One way truss rod, warped neck

Bill Murray

Bill Murray

Dec 12, 2019
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New Hampshire
#1
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I purchased a 1998 Modulus Genesis 5 on Reverb. Long story short, the neck was warped (B string was unplayable), the neck was milky probably from exposure to humidity for a prolonged period of time,
and that the truss rod was maxed out.. (not a two-way)

I had the neck planed and did a fret dress, adding stainless steel frets. The bass plays amazing now. The neck is as straight as it can be, action is as low as possible (which is quite good)

It’s an amazing bass with an audere preamp and Nordstrand big splits. Tone is the best I’ve ever heard and its pretty much everything I want in a 5 string.

I am definitely paranoid of having issues pop-up in the future.. The neck does have a graphite spine and I never expose it to drastic temperature changes, I do gig with it but I baby it for sure.

My question is will this repair hold up for bit? Or is this just a temporary fix and I’ll need to redo everything again because I can’t adjust the truss rod?

Any insight, opinions, or information would be greatly appreciated.

thanks in advance,

Lukas
 
#6
I hope whomever planed your fretboard had a good reason for doing so with the truss maxed. Typically you would deal with truing the board with the truss rod slacked. Then there would be adjustment room available with the strings at tension. Just trying to understand why it was done that way.
 
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#8
I should specify that the truss rod isn’t super tight but that it has no where to go. If that makes sense?

the neck was warped bad enough that the low B string was literally muted because it was touching the frets no matter how I adjusted string height.

there is no way to access the truss rod in a way that would allow adding a washer or anything like that
 
#9
I’m sure I’m not explaining something correctly. The gentleman that did the repair for me has been in the business for decades and is highly regarded as the best in the area. He has a lot of respectable musicians as clients and works on tons of boutique, high end, and rare instruments
 
#11
Lukasonbass said:
does that help at all?
Click to expand...
No this makes no sense. If the neck had a back bow, the truss rod was too tight. So why was the truss rod maxed? And if the fretboard was planed it would reduce its thickness which means the nut would need to be cut lower, not shimmed. If the neck is perfect under string tension is the truss rod still maxed?
 
#12
Unfortunately, the person who sold me the bass neglected to tell me that the truss rod was maxed out...

There is no reason for it to be that way I’m assuming at some point someone didn’t understand how to use it or maybe didn’t know that it would function in one direction.

I haven’t personally touched the truss rod since the repair but I am assuming that it is still maxed out
 
#13
Lukasonbass said:
I haven’t personally touched the truss rod since the repair but I am assuming that it is still maxed out
Click to expand...
It's worth finding out. As soon as it needs adjustment again, which it will, it would be nice to know that you're not screwed. And even if it's reached the end of the threads you might well be able to add a washer and give the rod full functionality again.
 
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#15
So I haven’t heard from the luthier yet but I believe I’ve misspoken. The truss may not be maxed out, it’s not tight but it’s doesn’t seem to add tension when it’s turned. I’ll respond again once the luthier emails me back
 
#16
Lukasonbass said:
I should specify that the truss rod isn’t super tight but that it has no where to go. If that makes sense?

the neck was warped bad enough that the low B string was literally muted because it was touching the frets no matter how I adjusted string height.

there is no way to access the truss rod in a way that would allow adding a washer or anything like that
Click to expand...
Huh? You somehow maxed the truss rod to correct back bow???????????
 
#17
Paulabass said:
Huh? You somehow maxed the truss rod to correct back bow???????????
Click to expand...


Hey Paulabass,

No, when I purchased this bass it appeared to be in excellent shape. However when I brought it in for a tune-up we discovered the truss rod was non-functional. I thought it was maxed out but the truss still spins it just doesn’t add any tension.

the backbow was corrected with planning the fretboard, stainless steel fret-dress, and a nut shim.

does that make sense?
 
#18
You need to ensure that you have a functioning truss rod. If it is indeed non-functional, no end of planing, shimming, or fret dressing will be of value. You need a working truss rod. Your car has a flat tire. No amount of suspension adjustment, engine tweaking or painting is going to make it road worthy.
 
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