Saggy neck help please

[Rabbie]

Hi,
I just took home a cheapo bass from a home where it was no longer wanted or needed. It was used for school and nobody there knew there was something wrong with it. My idea was to leave my good bass home on the, what shall we call them, less "humane" gigs...
It's a ply, but only 5-6 years old: a Hofner. The body is fine, BUT, it has the worst case of saggy (a.k.a. concave, buckled) neck I've ever seen in the flesh. The action between 2nd/3rd position and thumb position is unplayable and the action at the end of the fingerboard is far too low! Neck reset, or something cheaper, or skip? Or else?
It's not my main bass and I didn't pay for it, so I'm not too fussed, but can I save it? How? At what cost? and Where? (I'm in Scotland).
Any help appreciated.
PS, the photos are the best I can do, but the description of saggy should suffice... And no I can't manage to rotate the photos so they are easier to see somehow...sorry

Edited October 15, 2017 by Rabbie

[keeponehandloose]

A possible fix may be to take the fingerboard off, if you can. It may be the board that is pulling the neck. Once off you may find after a few days the neck will relax and straighten. You may then be looking at a replacement board only, rather than a full neck...

[SubsonicSimpleton]

Looking at the photos, it appears the issue is the shape of the fingerboard(neck itself doesnt look bent).

Take it to a luthier - if the nut height and fingerboard relief can be sorted out without major surgery they'll be able to tell you. Assuming it is doable, the amount of reshaping necessary is likely to vary depending on the strings you intend to use (modern setup for spiros is much flatter than traditional approach for gut strings) - if you got the bass for nothing, throwing some money at a proper setup is a no-brainer. I'd guess you might need to spend £200-£300 quid, but in the long term its a small price to pay to have an instrument that is comfortable and easy to play.

[The Jaywalker]

.

Edited November 28, 2017 by The Jaywalker

[The Jaywalker]

.

Edited November 28, 2017 by The Jaywalker

[Rabbie]

Cheers chaps. Jay, when you have time if you could PM me that luthier's number it would be awesome. Thanks in advance.
And yes I agree it's a dilemma, but it could be useful for little fun gigs, open air things, parties, etc
If it's within the £300 ballpark I guess it is still ok.

Edited October 15, 2017 by Rabbie

[keeponehandloose]

My suggestion comes from my own experience
, which soewd how much the board contributes to overal neck strength.
I once had a board pop away from the neck while playing and the string tension massivly bowed the neck once the board fell off.
Once the strings were off the neck straighted by itself . Re glued the fingerboard and all wad good.

[NickA]

Could you get it planed flat - ie take some of the scoop out of it. I guess it depends on the quality of the fingerboard wood - but if it's dyed pale wood (I doubt it's ebony on a laminated bass) then I guess the planed bits could be stained dark again.

I remember when I bought my bass (many many years back) the "shot" the board (which IS ebony) to make it work better for jazz (flatter now .. but still quite scoopy).

[Rabbie]

Nah, it’s ebony.
The bass is at the luthier just now and we are having a think about what is worthwhile doing, so I’ll post an update when it’s done.
PS - there are a few great quality plys out there with excellent ebony boards on them actually. I have owned a vintage Hofner ply which was outstanding quality, and a Duke which was also superb. I have played a Kay and an American Standard on the road and again they were truly professional plys. This one unfortunately isn’t as good, but again I didn’t spend anything on it so may be worth fixing. It certainly would be nice to have for the gigs on which I don’t fancy taking my already quite battered carved bass to.