1958 Gretsch Clipper with broken truss rod

[Matt Haugen]

I don't feel good about asking this forum about instrument values, but you ladies and gents are all I have when it comes to these types of issues.

Backstory: A friend wants to sell this guitar, he asked me to buy it. I checked the sold Gretsch Clippers listings on ebay, to get a rough idea of value. Couldn't find a 58, but lots of early 60's models ranging from $600 to 1400. What I came up with was in the neighborhood of $800. The guitar is missing the pick guard and there is no case. The body has a few paint chips missing and the neck is well worn. No fret issues, no body issues. He brought it to me for an inspection and I found that the neck was bowed pretty badly. I removed the truss rod cover to give it an adjustment and to my surprise, there is no nut. There is no nut because the truss rod has broken off right where it meets the neck.

It seems to me that even if I had the truss rod rescue kit, it would not be useful in this situation because there is very little wood  at the rear of the truss rod and I am certain that I would boar a hole right through to the back of the peghead. It seems that the only real solution for this would be to pull the fretboard off and replace the truss rod completely.

A heck of a lot of work will have to go into this guitar to bring it back now, I am interested to know what you think the value might be with the known truss rod issue.

[Matt Haugen]

Perhaps a better way to word this is if you were selling this guitar 'as is', what would you expect to get for it?

[Ned Knepp]

This may be a silly question, Mat but is the truss rod broken or pushed down into the neck? In the pictures I can't tell if the end is twisted off  or not but the threads still look pretty good from what I can see.  That makes me wonder of someone played around with the nut, took it off and then ended up pushing the rod deeper into the neck in an attempt to put the nut back on the end. 

[Paul Verticchio]

Hi Matt.

We're all pretty reluctant to offer values on any instrument. The market is all over the place. This particular model, although vintage, is not considered extremely desirable.

The best anyone can tell you, as my vintage dealer CONSTANTLY tells me; it's worth whatever someone will give you for it.

I can confirm that an inoperable trussrod ,TO A CIVILIAN BUYER, makes it almost worthless. To compound the problem, 50's & 60's Gretch's are potential 'black holes". They're renown for necks separating, binding rotting and/or separating and other structural problems. I've passed on several Gretches that looked near mint but after an inspection...no dice.

Further on the value: if you do the repairs, they're of professional grade (nearly invisible w/touch-ups)  and provide full disclosure regarding the repair, it'll retain most of it's value....whatever that's determined to be.  If sold un-repaired, it could only be called a "project guitar" and a fair price would be 30-40% of it's current value...again: whatever that may be.

I LOVE a well setup Gretsch. Their 'unique tonal qualities' can't be duplicated and the necks on those are divine. Getting them road worthy is worth the expense in most cases. :)

All that info is only my opinion based on my personal experience and observations.

Ned makes a good observation. I'd check that out.

BTW: To see the innards of a 50's Gretsch neck, check out the last 2 issues of Vintage Guitar Magazine where Dan E. removes the FB on a Gretsch and makes a new truss rod. It's not your standard 1 piece rod. The instrument he works on is full of surprises.

Good luck with this project and best of luck for a great outcome :)

[Mark Pollock]

What happens when you flex the neck into a light backbow? Does the truss rod poke out, or stay exactly in place?

I agree with the others, it doesn't look broken, it looks pushed in. If you flex the neck and it pokes out, you could get a nut started on it and get it back in place.

Remember that a truss rod isn't something you "crank down" to set action. You set your action, and use the truss rod as a stop to keep it in place.

[Matt Haugen]

Hi all. I see what you mean about the rod appearing to be pushed in, but it is broken. There is a small bit of thread remaining just above the wood in the front, but the furthest back section of rod is below the wood and in person it is easy to see that it had been broken. Thank you for all the comments and to Paul V, I will be chacking out those issues of Vintage Guitar Magazine.

Thanks again.

[Paul Verticchio]

You're welcome, Matt. We're all perpetual students and Dan's column along with Will Kelly's in VG are always cool motivational/learning tools.

That is way to nice of a guitar to let go by the wayside. It's worth whatever effort it takes to get it back in action. The great part is that, since it's not on the "hot collectibles list", if you add a second pup, you essentially have a working man's 6120. COOL AXE!!!!!!

Keep us posted?

The VERY best of luck with it & have a great weekend. :)

[Matt Haugen]

Same to you Paul. Thanks!

[Thomas James]

Matt, I see you mentioned the 'Rescue Kit' as a no go option. However, I just ran across this article:

http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/1956_Gretsch_Corsair_Truss_Ro...