Neck adjustment on a DR Heartfield
Tim
http://www.heartfield-central.com/pictures/dr/b91407front.jpg
and the neck ahs a bit more bow in it than I'd prefer. the truss nut
is bottom loaded and recessed into the neck. Granted, there is a n
access slot but it's way to narrow for using any kind of a wrench or
any tool that I know of. So, for me that means removal of the neck to
make an adjustment. So I would say my question isn't limited to just
the DR but to any bottom loaded bass neck.
Does anyone know a procedure to adjust the neck withought having to
constantly re install and restring the neck, or a website that shows
how to make the adjustment to get it to come out right?
I can tell this can probably be a real PITA. at least it is for me.
Thanks!
js
that lip on there.
"Tim" <tsch...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:681e8ba0-22f3-43fd...@b2g2000yqi.googlegroups.com...
Tim
> "S" wrench? Doesn't look like taking the neck off will do much good, with
>
> news:681e8ba0-22f3-43fd...@b2g2000yqi.googlegroups.com...
>
>
>
> > I ahve a DR from probably the late '80's similar to this one:
> >http://www.heartfield-central.com/pictures/dr/b91407front.jpg
>
> > and the neck ahs a bit more bow in it than I'd prefer. the truss nut
> > is bottom loaded and recessed into the neck. Granted, there is a n
> > access slot but it's way to narrow for using any kind of a wrench or
> > any tool that I know of. So, for me that means removal of the neck to
> > make an adjustment. So I would say my question isn't limited to just
> > the DR but to any bottom loaded bass neck.
>
> > Does anyone know a procedure to adjust the neck withought having to
> > constantly re install and restring the neck, or a website that shows
> > how to make the adjustment to get it to come out right?
>
> > I can tell this can probably be a real PITA. at least it is for me.
>
>
> - Show quoted text -
Yes, that seems to be a real problem. I don't know why it was designed
that way.
I'd really like to start playing that bass again. it had a really
nice, "piano-ish" tone to it, but the thing jsut takes too much
pressure to hit the board and the intonation is way out. I'm not
saying the neck isn't salvageable, just really hard to deal with in
it's present state.
fourstring
and a royal pain as you have to remove the neck,
tweak the rod, reassemble, tune and see what you have.
Then do it again etc until right.
It is possible with some basses to get a grip
in the adjuster with a long right-angled Allen
key (hex key US?) but you have to protect the
edge of the access rout to avoid the key marking it.
Don't tell me...it's a cross-head adjuster??!!
If no go try slackening the strings right off, loosen
the neck bolts enough so that you can tilt the neck
forward to allow access to the adjuster but without
removing it...saves a lot of time.
You may have a sticking truss rod so when you've
made a tension adjustment either let it settle for a few
hours or bend the neck by putting the centre over your
knee and gently flexing it by pushing down on each end
simultaneously which will free up the rod if binding in
the tunnel...which means taking it right off anyway.
Hopefully when you get it right it'll stay stable so it's
worth all the buggering about in the long run.
You can't win with this design and I don't know why
a simple tweak is thus made difficult.
--
Clive Norris
Consultant Director
Selectron UK) Ltd
Musical Equipment Distribution
www.espguitars.com
www.whirlwindusa.com
www.emgpickups.com
Kenny G....
Should he be on the
Sax Offenders Register??
"Tim" <tsch...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:681e8ba0-22f3-43fd...@b2g2000yqi.googlegroups.com...
Tim
> As with older Fenders it's a matter of trial and error
> and a royal pain as you have to remove the neck,
> tweak the rod, reassemble, tune and see what you have.
> Then do it again etc until right.
> It is possible with some basses to get a grip
> in the adjuster with a long right-angled Allen
> key (hex key US?) but you have to protect the
> edge of the access rout to avoid the key marking it.
> Don't tell me...it's a cross-head adjuster??!!
OK, I won't..
But....I believe it is.
I don't understand the design either. Maybe they thought it was
"perfect" from the plant to begin with and didn't need any
maintenance. Anyhow, I suppose tonight I'll go through the process and
see what I can butcher.
Thanks Clive.
Tim
Well, this is going to be painstaking. I did remove the neck, wrapped
it in leather and lightly vised it at the heel. Tightened the rod
about a quarter turn untill it started to feel tight. I suppose I'll
let it sit for another day, then re-install and re string. Then let it
sit for another couple days and see what happens.
I could have designed this to have made this job easier, but...
Well, they didn't ask for my opinion.
?;^ )
Kloka-mo'
removing the neck. That's having never seen the bass of course.
--
-rob
O>
/(\)
^^
"Tim" <tsch...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:5e937f4b-dcbe-454d...@d5g2000yqm.googlegroups.com...
Tim
wrote:
> Yea, I'd consider a small notch in the body, so I could get at it without
> removing the neck. That's having never seen the bass of course.
>
> --
> -rob
>
> O>
> /(\)
> ^^
>
Well, there IS a small notch in the body. really small. I'm wondering
if there was a special tool for making the adjustments, because
there's nothing that I'm familiar with that can reach up under the lip
made on the neck bass to get up in there to work with. Besides, this
notch is so thin that you couldn't make an adequate adjustment on the
neck regardless.
I picked this up from a Harmony Central review:
"The neck is well-constructed overall, but the truss rod was installed
so that it must be adjusted on the body end. This would not be a
problem were it not for the TERRIBLY(!!!!!!!) designed adjustment
cavity. Physics was apparently ignored when they carved out the cavity
for the truss rod adjustment, because you cannot fit an allen wrench
in there without going insane in the process. I literally had to sand
down part of the cavity in order to get an allen wrench in there to
make an adjustment!...:
http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Electric+Bass/product/Heartfield/DR-5/10/1
Evidently on the 5 string, they did use an Allen head while mine is a
cross-head, which if it can be , they took an adjusting procedure
from bad to worse!
But I've put some twist on it and will re-install and check out the
results.
Kloka-mo'
--
-rob
O>
/(\)
^^
"Tim" <tsch...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:2436fcc6-accb-4c3b...@b2g2000yqi.googlegroups.com...
Tim
wrote:
> Ouch! Good luck!
>
> --
> -rob
>
> O>
> /(\)
> ^^
>
>
> news:2436fcc6-accb-4c3b...@b2g2000yqi.googlegroups.com...
>
> Evidently on the 5 string, they did use an Allen head while mine is a
> cross-head, which if it can be , they took an adjusting procedure
> from bad to worse!
>
> But I've put some twist on it and will re-install and check out the
> results.
Well last night I looked at the neck and it seemed to have a slight
bit of back bow, so I gave it an extra ever so easy 1/3 of a turn.
tonight I'll install it with some fresh rotosound 66's and see what
goes. tune it up, and let it sit for a couple days.
Hopefully it'll come out OK, and if need be I can work with it on the
bridge or experiment with different string for tension.