2010/11 that it turns smoothly, without you really needing to exert force/torque, without it creating weird noises, clicking or jumping in intervals, without strings needed to be removed, necks pre-bent manually, pick guards taken off for better access etc.

I take it that this is just simply unobtainable from the world's inventor of the electric bass, ja?, and you guys have simply gotten used to it?  

[Chris P.]

Bad to hear.

[Dave W]

Fender truss rods are the same diameter as Gibson and work on the same principle. But the heel adjust ones are harder to turn, no doubt about that. OTOH what you're describing isn't normal.

I've never had a problem with the rod itself, just with a couple of necks that never seemed to stop moving.

[Pilgrim]

Can't explain it, Uwe.  I've had a half-dozen Fenders and Fender-style basses with no truss rod nut problems.  Go figure. 

[nofi]

i have had about 15 pre 1975 fender basses in my life and never any trouble. maybe it's the new stuff. would not be surprising at all.

[Hornisse]

Sorry to hear Uwe.  I'm with nofi though, pre '75 basses are great. 

[birdie]

6 of them here, 58 to 65. Not a problem with any of them.This does not help you, I know.
Sounds to me like more bad luck than anything.

Have you tried "helping" the neck along? When tightening the rod, apply downward pressure on the end of the headstock. And of course, vice-versa.

[uwe]

So yours turn with ease and that is how it should be on a Fender? Then that is good to know in case someone wants to talk me into "that this is normal".

[Highlander]

My Jazz was a doddle - no problems (okay, it is a Squier) - swopped the neck for a fretless Mightie-Mite - ditto...

Would it shock people if I said that the PC's truss-rod has never been touched since I've owned her... er, sorry, not a Fender...

[Dave W]

So yours turn with ease and that is how it should be on a Fender? Then that is good to know in case someone wants to talk me into "that this is normal".

No it's definitely not normal, don't let anyone tell you that. OTOH I wouldn't say "with ease" except for the headstock end adjustment on some 70s models.

It has nothing to do with not being vintage -- I haven't had a problem adjusting newer or older.

You could try being less obsessive about adjusting them so often. Even so, there's something wrong with this one.

[Psycho Bass Guy]

My 50th Anniversary Jazz and my American Standard Jazz V have some pretty tight truss rods, as did my G&L L2500 which eventually stripped and the neck was replaced under warranty. I like to set my necks as true as possible and use my saddles for action adjustment, which I'm pretty sure is higher than most of you guys would like. The hex head knob adjustment tool is useless and, as you've discovered, good for only gouging out your pickguard on its edges. Normal hex keys work much better. Odd that you mention your Stingray as having an easy adjusting neck. I couldn't turn the knob on mine if I had to, but I've not had any need to either. It's still on its factory setup from 11 years ago.

[Dr Eagle]

i have had about 15 pre 1975 fender basses in my life and never any trouble. maybe it's the new stuff. would not be surprising at all.

My only Fender a 1976 works fine... in fact I have only adjusted the neck twice in the time that I have owned it... since 1976!

[Freuds_Cat]

My 74 Jazz had a neck adjustment over 20 years ago and hasn't been touched since as well. Most of my other basses get little tweaks from time to time this bass just doesnt need the attention.

[dadagoboi]

Do not use ball end wrenches, they chew up hex head adjusters as you have found.  There should be no reason to adjust a neck seasonally unless you live without the modern conveniences of air con and heating which I doubt.  I'm sure the variation of temperature and humidity are minimal wherever you keep your basses.  You have a bad neck, which doesn't seem to be uncommon from Fender USA these days.

Was the 'socket screw' more than 3-4mm recessed into the neck when it froze?  If so you may have run out of thread on the rod.  The wood surrounding the rod sometimes compresses causing that problem but it usually takes years and a lot of adjustments (which also would indicate a problem neck).  The solution can be adding a washer to get some thread back.

Unfortunately you have a 'vintage style' bass with it's difficult neck adjuster access without the reliability of an actual vintage instrument.

[PhilT]

If Leo had meant us to adjust our truss rods, he'd have put the hole somewhere where you can get tools into it.