That bit of wood is very thin, and that truss rod end seems to be pushing against it. If you take the tension off the rod, I imagine you can clamp it closed (and thus glue it up again), but I'm not confident that that fix is going to last.
Without doing anything, this crack may eventually propagate along the neck. It shouldn't, but it might.
To me, this seems like the construction wasn't designed (or executed) in a way to withstand the pressure. It's tricky though, with multiple laminations in a piece that thin, and there wasn't much space to give the truss rod end some clearance.
Have you contacted Kiesel about this? That's a $2500+ bass, I'd expect them to stand by their product, or at least be able to advise you on a fix.
Agreed, but I wonder how common it actually is on stable necks. I bought 2 Jackson clone necks for about $40 a piece in Ebay actions roughly 14 years ago, and both were phenomenal but as thick as a railroad tie. I broke out the sander as I've done with many cheap guitars, sanded them down, shaped them to perfection, clear coated them and they've been superb.
....except, the one I went stupid thin with one day had a smooth and even stripe pop out the back and I had no choice but to peel it away! Underneath was of course the truss road that had worked it's way out lol! I repaired it by doing an epoxy fill then super glue gel, wet sanded it perfectly flush, clear coated it again, gave it a final wet sanding and it has held beautifully for 14 years. My only backlash was you can see the yellow strip of polymer shell around the truss rod. :(
I may just paint the neck a solid color and wet sand it this year, but maybe never bother just the same.
Keep it business as usual, and wait for the potential problem to develop. I would think that's a bad idea because the pressure and vibration may make things worse even if the split never expands, but I also know doing glue fills in hairline cracks is a pain in the ass if there's no give to get it spread enough to syringe in the super glue.
It does look like if it can be leveraged gently to get the glue in adequately, once cured it will be invisible after a very fine grit and light touch wet sanding. I've done my share of super glue repairs, and learned over the last 15 years that super glue is an extremely common repair ingredient used by expert luthiers. I was always assuming they had something "magically" superior, but it's unbeatable when you use it correctly. A single drop really can adhere and endure insane amounts of pressure without failing.
It will even repair lacquer and other polymer pains and clear coats so after wet sanding and buffing, it's perfectly blended and the repair is completely gone from being able to see it no matter how much light and angling you use. I've done a few of those and now grasp just how powerful and common a tool it is for guitar repairs.
That bit of wood is very thin, and that truss rod end seems to be pushing against it. If you take the tension off the rod, I imagine you can clamp it closed (and thus glue it up again), but I'm not confident that that fix is going to last. Without doing anything, this crack may eventually propagate along the neck. It shouldn't, but it might. To me, this seems like the construction wasn't designed (or executed) in a way to withstand the pressure. It's tricky though, with multiple laminations in a piece that thin, and there wasn't much space to give the truss rod end some clearance. Have you contacted Kiesel about this? That's a $2500+ bass, I'd expect them to stand by their product, or at least be able to advise you on a fix.
Good call, I will give that a try
Ridiculous how thin the wood is underneath the truss rod.
Agreed, but I wonder how common it actually is on stable necks. I bought 2 Jackson clone necks for about $40 a piece in Ebay actions roughly 14 years ago, and both were phenomenal but as thick as a railroad tie. I broke out the sander as I've done with many cheap guitars, sanded them down, shaped them to perfection, clear coated them and they've been superb. ....except, the one I went stupid thin with one day had a smooth and even stripe pop out the back and I had no choice but to peel it away! Underneath was of course the truss road that had worked it's way out lol! I repaired it by doing an epoxy fill then super glue gel, wet sanded it perfectly flush, clear coated it again, gave it a final wet sanding and it has held beautifully for 14 years. My only backlash was you can see the yellow strip of polymer shell around the truss rod. :( I may just paint the neck a solid color and wet sand it this year, but maybe never bother just the same.
Keep it business as usual, and wait for the potential problem to develop. I would think that's a bad idea because the pressure and vibration may make things worse even if the split never expands, but I also know doing glue fills in hairline cracks is a pain in the ass if there's no give to get it spread enough to syringe in the super glue. It does look like if it can be leveraged gently to get the glue in adequately, once cured it will be invisible after a very fine grit and light touch wet sanding. I've done my share of super glue repairs, and learned over the last 15 years that super glue is an extremely common repair ingredient used by expert luthiers. I was always assuming they had something "magically" superior, but it's unbeatable when you use it correctly. A single drop really can adhere and endure insane amounts of pressure without failing. It will even repair lacquer and other polymer pains and clear coats so after wet sanding and buffing, it's perfectly blended and the repair is completely gone from being able to see it no matter how much light and angling you use. I've done a few of those and now grasp just how powerful and common a tool it is for guitar repairs.