I have just aquired (at some expense!) a MIM guitar neck from a well-regarded supplier of Fender 'bits-'n'-bobs' on the evil bay.

It is unused and in very good condition apart from the fact that it has warped-in back bow. I noticed it was not straight, so slackened-off the truss rod, but this has not corrected the problem: the truss rod is now loose but the neck remains bent the 'wrong' way.

I suspect the problem may have been caused by not loosening the truss-rod when the neck was first removed from the body, without the forward-pull of the strings the neck reflexed in the a backward direction, and overtime it has warped into that shape owing to the pressure exerted by the rod.

It was quite expensive, coupled with the tax/duty I had to pay (I'm in the UK, it came from the USA), my question is this: could I correct the problem by supporting the neck at heel and headstock and suspending a weight in the centre of the neck? Perhaps I should just sent it right back?

It's actually a MIM CP60s neck, which I got because I love the neck profile of my 'other' CP60s, and want to buld a similar guitar with other bits I've got sitting arround.

Help, Ceri, Niki, anyone? Advice please!

I have never had any luck straightening a back-bowed neck like you describe. If you install it and string it up and with a loose truss rod still does not relieve, it is trash.

Perhaps its just a crap neck!

If you have the option of returning it and getting your money back that would probably be easier. Some say with heat and clamps the back bow might be corrected but there's no guarantee. You could also shop for a parted out replacement neck too.
Good Luck.

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As Steve said, string tension will likely sort it out. All my guitar necks bow back with the strings off.

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No no and no

Any piece of wood is going to have its own proclivity. In other words, the grain will force the problem right back over time. The only heat and clamp technique that would work is if it has a separate fingerboard. In this case, rosewood. By bending the neck under pressure and heating it, the glue joint will loosen and slip. Upon turning off the heat and allowing the neck to return to room temperature (still under clamped pressure), the board will have reseated itself to the new shape, preventing the neck from back bowing again. Once the glue rehardens, the neck will then retain the clamped shape where the rod would again be usable.

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This is a very long shot, but I thought I'd throw it out there. . .

Can you ask if the neck has had a recent refret? If the tangs of the frets are wider than the ones that were replaced the collective pressure of 20 or so thicker frets can cause the neck to bow back. So it might be repairable by having someone who knows what he's doing replace the frets . . .

What you speak of is called "compression fretting". Who knows....maybe it was refretted......either way, if string tension doesn't set things right, it will be useless without
A: another refret with smaller tangs
B: Pulling the frets and filing or sanding the board straight and true and THEN refretting ( and refinishing) Maybe not so much worth the trouble on a MIM neck unless of course you do this type of yourself and are an experienced luthier

Thanks for the advice everyone.

Having loosened the truss rod the problem has improved slightly, over the 24 hrs or so that it has taken the wood to relax. I think the problem is due to 'reaction' wood, it seems to be mainly concentrated in the area within 6" of the nut. The total displacement is now only some 1 1/2 to 2mm, so I'm hoping stringing it will ameliorate things a tad. Having said that, I have a old MIJ neck that is flat when not under tension, but still does not get enough relief when strung, even with the truss rod completely loose!

The issue being mainly confined to the first few frets suggests it is not caused by refreting with thicker-tanged frets, although that is very good thinking so thanks! Although that WOULD have more effect near the nut where the neck is thinner, but the the relative degree of displacement across the neck suggests otherwise.

Maybe defreting, sanding the board with a long radius-beam and freting and dressing would be the answer; or maybe I could just dress the frets and that might be enough. At least with an MIM neck I could afford to screw-up, not having any luthiery skills at present! It needs a new nut in any case because the current one has one of the slots not quite the right distance from it's neigbours.

I string it first and see what it looks like.

Anyone know of any good web/youtube demos for that sort of thing?

Thanks for the advice everyone.

The grain of the neck will ultimately win as I've stated above.

The only thing you can do, premising it is a one piece maple neck/fingerboard is to file the frets so that their playing surface is even. Unfortunately with this situation though, you may not be able to move your bridge saddles back far enough for proper intonation due to the still arched fingerboard.

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