Hey everyone, I bought a second hand Ashton bass guitar, for about 90$. But when I brought it home It turned out to have a neck bow, which you will see in the picture. I contacted a lot of luthiers and they all offered very high prices. I don't have the necessary tools or any kind of experience to fix the woodwork, and I can't afford it to take it to a luthier. I have been researching the 'heat treatment' method which I can try at home. Has anyone done it and If they did can you point out the details and walk me through.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
Welcome to TalkBass! Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
''S'' Shaped Neck Bow
- Thread starter Sercan
- Start date
Hi. You've got ski-jump neck with overtightened truss rod to compensate it. In the result it forms S-curve.
I guess warpedneck.com would take care of it easily, but even it costs more than a bass itself. But you may try to do something similar at home, all you need is a 70-90 C heat source, some flat surface/straight edge and a couple of clamps. Take a look at "ski jump" thread in the pro secton, I've posted some pictures there (to get some ideas).
I guess warpedneck.com would take care of it easily, but even it costs more than a bass itself. But you may try to do something similar at home, all you need is a 70-90 C heat source, some flat surface/straight edge and a couple of clamps. Take a look at "ski jump" thread in the pro secton, I've posted some pictures there (to get some ideas).
You might create additional problems by trying to do a spot repair. I think you either plane the hump out and refret, or heat the whole neck and clamp it down to correct the overall neck situation.
That's the idea, but you might have to even over-correct slightly, as the wood generally springs back a little when the clamping pressure is released.
but the question is where am I gonna put the clamps on, with no string tension there doesn't seem to be a ski jump. Without string tension its like a back bow just on the first frets.
You need to totally release any tension on the truss rod. The ski jump is still there, even if you can't see it. Once you heat the whole neck up right to the core, you need to quickly clamp it down to a long, flat thick piece of steel before it has a chance to cool. Do a test run first so everything is ready and at hand so it may be done quickly.
I would put 1/8 shims under the first and last fret to introduce a bit of over-bend to the entire length of the neck.
I would put 1/8 shims under the first and last fret to introduce a bit of over-bend to the entire length of the neck.
But wouldn't putting shims create a back bow once I clamp it?
And I'm thinking of putting a cloth over the fingerboard then using an Iron and waiting for a whole day.
It will, but the wood will typically spring back slightly when you unclamp it. After the clamping pressure is released it should be very close to flat.
I'll put my 2 cents: you can clamp the neck while it still cold, put some little shims at both ends (1-2 mm), and clamp on 7th and 12th frets positions. You need to form unified backbow across the neck. Make sure to put something under the clamp so they wont press-in into the wood/finish. Now you need to evenly heat the entire neck to abot 80C and keep this temperature for 2-3 hours. Heat gun is no go. You need some oven or heated ironing board, or any other source of controlable heat. The finish starts to soften at around 90C, be careful.
After the process you may still need some fret leveling...
After the process you may still need some fret leveling...
