omikin Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 So I bought a new Nate Mendel P bass a couple of weeks ago. I'm really happy with it generally, but there are a couple of niggles. One is the fact that I haven't been able to set it up properly as the neck has a very sight bow, and I can't see a way to adjust the truss rod without taking the neck off, and I'd rather get someone else to do that. I generally take stuff to Jim Fleeting in Ripon as he always does a great job. The second niggle is that I have noticed that the strings seem to be slightly too far over to the right when you look down on the neck. It's like they're a millimetre too far over to the right at the heel base of the neck, as if the bridge has been mounted just out of place. My question is - should I take it back and get them to swap it for another one, or would it not bother you if it played okay? I compared it to my US P, and that one is perfectly true straight down the middle. I'm in a bit of a quandary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 If you're not happy now, any niggle will only get worse as time passes and you'll wish you had done something about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brensabre79 Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 Its quite normal on mass produced instruments that these sort of errors slip through the net. I would take it back and have a chat with the place you bought it. If it's annoying you now it always will. The only solution to the string position is to move the bridge a mm over, not ideal. I'm not sure about your particular model but most Fenders can be adjusted without removing the neck, maybe the scratchplate has to come off for yours? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conan Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1361788797' post='1990686'] If you're not happy now, any niggle will only get worse as time passes and you'll wish you had done something about it. [/quote] True. Having said that, all necks should have a slight bow in them - but not so much that it makes playing them difficult! BTW, taking the neck off a Fender to tweak the truss rod is not difficult. You don't even have to remove the strings, you can just loosen them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 There might be a minuscule amount of "give" in the neck pocket so the neck can be loosened and then tilted ever so slightly left/right as needed. Don't need a lot of lateral movement to make a big difference to the overall alignment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicman20 Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1361788797' post='1990686'] If you're not happy now, any niggle will only get worse as time passes and you'll wish you had done something about it. [/quote] Agreed. I am annoyingly aware of errors with instruments, so I woulde exchange it. I have seen plenty of Fender's with the string alignment out, and Laklands, but there are plenty that are right as well. For £650+, you have a right to have an instrument that is spot on. If a CV Squier can get it right, so should this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hutton Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 If you're only talking about a millimetre I would take it to your tech and get it set up properly. It may not need the bridge moved at all. Do that before you do anything else. Every time a bass comes into my possession, irrespective of make, I take it to my local guy to get it set up the way I like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omikin Posted February 25, 2013 Author Share Posted February 25, 2013 Thanks for the views. I think I will see what my tech can do with it - he's a bit of a magician when it comes to this sort of thing. It's not like it's unplayable or anything. If I do decide to return it for exchange - do you know if there's a time limit on this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary mac Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 Why spend money with a tech when it should be right. Plus if someone starts carrying out adjustments/alterations there is a good chance you will void your warranty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hutton Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 [quote name='gary mac' timestamp='1361791047' post='1990744'] Why spend money with a tech when it should be right. Plus if someone starts carrying out adjustments/alterations there is a good chance you will void your warranty. [/quote] Sorry, I just can't agree with this. I have bought perfectly playable instruments from shops. However, it takes a trip to the tech I use to get the instrument playing exactly the way I want it. I don't expect a shop to cater for all the adjustments that have to be made to suit my own playing style. All I expect is a shop to produce a bass in playable condition. If it's not in playable condition then I don't buy it. This opens a can of worms as to what is playable. However, I think some folk just expect far too much from a shop when it comes to set up. I have played (or tried to play) basses which belonged to friends of mine. There is no way I could live with their set up. If I had tried the same bass with same set up of the hook in a shop would it be fair to say that the bass in unplayable. I don't think so. It just didn't suit me. If a bass is so bad in a shop that there are obvious problems then I wouldn't touch it anyway but I do feel at times we expect too much from our retailers. Excuse me now whilst I go and put on my suit of armour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 Did you buy it in a shop or on-line? If you are having doubts about it now then take/send it back and get it replaced. Don't mess about with it unless your luthier can guarantee that it will result in a perfectly set up (for you) instrument. While a set up is a very personal thing, I would expect the neck relief to be with acceptable tolerances - when holding down the strings at the first and last frets you can fit at least one business card thickness between the string and the fret at the 8th fret but no more than 2. Also surely all these basses are made by CNC machines these days? The tolerances should be in fractions of millimetres and the only human part is the screw the instrument together. How can they get that wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 Adjusting the truss rod is a pain with US Fenders, as access is at the body end of the neck.. Luckily my Fenders have all been pretty beat up so the odd scrape never really bothered me. So I adjust the truss rod with the neck still attached, which makes it an easier and quicker process. I realise though that if you've bought a bass brand new the last thing you want is scrapes or blemishes. This is a good video which shows how to do it without messing up the finish. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vCCVAlb0Kg"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vCCVAlb0Kg[/url] Recently I attached a new neck to one of my basses and I noticed that the G string was a bit closer to the edge of the fretboard than it should have been. It didn't really have any impact on my playing but it irritated me all the same. What I did was loosen the neck and slid a shim (actually a sliver of an old guitar plectrum) into the tiny gap where the body meets the neck, on the E string side. Then tightened it up again. That shifted the neck in the pocket, slightly to one side, which was enough to solve the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiOgon Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 (edited) You can hardly blame Fender for making a P-bass with the truss rod adjustment the same as probably several million other Fender basses. No offence but if I was buying a new bass I would have taken note of how & where the truss rod adjustment is, after all it's a pretty basic & fundamental requirement. Almost all users at some stage will want to change strings at least & that in itself is quite likely to require a truss rod tweek. Not to mention setting the action to personal preference, the factory settings are an 'average' at best. The bridges are fitted to pre-machined 'CNC' holes, it's not likely the bridge is 'in the wrong place'. Most likely that somewhere along the line - shipping - storage - shop - storing/packing - delivery to customer - even customer handling - that the neck has been mis-aligned by 'a bump'. The fact that the neck has to be loosened to get to the adjustment also gives the opportunity to 'nudge' the neck location in the pocket before the neck plate screws are re-tightened, to improve the alignment. If you are not happy or confident to make adjustments yourself, then you'll have to find someone that will do that for you, not a Fender quality issue, it applies to any other bass you could buy. Just my 2p worth. Cheerz, John Edited February 25, 2013 by KiOgon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hutton Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 [quote name='KiOgon' timestamp='1361795069' post='1990852'] You can hardly blame Fender for making a P-bass with the truss rod adjustment the same as probably several million other Fender basses. No offence but if I was buying a new bass I would have taken note of how & where the truss rod adjustment is, after all it's a pretty basic & fundamental requirement. Almost all users at some stage will want to change strings at least & that in itself is quite likely to require a truss rod tweek. Not to mention setting the action to personal preference, the factory settings are an 'average' at best. The bridges are fitted to pre-machined 'CNC' holes, it's not likely the bridge is 'in the wrong place'. Most likely that somewhere along the line - shipping - storage - shop - storing/packing - delivery to customer - even customer handling - that the neck has been mis-aligned by 'a bump'. The fact that the neck has to be loosened to get to the adjustment also gives the opportunity to 'nudge' the neck location in the pocket before the neck plate screws are re-tightened, to improve the alignment. If you are not happy or confident to make adjustments yourself, then you'll have to find someone that will do that for you, not a Fender quality issue, it applies to any other bass you could buy. Just my 2p worth. Cheerz, John [/quote] Absolutely! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xilddx Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 [quote name='omikin' timestamp='1361788653' post='1990680'] So I bought a new Nate Mendel P bass a couple of weeks ago. I'm really happy with it generally, but there are a couple of niggles. One is the fact that I haven't been able to set it up properly as the neck has a very sight bow, and I can't see a way to adjust the truss rod without taking the neck off, and I'd rather get someone else to do that. I generally take stuff to Jim Fleeting in Ripon as he always does a great job. The second niggle is that I have noticed that the strings seem to be slightly too far over to the right when you look down on the neck. It's like they're a millimetre too far over to the right at the heel base of the neck, as if the bridge has been mounted just out of place. My question is - should I take it back and get them to swap it for another one, or would it not bother you if it played okay? I compared it to my US P, and that one is perfectly true straight down the middle. I'm in a bit of a quandary. [/quote] Swap it. No question. The faults you describe are unnacceptable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary mac Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 [quote name='Hutton' timestamp='1361792764' post='1990783'] Sorry, I just can't agree with this. I have bought perfectly playable instruments from shops. However, it takes a trip to the tech I use to get the instrument playing exactly the way I want it. I don't expect a shop to cater for all the adjustments that have to be made to suit my own playing style. All I expect is a shop to produce a bass in playable condition. If it's not in playable condition then I don't buy it. This opens a can of worms as to what is playable. However, I think some folk just expect far too much from a shop when it comes to set up. I have played (or tried to play) basses which belonged to friends of mine. There is no way I could live with their set up. If I had tried the same bass with same set up of the hook in a shop would it be fair to say that the bass in unplayable. I don't think so. It just didn't suit me. If a bass is so bad in a shop that there are obvious problems then I wouldn't touch it anyway but I do feel at times we expect too much from our retailers. Excuse me now whilst I go and put on my suit of armour. [/quote] I do agree with you about set up of course. But if there is a problem with neck alignment or the bridge being in the wrong place then to me it makes sense to get the retailer to deal with it as it's not really a set up issue but rather poor quality control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conan Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 [quote name='gary mac' timestamp='1361795954' post='1990877'] I do agree with you about set up of course. But if there is a problem with neck alignment or the bridge being in the wrong place then to me it makes sense to get the retailer to deal with it as it's not really a set up issue but rather poor quality control. [/quote] Exactly! A typical setup should not involve adjusting the string alignment - and definitely not on a brand new bass! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jezzaboy Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 If I paid £650 for a bass, made by any company, I would expect it too be right. I don`t consider the neck being out of line a set up issue. A slight bow in the neck requing a bit of truss rod adjuastment, the action being too high for me, that is a set up issue (which most shops will sort for you if you ask I have found) but the neck being out of line, that is a factory quality control issue and should be rectified by the shop or the manufacuter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicman20 Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 I realise this is getting quite heated haha! For me, it could quite possibly be a mis-aligned bridge. I've seen it a few times, and it also means the string don't align over the pups properly. Fender aren't known for taking a lot of attention to detail. These problems do happen. Unless its glaringly obvious that it is merely down to setup, I wouldn't waste time/money get it set up. I've never once took a bass to get it setup. I barely tweak my basses, but luckily most are EBMM's with the superior truss rod wheel adjustor. This sounds like more than a setup problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hutton Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 I would have to see this neck before I would judge it to be seriuosly out of line. Also, as others have said a tiny amount of movement can cause a neck to slightly misalign. Who knows, it could have been the last person to try it out in the shop to bumped it. A wee tweak and it's sorted. It's just a step too far to start going on about Fender quality control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xilddx Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 [quote name='Hutton' timestamp='1361797187' post='1990913'] I would have to see this neck before I would judge it to be seriuosly out of line. Also, as others have said a tiny amount of movement can cause a neck to slightly misalign. Who knows, it could have been the last person to try it out in the shop to bumped it. A wee tweak and it's sorted. It's just a step too far to start going on about Fender quality control. [/quote] Well IMO, if the CNC is set up and used correctly, surely the neck socket should be tight enough that the neck can't move. On the Warwicks I've owned the neck socket is so perfect you barely need screws. SO I certainly don't think it's a step too far to start going on about Fender quality control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bremen Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 [quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1361797471' post='1990927'] Well IMO, if the CNC is set up and used correctly, surely the neck socket should be tight enough that the neck can't move. On the Warwicks I've owned the neck socket is so perfect you barely need screws. SO I certainly don't think it's a step too far to start going on about Fender quality control. [/quote] Agreed, you can't get a Rizla between neck and pocket sides on any of my three Warmoths. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xilddx Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 [quote name='bremen' timestamp='1361797909' post='1990942'] Agreed, you can't get a Rizla between neck and pocket sides on any of my three Warmoths. [/quote] Exactly. Fender can, and should, be doing better than this. There are no excuses, especially with the technology they have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martthebass Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 IMHO, if the neck needed a lateral shim to bring it into alignment I would return it. If just loosening off and 'tweaking' which you could do while adjusting the rod then do it - you've nothing to lose (just be careful that you don't knock any paint chips out of the pocket as the shop keep may spot this and whine if you end up returning it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xilddx Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 [quote name='martthebass' timestamp='1361798513' post='1990963'] IMHO, if the neck needed a lateral shim to bring it into alignment I would return it. If just loosening off and 'tweaking' which you could do while adjusting the rod then do it - you've nothing to lose (just be careful that you don't knock any paint chips out of the pocket as the shop keep may spot this and whine if you end up returning it). [/quote] Doesn't this invalidate the warranty? Mad I know, but I'm sure I heard truss rods tweaks were out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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