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

[Freuds_Cat]

In my experience with my own instruments, it takes 20 to 25 years for the neck to completely stabilize.  Before they reach that age, I find myself adjusting the rod twice a year.  Ebony boards on a maple neck are the worst for seasonal changes, I think.  Most stable would probably be maple necks without a seperate fretboard.

My personal experience supports this theory. My Cargill has an ebony board on a laminated maple neck and one of my Jazz's has a one piece maple neck.

[Dave W]

Wood doesn't stabilize by itself after years. Whether it's a guitar or a coffee table, a piece that's prone to noticeable movement will always be prone to it.

OTOH I realize that in the world of vintage guitar myths, the laws of physics don't apply.  

[Freuds_Cat]

I'll put it down to coincidence then 

I once had a studio owner get annoyed at me because I used to move the partitions in a particular rehearsal room diagonaly across one of the corners of the room. I did this because after a lot of rehearsals and moving my amp into different positions I found that the sound of my bass in that room was best when I did this. Normally I'm a setup and go kinda guy but this room just had a bad sound for bass players regardless which band and style of music was played in it.
The owner spent weeks arguing with me in terms of physics that I wasn't hearing what I was hearing. Ultimately I guess most of us most of the time will side with personal experience over scientific explanation. Rightly or wrongly.

[uwe]

I second the ebony board thing. They are my porcupine candidates with the fretends eating themselves out of the ebony winter for winter. Again, it's something that dies down as a bass reaches seniority.

"The laws of physics don't apply ..." - LOL - Dave, you doubting Thomas, what can the Holy Vintage Inquisition do to reinstill some faith in you?! ! - )

[Dave W]

"The laws of physics don't apply ..." - LOL - Dave, you doubting Thomas, what can the Holy Vintage Inquisition do to reinstill some faith in you?! ! - )

I swear, if I made a guitar out of some of the solid hardwoods in my kitchen, that wood would suddenly be endowed with magical vintage qualities. It would stop its seasonal movement and start "breathing", it would become drier and lighter and have superior tonal qualities.

[JazzBassTbird]

I swear, if I made a guitar out of some of the solid hardwoods in my kitchen, that wood would suddenly be endowed with magical vintage qualities. It would stop its seasonal movement and start "breathing", it would become drier and lighter and have superior tonal qualities.

Another factor with necks made of maple is how long the rough cut neck blanks are allowed to sit before final shaping.

Many years ago, Steve Hayes, a local luthier highly knowledgeble about woodworking told me that you can build a mahogany neck in a day but maple necks need to sit for at least 6 months in order for the stresses in the wood to work out. Otherwise, the neck will move after it's finished.

[Dave W]

Mahogany is more stable than maple but I wouldn't make a mahogany neck right away either. You never know what will happen after you start routing or shaping a piece of wood. It could be air dried for 30 years and look like it's perfectly straight grained and then routing it could release some internal stress you had no way of knowing was there.

[uwe]

Back to the original topic - it's coming back today, Fender Deutschland have swapped the neck as is common with these, errrm, bolt-on instruments so I've heard.

I was missing it already too.

[dadagoboi]

Just standard maintenance!

[uwe]

You mean if I order now, I don't get just one installed neck, but two uninstalled replacement necks and a special knife for cutting tomatos? Yousy!!!

[Pilgrim]

You mean if I order now, I don't get just one installed neck, but two uninstalled replacement necks and a special knife for cutting tomatos? Yousy!!!

But wait, there's MORE...!

http://www.ronco.com/index.aspx



OR...you would like maybe a nice Pocket Fisherman with that??

[nofi]

way back in the eighties my son bought a set of ginzu(sp) knives as a joke. they are still sharp today without ever being sharpened. i guess this means anything can happen.

[Rob]

way back in the eighties my son bought a set of ginzu(sp) knives as a joke. they are still sharp today without ever being sharpened. i guess this means anything can happen.

And you use them in the kitchen so daves harwood kitchenette travel bass might be lighter than air.

[uwe]

Well, it's back. New neck and all, action is perfect, no need to tweak the trussrod sofar ... but you all know me!!!!

Of course, my mind is playing tricks on me already and I believe to hear that the original neck sounded a tad bit better ... Out, demons, out!!!!



Are Edgar Broughton clips political? 

[Dave W]

Resist your urge to fiddle with it!