Truss rod on a 3/4 upright bass

[timbuck]

I bought this cheap Chinese bass on ebay I went for the Delux model with a hand carved top..It needed a heck of a lot of setting up to get it playable..I made a new ebony nut to replace the dodgy stained maple one... and got to work on the rubbish fingerboard ... This is ebonized maple also....The top half of the fingerboard wasn't too bad it just needed about 3-4 mm planing off to get it ok...But the lower extension was way out bending upwards about 10mm..If i planed that level there would be no wood left
So I designed this truss rod to pull it back down...It's made from a length of M5 threaded rod with a nut and washer....It worked great one full turn of the nut pulled the extension down 6mm ... afterwards, sanding it level was an easy job..Then I ebonized it with some black leather dye ...Put the strings back on and tested it out, It is now a pretty good insrument with a nice action with about 1.5mm relief and a fab bass tone...Now can any one direct me to some good bass parts to learn to play co's the family is fed up with "These boots are made for walking" and "Fever".

[Allen]

That's a very clever fix you worked out there Ken. The Chinese factory should just install those as part of the "deluxe" fit out.

[simso]

How have you anchored the other end

[timbuck]

How have you anchored the other end

That took a bit of thought....First thing I did was make a hardwood block with a 6mm hole drilled at an angle ..I glued that to the underside of the fingerboard...I made up a long 4mm drill bit by grinding the end of a spare length of M5 threaded bar ..I then inserted it through the 6mm hole and then I used it to bore a 4mm hole 1" deep into the heel of the neck..I then screwed the end of M5 truss rod hard into the 4mm hole with a drop of CA glue to hold it in place
Here is the drill bit

[P Bill]

That's a very clever fix you worked out there Ken. The Chinese factory should just install those as part of the "deluxe" fit out.

It's a common enough problem. Also, the sound post is usually more to the centre of the bass than even close to the G foot of the bridge. The fb in the photo was replaced. This one has almost 5mm of relief, if I removed the hump around the 4th fret it would be worse.

In the bass photo only the end of the G and D string path needed work. Just showing off my new DX60.

DSCN1919 (800x600).jpg (230.17 KiB) Viewed 14911 times

DSCN1919 (800x600).jpg (230.17 KiB) Viewed 14911 times

[matthew]

That's a very clever fix you worked out there Ken. The Chinese factory should just install those as part of the "deluxe" fit out.

The factory should simply install a decent fingerboard on the "deluxe" model, IMO.

I may be completely wrong but i don't think that ingenious fix will last very long. I think it will simply pull the top of the fingerboard forwards, either off completely, or bend the neck, increasing the bend at the "money" end, which is worse. Unfortunately the necks on those basses are usually lacquered heavily to hide the often spalted and d grade wood used. and thats where they give way at the slightest knock.

[DennisK]

Now can any one direct me to some good bass parts to learn to play co's the family is fed up with "These boots are made for walking" and "Fever".

Try "Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby", Tom & Jerry version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUDVR1ysbeM

Nice fix on the fingerboard. I do hope it holds up over time, despite putting more stress on the neck. Maple takes less force to bend than ebony, at least. And actually, since the rod is providing support under it, the board could probably be planed thinner, and still be able to take the pressure of stopping a string down there without flexing too much. So if it seems like it's over-stressing the neck after it's had time to settle in, you could probably loosen the truss rod some and plane it back flat again, so it's both not bent as far, and not as hard to bend.

I have no experience with double basses though, so that's purely theoretical

[timbuck]

Thanks for the Tom and Jerry cartoon..it's years since I last saw that one.
Great bass player that Tom ...Plays left and right handed as well

[timbuck]

That's a very clever fix you worked out there Ken. The Chinese factory should just install those as part of the "deluxe" fit out.

The factory should simply install a decent fingerboard on the "deluxe" model, IMO.

I may be completely wrong but i don't think that ingenious fix will last very long. I think it will simply pull the top of the fingerboard forwards, either off completely, or bend the neck, increasing the bend at the "money" end, which is worse. Unfortunately the necks on those basses are usually lacquered heavily to hide the often spalted and d grade wood used. and thats where they give way at the slightest knock.

There is no danger the fingerboard will come off ..the small block glued underside with Titebond will come away before that...The wood is maple no lacquer just stain...and the pressure on the nut to pull the end down is just slight, almost finger tight..it's not like a guitar trussrod pulling end to end....Trust me I know whats what

[matthew]

.Trust me I know whats what

ok. I guess it's just a big ukulele after all.

[Nick]

.Trust me I know whats what

ok. I guess it's just a big ukulele after all.

Sorry Pete couldn't help myself, if you knew Matthew's Pedigree you'd see the humour in it as well.