74 Jazz Bass Neck Repair

[Matt R.]

Hey guys, I got the first gnarly image from my neck repair on my old Jazz.

For those of you that haven't seen the other thread where I talk about the neck repair, here's the deal.

My 74 Jazz Bass has a maxed out truss rod and a 'ski jump' developed on the treble side. So for all practical purposes, the neck is shot. But after weighing the cost of a Warmoth replacement and finding a vintage replacement, the repair cost was totally justifiable so that's what I opted for.

To fix the truss rod they are slicing off the last 2 frets' worth of fingerboard area to access the truss rod channel. He made a metal anchor to make up for the wood that has been compressed by the truss rod over the years, so this will allow the truss to be backed out all the way so it has full, like new adjustability again. I'd never heard of this being done, but the tech working on mine said he's done between 20-30 of these in the past couple years. Then of course the neck will be planed, refretted and fingerboard refinished. Then it'll have a Plek fret leveling.

Here's my poor baby in its current state. Ouch.



And here we are in happier times haha:

[jersey bluesdude]

Holy Cow, that's a scary picture of the removed 2 positions of fretboard. Your Jazz is killer and well worth the repair. Hope it all works out.

[Matt R.]

Thanks man, I know that it'll be as good as new when I get it back. I forgot to mention it's at Glaser Instruments in Nashville. They have been super cool to work with.

[pjmuck]

Yikes! I'd be reluctant to do that to a vintage instrument, but what the heck, it's your main one right and you don't have plans of ever selling it? So how's it play now?

[Matt R.]

It's not fixed yet, it's still under the knife. I'll have it in about a month. I can't see having reservations about doing this, vintage or not. If it doesn't get fixed, it's worthless because it's unplayable. I'll never sell this one but it would at least be reasonably valuable, being playable.
But I'm looking forward to getting it back, I think it's going to be even more amazing than it was.

[Brett Zeppelin]

Good luck with the repairs, man. I'm a huge fan of that style of neck/fretboard, and of course being a vintage instrument that's also your baby I am really pulling for a full recovery! Hopefully she comes back stronger than ever.

[KingOfAmps]

Matt,

I drive by that shop every day. And FWIW, when I needed some work done years ago on a bass (body related though not as major as your undertaking) I asked my most trusted, experienced source on where to go with it. My source is a very long-time employee at Gruhn and he recommended Joe's (glaser) for that job. On a side note, he's also recommended RS guitarworks in KY for finishing

I took it to Glaser in berry hill and was pleased with the results.

I've noticed in your posts over the years you've long ago bonded with this bass and it's a keeper and as such I can't imagine NOT attempting this. All the usual reservations should be damned.

[AzWhoFan]

slightly OT. I have seen many many RS refin jobs over the last few years - on both bases and guitars. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them. they also do a top notch job on relic'ing as well.

And now, back to our regular programming schedule ...

[Matt R.]

Between waiting for this to be fixed and waiting for my American Design Jazz, I'm going to keel over and die. Ha

[superheavydeathmetal]

Sorry to hear about all of that, man. But, I am curious as to what caused the neck to get that way in the first place.

And, forgive my ignorance, what do you mean by a "ski jump on the treble side?"

[Matt R.]

Sorry to hear about all of that, man. But, I am curious as to what caused the neck to get that way in the first place.

And, forgive my ignorance, what do you mean by a "ski jump on the treble side?"

It's just stuff that can happen to a 40 year old neck. It's not really uncommon. The ski jump refers to a weird dip that can happen up in the area where the neck joins the body. It's a warp in the fingerboard that's shaped as the name implies. So this was a sickly neck. I should be getting it back pretty soon. I'm going insane waiting.

[Frenchy-Lefty]

Before reading your posts on that, I had no idea it could be fixed.

[Matt R.]

Wouldn't you know it, today I got the call that the bass was ready to be picked up, so I made the 2 hour trip to Nashville (I think I got there in about 45 min) to get my beloved battle axe back.

I don't really know what to say, except this bass, which has been my favorite and best playing instrument, is better than it ever has been. New frets, nut, planed fingerboard and a new lease on life for the truss rod. They did a great job on the fingerboard finish too. The truss rod is backed out practically to where it's brand new. I'm impressed with the Plek job. It's really unbelievable how smooth and level this thing is now.

I got it home and put new strings on it and tweaked the action down to where I like it (I felt they had it adjusted a little lower than factory specs) and I couldn't be happier. This is what I had hoped for over this long wait.

[AzWhoFan]

look great Matt. How's it sound? Notice any difference to the way it sounded prior to the repair work?

[Matt R.]

Thanks! Not noticing any tonal difference so far.

[Frenchy-Lefty]

Insane repair!

[rdavidson]

I'm so glad the repair worked out so well... I've been watching the progress. And I've had some basses Plek'd - it's expensive but amazing how it really makes a difference for playability and intonation.

Happy for you...