twisted neck

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Brian Evans
Posts: 922
Joined: Sat Aug 30, 2014 8:26 am
Location: Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia

twisted neck

Post by Brian Evans »

I bought a Warmouth bass neck a year ago that has developed around a 10 degree twist. It was stored in my shop, but left unfinished, and there is no warranty because of that. Can anyone dream up a way to un-twist it? it has a double action truss rod and two steel stiffening bars. I can only think that this is a humidity driven issue, since it's unfinished, but I have no idea how I might salvage this neck. It is a mighty twist. https://www.warmoth.com/Bass/Necks/TrussRods.aspx
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Barry Daniels
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Location: The Woodlands, Texas

Re: twisted neck

Post by Barry Daniels »

Have you seen this?

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=5637&hilit=gibson+j45

My approach consisted of taking off the fretboard and taking out the truss rod. Once I had the bare neck, I straightened it with heat, clamped it in place to let it cool, and then rebuilt the neck with an appropriate truss rod and carbon fiber reinforcement.

So basically I took the neck apart to figure out what was causing the twist and then rebuilt it in a straight configuration.
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Brian Evans
Posts: 922
Joined: Sat Aug 30, 2014 8:26 am
Location: Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia

Re: twisted neck

Post by Brian Evans »

Man, I would hate to try to take the fretboard off a brand new (if a year old) neck. And then be worrying that I got it stable. It's a one piece flatsawn neck with a separate maple fretboard, has two steel bars and a truss rod in it. I have rarely seen a piece of wood that's been dried and cured take on a twist like that. It's more twisted than your Gibson was. I have it in a dehumidified room now to see what happens at 45% RH.
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Barry Daniels
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Location: The Woodlands, Texas

Re: twisted neck

Post by Barry Daniels »

Once, I got the Gibson neck apart and straight I let it sit for a month to verify that the un-reinforced wood neck would hold its shape. It did. And this verified for me that the problem was not the wood but external forces. In my case it was severe over-torqueing of the truss rod.

Taking a fretboard off is not a big deal, depending on the adhesive.

I would definitely take off the fretboard and remove the truss rod and steel bars. Trying to straighten the neck with the rods in place would be difficult, if not impossible.
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Brian Evans
Posts: 922
Joined: Sat Aug 30, 2014 8:26 am
Location: Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia

Re: twisted neck

Post by Brian Evans »

"I would definitely take off the fretboard and remove the truss rod and steel bars. Trying to straighten the neck with the rods in place would be difficult, if not impossible."

My thought as well. If I do a good job removing the fretboard, I can then see what the neck wants to do, if it wants to be twisted I can make a new neck and reuse the fretboard. Otherwise this is $250 worth of kindling. Warmoth won't warranty it, it is new enough but I didn't put an approved hard finish on it within 30 days of ship date. They won't tell me what kind of glue they used, either. Worst comes to worse I can cut the fretboard off and reuse it. Thank you for your thoughts.
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Barry Daniels
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Location: The Woodlands, Texas

Re: twisted neck

Post by Barry Daniels »

They won't tell you what kind of glue they used? Not very customer friendly, Warmoth!
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