So I got this starter Fender Bass from my little brother. He got it from a friend who didn't need it and it was in unusable shape. My brother already had a bass so he gave it to me. The strings were an inch from the fretboard at the 12th fret. It was unplayable.

Well, I tried adjusting the truss rod to no avail. (Now, I believe it's actually broken.)

I also adjusted the bridge string heights like a madman, but it was still way off. The neck was just way too bent, bowing forward.

Then, I took the neck off completely, and found no errors, but I wondered if I could fix it with a spacer plate. I'm at college so I didn't have too much useful material lying around. I did, however, have 5 cents lying around.

I present the 5 cent fix to a broken truss rod.

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After re-adjusting the string heights, the guitar is so much more playable. It's not perfect because the neck is still bowed, but for 5 cents on a bass that isn't worth the price of a new neck, I am very satisfied with the results.

It was actually an iterative process starting on the side of caution. I started with 3 dimes, then 8 pennies (the picture shows the back row doubled-stacked), and then finally ended up with 5 pennies. Each time reassembling the guitar and tensioning the lowest string. I was up till around 3 AM, but it was worth it.

[Hey, moderator, if you don't mind, can you correct the title? I didn't notice till as I was clicking post.]

Congrats. Your sustain just went into the crapper.

Thanks!

Ho ho ho!

Your comment intrigued me. 9.06 seconds plucked "normally" on a third fret, A-string. ("C" note) Normal sustain, normal tone. The high frets buzz after around the 12th fret, but it's a trade-off between low action and high fret buzz because there is simply no way to un-bow a neck without a truss rod to tension it. The alternative is a guitar that does not play at all, and with a broken truss rod has zero value.

Did you have any basis for the comment, or were you just betting on poor conduction of vibration from the neck to the body?

My main concern was that the neck would seat correctly but it appears the deflection of the wood took care of that very nicely. The 0.061" thickness of the pennies wasn't enough to upset anything and it sounds like a real guitar.

Hahaha, great work!
This reminds me of this: ^[1] (check the pics)